A Guest Post from Carol Bridgestock - SMILE AND WEST YORKSHIRE SMILESWITH YOU

Big smiles and a big thank you to ‘everyday folk’ who went that extra mile for us and others, on our ‘Snow Kills’ two week book launch tour of Yorkshire November 2013! 

Remember ‘When You’re Smiling the whole world smiles with you!’ ‘What you give you’ll get back ten-fold’ and ‘Treat others as you wish to be treated...’ Some of my wise grandmother’s favourite sayings and the one thing I always remember about my grandma was she was always smiling...

Come with me and meet some of the most generous ‘smiliest’ people we met and we thank you all from the bottom of our hearts!

Jake & Peter with 3yr old Thomas!

The Huddersfield Giants – Jake Conner and Peter Aspinall who presented the prizes at our children’s drawing/writing competition event which we organised to encourage youngsters to read and write, and to raise money for ‘The Forget Me Not Hospice’. Thanks guys, we raised £80.

The happy, smiling winners with actress Sharon Holland Taylor who also gave up her time to read out the winning stories/poem!

 Many times Sue battled the tumulus weather in West Yorkshire during Bob’s thirty year police career, to report on the crime scenes Bob was called out to attend. Great to meet up with her and glad to report she is a little warmer in her role in the Calendar TV news room nowadays and still smiling! I was on telly and still smiling! Thanks to the lovely Christine Talbot & Duncan Wood .

   

DI Dylan fans are the best! Phil and Yin Johnson, who also happen to be Inter-national P.I’s travelled from Portugal to be with us at our book launch at Prego, Brighouse, West Yorkshire and Karen Ebdon and Sam Gouldthorp took the opportunity to visit some of Dylan’s haunts whilst there for the weekend from Portsmouth.

On the night of the launch we also auctioned a Manchester United shirt signed by Rio Ferdinand that was given to us in aid of Help For Heroes. Thank you Man Utd – THE only club who came up trumps when approached for an auction prize. £180.00 was raised on the night for the charity .

Thank you to my ‘little brother Stephen’ whose smile always reaches his eyes!

The first time out of London and we were asked to be compere at The Evening of Remembrance at Huddersfield Town Hall. In the style of Gareth Malone Military Wives at least 150 ladies of the Kirklees Mass Choir as well as The Yorkshire Band of the Royal British Legion were on stage and all in good spirits. I can’t say there were no tears as well as smiles that night but we all bursting with pride!
   

And at the BBC Radio Leeds Studio here is one of the the lovely smiley ladies behind our morning host Wes Butters. The gorgeous & smiley Katy Lambert who makes lovely hot chocolate to go with the Isle of Wight goodies we took.

    

The staff at Prego  looked after us wonderfully whilst we were on tour, even going as far to wash some of our clothes. We couldn’t have done it without you! http://www.waterfrontlodge.co.uk/
 
And here is the lovely Kelly! We miss you too guys but we will be back soon!

And the ‘boys in blue’ – although these were  ‘girls in fluorescent’ came out to see what all the fuss what about at Huddersfield Waterstones book signing. Hello! Hello! Hello! Not quite an arresting incident hence the smiles!

And the children had fun too.... 

£1,300 was bid at the HSBC Ball from a DI Dylan fan to be a named character in our next book ‘Reprobates’ - All in aid of The Forget Me Not Trust – Wow!    

We were privileged to be given a tour around the Hospice. We took signed books that I had been collecting from friends who are children’s authors, for the library. David Walliams gave me seven including his latest as well as a signed picture for them... what an absolute gent! I have to sadly report J.K Rowling couldn’t spare one of hers...

Bob and I here with the ‘thrilled’ Jason Costello, Partnership Development Manager. 

We were soon on the last leg of our tour and over at Media City in Salford, Manchester where we were at the read though of the new BBC 1 TV series for 2014 ‘Happy Valley’! Sitting around the table and seeing the familiar faces of celebs and being introduced to the head of drama from the BBC was so exciting – my jaw was permanently dropped! Here we are at the Granada Studio – caught out being a complete tourist by actress Amelia Bullmore! How embarrassing!

And here is the person who is my inspiration and always makes me smile. Bob, my husband, co-author and best friend! Here’s to the next DI Dylan launch in April 2014 Bobby!

Carol Bridgestock & her co author in crime (RC Bridgestock) husband Bob can be found @ www.rcbridgestock.com Facebook RC Bridgestock 

Twitter @rcbridgestock and Linkedin Carol & Bob Bridgestock

For more blogs - http://blog.rcbridgestock.com/

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A Guest Post from Joseph D'Lacey - DELISH - A HOME, OFFICE & RESTAURANTALL ROLLED INTO ONE

This is my local café – The Delish Deli & Kitchen.

I come here for a mocha – and sometimes lunch – every Tuesday. All the food is prepared daily on the premises, with great love and dedication, by the owner Claire Hopkins. Ingredients are locally sourced and every possible taste is catered for by the ever-changing variety of dishes.

That, on its own, would be enough to make Delish a unique and special place. 

However, having been hooked by their luscious heart-starter coffees, I began to chat
to Claire and her staff whenever I came in.

One day, I left a few Black Feathers bookmarks for customers to take away. Some
time later, Claire and I got chatting and it turned out that she, and many of the lovely people who work in the deli, are fans of dark fiction. Next thing I knew, they were reading my books.
 

As you can see, the ethos of the place puts everyone at ease and could hardly come
from a more respectable pen…

The combination of comfort and a peaceful atmosphere creates a space where writing is not only possible, but a joy. Suddenly feeling I was ‘at home’ in Delish, I began to take my work with me. I get a lot done there.

One day, Claire told me she’d finished Black Feathers and loved it.   “Thanks for improving the quality of my life,” she said.  And I was able to reply, hand on heart and with a smile:  “Thanks for improving mine!”

So, if you get a mysterious waft of something delicious next time you’re reading a
story of mine, it might be because I wrote it in Delish.

Thanks again, Claire! (And from us here - a thumbs up )

Left to right: Beth, Claire & Tom

NB:  This post was powered by a
Delish mocha.







  

Joseph D'Lacey writes Horror and Fantasy.

He is owned by two black cats and
enjoys vegetarian food.

   Facebook: www.facebook.com/Joseph-DLacey
Twitter @JosephDLacey
Blog josephdlacey.wordpress.com/
 

London, New York and back again

Well a happy 2014 to all and sorry this post is a little late, but between myself and everyone else having the flu lurgy the last few weeks there hasn't been much time to sit in front of a computer.  But late or not, a smile is a smile is smile!

So take your mind back to before Christmas, and the man and myself were taking a quick trip to New York to visit the family.  I was organised, I'd bought our train tickets, our plane tickets, organised cars, apartments, dinners, lunches, nothing was left to chance but, thank you Heathrow Connect, you managed to put a spanner in the works before our trip even started.

To get to Heathrow Airport now from London most people get the Heathrow Express from Paddington Station but it's much cheaper, if you get the ordinary train which takes about five minutes longer and makes some  stops along the way, (a similar operation to getting the alternative train to the Gatwick Express).  We were at Paddington in plenty of time for our train, but there seemed to be a lot of confusion among the staff as to where our actual train was.  Then we were told to run, it was coming in to platform 12 now and leaving almost immediately.  We ran (with our bags) only to find no train.  Twenty-five minutes later, (we're now getting anxious about our check in time at Heathrow), and we're told there is a fault on the line and not only is our train cancelled but so are all the others.


We run (again with our luggage....) to the booking hall to try and change our train tickets to Heathrow Express ones, (you can't do this on the train), and it was here, meeting Brian, that everything started to go right.

Brian managed to take the stress of it all away and deliver our upgraded tickets with a lovely smile to send us on our way.  So Brian, a big thank you and thumbs up.

Now we only had five days in New York and 99% of our time was taken up with friends and family which was lovely but we wanted to do one NYC thing; since it was fairly sleety and snowy, it wasn't going to be a wandering around thing so we decided on the Metroplitan Museum of Art.

This museum is incredible in its collections but, because of its sheer size, you have to be quite organised, (there is that word again), about what you're going to see.  We only had a couple of hours so using one of their half day suggested itineraries that looked fabulous, I took about one third of the suggested rooms and mapped out a route for our visit.

Upon arrival, because of a Christmas tree in a hall, the "route" didn't quite work but thanks to the lovely, helpful and smiling Gina, not only did we get back on track but she was able to "edit" our itinerary to make it even better.

So, Gina, thank you (from the British tourists around the 9th of December) and our thumbs up .

Then it was back to London, and the madness of work and life in the run up to Christmas. 

Now, for the presents, I hadn't been that organised and so come Christmas Eve, I had to go out shopping as extra family were coming and it was my first chance between the office etc.

Swiss Cottage was mad that day, with shoppers behaving like it was the end of the world and food was never going to be sold again.  Staff in shops were frazzled and barely able to keep up with the tills but, among all this frenetic behaviour, there was Hollie in Boots.

Hollie was totally in the spirit of the moment and was having fun whether people were ready for it or not.  She was a ray of sunshine on a truly horrible weather and shopping day.  So Hollie, thank you and a thumbs up  from me and the other shoppers you made laugh.

As I said at the beginning of this post, apologies for the lateness of these thank yous and we have a guest post that's been waiting to be published for a few weeks now but for the same reasons is also running late.  Watch this spot and you should be getting something soon from a lovely lady, half of R.C. Bridgestock, the author.

Thanks again for reading, may 2014 be kind to you and if you come across any nice smiles or service, do please send us a post.

More North West London smiles (updated)

A few more North West London smiles and thanks;

My man and I were having dinner at the lovely West Hampstead eaterie the Wet Fish Cafe, (we've only just recently discovered their Monday night special price deal thewetfishcafe.co.uk), and we were waiting for a friend from San Francisco to join us.

Becasue of the Monday night deal, it gets very busy and we were holding up everything as our guest hadn't arrived, we were taking up space but not ordering.  Did we feel pressured?  Absolutely not.  Eventually, after a call to her hotel we found out she had fallen asleep and wouldn't be joining us.

So we started to order.  Now, the Wet Fish Cafe do something called Polenta Chips which are among the most divine foods imaginable but for a variety of reasons I hadn't been able to have these the last couple of times I ate there.  I was not to be thwarted this time.

Our lovely waitress, Feliz, who remembered us from the time before,  took our order but was dismayed to have to tell me that the table before had ordered the last portion of Polenta Chips as they had now run out of polenta.  Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.

I hide my emotions deep (not) and she could see I was upset so she said to leave it with her.  Now, I don't want to divulge any trade secrets but I know she spoke to the chef and whether they stole two chips from other portions or whether they had just enough left to make me two chips I don't know but what I do know is that Feliz turned up trumps and two Polenta Chips arrived with my duck.

Hip hip hooray and a thank you and a thumbs up to Feliz for that extra bit of service with a smile.

Meanwhile, in Argos at Swiss Cottage, the staff were going out of their way to be helpful.   In sharp contrast to Homebase before them where I had been left standing by not less than four members of staff who went away to find out something and never came back - sorry Homebase but you get a .  I was standing there for half an hour and finally walked out.

What a contrast in Argos where I went to look at the same product.   I got to the till and asked if I could view the item, (it's a fake Christmas tree).  Of course, no problem.  The tree came up and another smiley assistant showed it to me.  It was explained that this was a no return item.  Then the first lady remembered that Sandra had this particular one herself.

Well Sandra came out from behind the counter and could not have been more helpful explaining her personal use.  How good it was at holding baubles and lights. How well balanced it was.  How ot build it and how many years she has had it.

At the time of writing, I don't have the other ladies' names who helped me or indeed any of their photographs but to all three of you,  thank you and a thumbs up for that extra bit of service with a smile.  I hope to rectify the names and photographs before too long.

UPDATE - managed to get in to Argos when the right people were working so, here's a nice picture of both Sandra and Tina.  The third assistant wasnt there to ask her name or get her permission to use it but that doesnt stop me saying thanks and giving all of you a thumbs up   (by the way, Tina is laughing because another customer got in on the act and it was all rather jolly there, at Argos)

The next post will either be from New York if the smiles permit or will be another guest post, that is waiting in the wings.

Look forward to receiving your posts soon and, remember, promote the positive!

Guest Post From Lucy Barlow - RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS

It is a long time since I first came across the idea of random kindness…I was working in a solicitor’s office as a conveyancer…it is a lifetime ago…I think it may have been linked to a Dave Gorman project…perhaps I will google that sometime & see if there is still something out there…

Whether the original seed for RAOK can still be traced, it  remains a large part of my life…and RAOK don’t need to be flamboyant gestures or have deep meaning and global significance…

This week, I have been touched by many moments of RAOK…

My husband, Lee, was knocked off his bicycle when hit by a car…the driver stopped, and thank God my husband is limping, sore & bruised but in one piece & still with us…my heart opens to those people who stopped their rush to work and helped him out of the road and called the ambulance and waited with him until paramedics arrived……I don’t know who they are, but I thank them for their kindness…

The paramedics deserve thanks too, although theirs is less random, their act of kindness in dedicating themselves to working in service to humanity is no less than superhuman… 

My step-brother, Alex, for stopping when he saw my husband with the paramedics and put his own working day on hold to be with my children so that I could get to the hospital to be with my husband…and then returned after a long day at work with his wife to support him whilst I had to teach…I thank them for their kindness…

the Mason Gang

Our friends the Mason Gang who made my husband the subject of their weekly RAOK “Make my Wednesday”, praying for his speedy healing, and presenting us with a goodie bag for Lee…I thank them for their kindness…

My sons, for their quiet concern (“I am sad Daddy hurt his head”, “I am worried Daddy might have another accident”) and their independent decision to draw pictures for Daddy to wish him get well soon…and their recognition that Daddy needs gentle right now & so wrestling & climbing are off the cards for a while…I thank them for their kindness…

the end of the road

A man sleeping rough at the end of our road, I wanted to show kindness and so on the school run, I stopped with my children to give him money for a warm breakfast at the cafe around the corner…when I spoke to him, a second head emerged from his jumble of coat & sleeping bag…embarrassed apologies from the small woman there, who explained nothing untoward was happening…they were clearly doing nothing but trying to stay warm & rest…I assured them they did not need to apologise…she told me that the man had simply been kind enough to offer her a warm place to sleep and to keep her safe after someone else had given her a black eye the night before…I thank him for his kindness to her…I pray that they have found safer, warmer places to rest…

On the walk to school this morning, a young woman spotted an older gentleman who needs a walking stick and has limited speed…she spoke to him before running ahead to stop the bus for him & asked the driver to wait…the old man got his bus, the young woman continued her walk on her way…I thank her for her kindness…

I am sure that if I think longer, there are more moments of kindness than that, I know there are…fundamentally, people are kind…when they are not, it is usually fear that clouds their judgment and diverts their actions…this is still a beautiful world…stop and look around you…watch people…there will be more kindness, more compassion than you expect…smile at it, let it warm your heart or allow it to draw warm, salty tears to cleanse your sorrow and make way for more joy…and then make a resolve…to be kind…small things…cook your partner’s favourite meal or buy them that offensive smelling cheese they crave…tip double when you go for coffee…pick some litter…smile at someone…

The more small, random acts of kindness in the world, the less time & space for greed and fear to take hold…they don’t have to feel like grand gestures and world-changing actions…but in their own way, that is exactly what they are…

May we all be happy…
May we all be healthy… 
May we all live in peace… 
May we all be free… 
May we all be loved… 
May we all be kind… 
OM x *

P.S. you are now reading this via everydayfolk.blogspot.com and that is the result of yet more kindness @hoodedman_art for connecting me with @14NC on Twitter…I thank you both for your kindness…Let’s spread the love!

* I sign off on my blog  with OMx because I am, after all, simply an Ordinary Mama.  And also because in Yoga, Om is the sound of the Universe, of God, the original sound, the seed of creation and because it is a powerful vibration for peace and for tranquillity of heart & mind. Just in case you wanted to know.

This blog first appeared in a slightly different from at ordinarymamaextraordinaryjoy.  We would like to add some thumbs up to from us to Alex, the paramedics, the man sleeping rough and the young woman at the bus stop

Lucy Barlow, @PortsmouthYoga can be found at the website for yoga portsmouthyoga.co.uk and also blogs at ordinarymamaextraordinaryjoy.wordpress.com/ on mothering through yoga and at pregnancyyogaportsmouth.com/  about pregnancy, birth, breastfeeding & beyond

laughing in the morning, if only

Well I'm pleased that there have been some guest posts lately as I don't seem to have come across as many smiles of late.

I have a theory; I always thought that the sun was going to make a difference to this blog and unfortunately I think I was right.  The occurrences of smiles are definitely becoming less as the tones turn from yellow to grey, the nights draw in and the temperature plummets.

However, they may be less but they are still around and maybe for their rarity, even nicer?
 
Also, it gives me a chance to thank some people who if this blog had been going years ago, I would have posted about them, not least Ken.

In days of yore, (I can never use that word now without thinking of a particular episode of Friends), I had a personal trainer, and that personal trainer was Ken.  Not only did he get me super fit but, and this was the miracle for which he gets many thanks and thumbs up, he would arrive at 6:30 or 7:00am in the morning and get me laughing.

What a wonderful way to start the day and even though it was almost twenty years ago, I still miss those early morning laughs with him and that wonderful feeling of fitness when he left.  (He still sees my mother, lucky her).

And a few thumbs up but no photos - Friday, 15th November - to the workman dealing with the street lights in Lyndale Avenue, NW2 who cheered my day by saying I was the sunshine and to the lady on the bus from Finchley Road to St. John's Wood who helped me by ringing my 'phone when I thought I'd lost it, a huge thank you and .

Meanwhile, I'm sorry to say, a thumbs down to the driver of the Number 82 bus who on Wednesday, 6th November at about 9:30am, just south of Golders Green heading in to town, refused to let an elderly lady off the bus at the front, arguing with her and holding everyone else up for some time for what seemed like spite.  She believed the front step was easier for her to get off than the back step and he insisted that they were the same height.  Even if they are, was it so necessary to shout at her and embarrass her?  You know who you are so, shame on you and "thumbs down".


So, don't forget, Promote the Positive - this blog, www.everdayfolk.blogspot.com is here for you; this is a public pinboard where you can tell us about that great smile, that bit of extra service you encountered in your day which just made the difference or just something nice. Please, send us your posts, comments or just follow.  Thanks.