The image above was supplied by Walter Baxter of Galashiels in The Scottish Borders. I commissioned a photograph of a laughing horse and Walter duly snapped this one on a hillside near North Berwick in the Lothian region of Scotland. It will form the design basis for Laughing Horse Awards widgets due to be distributed once again on the last day of the year.
Sponsored by The Yorkshire Pudding Company, The Laughing Horse Awards have become the most prestigious awards in the blogging calendar. Most readers of this blogpost will be aware of Laughing Horse's history - stretching way back into the mists of time.
Each year special blogging awards are distributed before the overall "Blogger of the Year" is announced. Previous winners are listed below. Several are still with us, blogging away in a dutiful manner while others have fallen by the wayside.
The Roll of Honour...
2008 – Arthur Clewley for “Arthur Clewley”
2010 – John Gray for “Going Gently”
2011 – Ian Rhodes for “Shooting Parrots”
2012 – Kate Steeds for "The Last Visible Dog"
2013 – Tom Gowans for “A Hippo on the Lawn”
2014 – Meike Riley for “From My Mental Library”
2015 – Lee George for “Kitchen Connection”
2016 – Steve Reed for “Shadows and Light”
2017 - Keith Kline for "Hiawatha House"
2018 - Mary Moon for "Bless Our Hearts"
2019 - Jenny O'Hara for "Procrastinating Donkey"
2020 - Cro Magnon for "Magnon's Meanderings"
2021 - Andrew de Melbourne for "High Riser" (Now "From The High Rise")
These are the last days of 2022 and soon this challenging year will peter out. For those of us who inhabit Blogworld and gain pleasure, sustenance, interest and even friendship from it, it is good to look back and evaluate the journeys we have taken over the last twelve months. Often blogging and the reading of other people's blogs have proven to be welcome distractions from the woes of our planet.
From time to time, we all need encouragement and The Laughing Horse Awards seek to provide some of that precious commodity. Winners and The Overall Blogger of the Year will be announced on New Year's Eve.
Thank you for this photograph !
ReplyDelete*Then Samson said, With a donkey's jawbone I have made donkeys of them.*
Judges 15-16.
The King James translation has it as *the jawbone of an ass* . Better.
Kipling and Hemingway owed much to the KJV.
*Cockatoo Epic Freakout (warning fowl language).*
Pebble the Crazy Cockatoo. YouTube.
You are welcome re. the photograph. Your countryman - Walter Baxter has captured many fabulous images in The Scottish Borders. See https://www.geograph.org.uk/profile/6638
DeleteI am waiting with bated breath (not baited because that would leave a nasty taste in my mouth). Is there to be no gala this year? I thought there would be. I have booked my flight and have my gown ready. Disappointed I am.
ReplyDeleteSorry to inform you that owing to administrative error the planned gala ceremony has had to be abandoned this year.
DeleteYou forgot to mention the venue for this year's award party - the highlight in the social calendar of every blogger worth their weight in posts!
ReplyDeleteOnce again, I am unsure about what to wear; several favourites in my wardrobe, but nothing new. Should I go for an elegant copper colour scheme, or something more glitzy? (Provided I am invited, of course.)
Sorry to inform you that owing to an administrative error the planned gala ceremony has had to be abandoned this year. Once again we have had to resort to a Zoom-based event.
DeleteBloggers connect, and look forward to hearing from our fellow bloggers. Have you seen,https://bobnsophie.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeleteThank you for the link Travel. I am about to check that out.
DeleteI dipped in. It needs a lot more time if I am to uncover its treasures.
DeleteDarn, I'll have to miss the award party again! I have an urgent appointment with a box of chocolates and a bottle of fizz that evening.
ReplyDeleteLuckily for you - there will be no awards party this year owing to an administrative error.
DeleteCan I nominate YP for Best Photograph Of The Year with the lady dog walker and the narrow boat picture?
ReplyDeleteThanks for remembering that one Dave. Unfortunately, as the chair of The Awards Committee, it would be unseemly for me to receive an award of any sort. Standards must be upheld my friend.
DeleteShall I get my posh frock out or just come in jeans?
ReplyDeleteI am sure you would look lovely in sackcloth ADDY but there will be no awards shindig this year owing to an administrative error.
DeleteI think that horse's dentures are too narrow.
ReplyDeleteThems ain't dentures dude! Them's real as raccoon poop. (To be spoken in a Texan drawl).
DeleteJust like Meike, I'm wondering about our venue! I'm hoping to dress up in a glamorous gown and heels, and then dance the night away.....!
ReplyDeleteSorry to disappoint you Jennifer. Owing to an administrative error the planned awards "do" had to be abandoned this year.
DeleteThere should be a gala. Will there be champagne? There really ought to be champagne. From a flowing fountain. Hors dourves. I am not talking about aerosol cheese on a ritz either. Who's baking the cake? Can we get the one of the marvelous bakers who made the cakes for HRH's diamond jubilee? These things require careful planning. You should probably hire a professional.
ReplyDeleteIn past years there have been some amazing awards parties but this year, owing to an administrative error, the planned awards event had to be abandoned. I am very sorry to have to disappoint you.
DeleteOh, the disappointment!
DeleteI don't always agree with you, but always enjoy your blog posts. Happy New Year to you and the whole Pudding Family
ReplyDeleteThanks for coming out from behind the curtains Debbie. I bounce that HNY greeting right back to you and yours - wherever you are.
DeleteI've been called a horse's ass more than once so it would be a great honor to be associated with the other end for a change.
ReplyDeleteYou may need a hearing check Ed as I believe that others have been saying that you smell like a horse's ass - not unusual in Iowa I believe.
DeleteMe: "Oohhh, a party, a party!!!"
ReplyDeleteSWMBO: "Stop that jumping around and yelling. You're too old to go to a party! Now get back in your recliner and turn the t.v. on to your Lawrence Welk show."
Me: "Harrumph!"
Happy New Year, anyway, YP!
You're never too old to party Bruce! Damn Mrs SWMBO! Trouble is that there is no party this year!
DeleteSounds fun! I recognize 6 of your award recipients.
ReplyDeleteUsually there's a party at which alcohol, dancing and flirtatious behaviour are the order of the day. But not this year.
DeleteThe Hee-Hawing Nag Award could morph into the Houyhnhnm Bloggers' Prize.
ReplyDeleteSaatchi & Saatchi might donate a Luxury Food and Champagne Hamper to the annual winner.
Houyhnhnms were a civilized race of genius horses Gulliver met on his Travels.
The word was coined by Jonathan Swift to convey the whinnying of equines.
It took Gulliver about three months to learn the Houyhnhnmian language.
For onomatopoeic brilliance the coinage predicted Joyce's Finnegan's Wake.
Wilde said he felt Dean Swift's presence on every street corner of Dublin.
Wilde tended to over-dramatise.
DeleteWe just can't do without the Laughing Horse awards. Keep it up . It's fun and gives people something to think about.
ReplyDeleteWise words from a past winner.
DeleteI've never heard of the Laughing Horse Award, now I'm curious to see who gets it this year.
ReplyDeleteLater this very day, a spotlight will fall on the overall winner. You won't have to wait long River.
DeleteOh dear YP, whose administrative error is to blame for the disappointment of so many of your fellow bloggers and their followers? Is it not possible to have the award ceremony at a later date, perhaps when the weather is better and it's easier for people to travel? Think of the outlay so many ladies have spent on new dresses for the occasion. Since Covid has messed up so many lives, surely you wouldn't wish to deny them all a chance to dress in their finery and enjoy a night of fine dining and dancing?
ReplyDeleteThe Awards Committee were seriously considering a naturist event - so no clothes - but we heard that the central heating system at Bantry House was unreliable. Anyway after we heard from Mick Shenanigan it doesn't matter any more.
DeleteI always look forward to the laughing horse awards
ReplyDeleteYou are far away but we feel your presence Kylie.
DeleteI've been blogging since 2009 and it's still my favourite platform even though it's become ' old-fashioned ' to some. I used to get over 100 comments { not that I need them but it shows how many bloggers were out there } Many of my followers have turned to Instagram, Pinterest and Tik Tok but blogging is still my favourite platform. I think some prefer the other sights as it's just a line or two and much quicker but I love blogging. It's like having lots of pen friends { That dated me ! } I shall continue posting on my blog in my erratic way. By the way YP, please call me Jackie ..... Jacqueline is such a long name to be typing ! XXXX
ReplyDeleteI like the full expression that blogging allows but it seems to mostly attract older bloggers. I hope that Google Blogger are not thinking about closing it all down any time soon because that really could happen.
DeleteDon't you think it is time that YOU granted yourself the award? I surely do!
ReplyDeleteThat is typically kind of you to say so my little Colorado lark bunting!
Delete