It's nearly time to start our Virtual Advent Tour for this year and I for one am very excited at the prospect of getting underway.
We are very pleased with the turnout so far, but it isn't too late to sign up. Just go to the sign up post and complete the form. If you want a specific date let us know and we will do our best to accommodate you! Don't forget to grab your favourite button to use as well!
Today I thought I would address some of the more frequently asked questions over the years.
One of the hardest things about doing this is to try and coordinate these things relates to timezones. With Kelly being in Canada and Marg in Australia, we are at opposite ends of the same date all the time.To try and make it easier for everyone concerned we have set the blog time to GMT so you can use that as your guide if you are a bit concerned about when to post.
Each day we will post that day's schedule of stops, and where possible we will link to the actual post so make sure you add us to your feed reader, or to your Twitter feed or stop by each day to see where we are visiting. You can see the schedule as it currently stands here, but please be aware that as more people join in the schedule will also change a little.
Once again this year Kelly and I will be sharing holiday related quotes here on the blog from books I have read through this year.I couldn't come up with enough for the whole tour but we will have some songs and other things thrown in as well.
We encourage people to comment on the blogs that are participating, and hopefully you will discover some new blogs to read along the way. I certainly seem to find new blogs all the time during the tour.
Most of all we hope that everyone has a fun time participating as both hosts and visitors, and Kelly and I thank you all for your continued support of the tour.
Finally, for those of you who have been participating on the tour for more than 5 years, we have a special button for you to use. Feel free to grab this. I do have a spreadsheet to help me keep track of participation but I can't access it at the moment!
Friday, November 30, 2012
Tour Schedule for Virtual Advent 2012
December 1
Tami @ Just One More Thing...
Andi @ Estella's Revenge
Katie @ Book Addict Katie
December 2
Rachel @ a fair substitute for heaven
kelley @ the road goes ever ever on
Tasha @ Truth, Beauty, Freedom, and Books
December 3
Ana @ things mean a lot
Michelle @ The True Book Addict
Melissa @ The Book Nut
December 4
Cindy @ Cindy's Love of Books
Pamela @ Lavish Bookshelf
Christine @ the happily ever after...
December 5
Memory @ Stella Matutina
Linda @ Hutt-Write Voice
Pogue @ Katzenjammer
December 6
Teresa @ Teresa's Reading Corner
Lisa @ Books. Lists. Life
raidergirl3 @ an adventure in reading
December 7
Belle Wong @ MsBookish
Bellezza @ Dolce Bellezza
Snowball @ Come, Sit by the Hearth
December 8
Suey @ It's All About Books
Susan @ You Can Never Have Too Many Books
Robin @ A Fondness for Reading
December 9
Darren @ Bart's Bookshelf
Susanna Kearsley @ A Woman in Jeopardy
Chris @ Stuff as Dreams are Made On
December 10
Sprite @ Sprite Writes
Random Magic Tour - The Coven
December 11
Chris @ Chrisbookarama
Melissa Darsey @ Reflection of Providence
December 12
Pepca @ Beyond Strange New Words
Melissa Wiebe @ Jayne's Books
December 13
Cat @ Beyond Elsewhere
Savvy Reader @ The Savvy Reader
Joanna @ Create Your World
December 14
Suzanne @ bibliosue
Cass @ Bonjour, Cass
December 15
Joy Weese Moll @ Joy's Book Blog
Shelleyrae @ Book'd Out
December 16
Teri @ Henningsen Happenings
Colleen @ Books in the City
Cam @ epiBloguer
Jane @ Life @ Number 8
December 17
Amy @ My Friend Amy
Stacy @ The Novel Life
Lauren @ The Australian Bookshelf
December 18
Leslie @ Under My Apple Tree
Trish @ Love, Laughter, and a Touch of Insanity
Julie @ Anglers Rest
December 19
Meryl @ My Bit of Earth
Jinger @ The Intrepid Angeleno
Vicki @ I'd Rather Be Reading at the Beach
December 20
Lu @ Regular Ruminations
Alexandra @ The Sleepless Reader
John Mutford @ The Book Mine Set
December 21
Sassymonkey @ Sassymonkey Reads
Julie @ Anglers Rest
Julia @ A Piece of My Mind
December 22
Hannah @ Word Lily
Deb Nance @ Readerbuzz
Heather @ Capricious Reader
December 23
Emma @ Girl Loves Books
Carol @ Better is Possible
Kaetrin @ Kaetrin's Musings
December 24
Kailana @ The Written World
Carl @ Stainless Steel Droppings
Lauren @ The Australian Bookshelf
Cynthia White @ The Things You Can Read
Tami @ Just One More Thing...
Andi @ Estella's Revenge
Katie @ Book Addict Katie
December 2
Rachel @ a fair substitute for heaven
kelley @ the road goes ever ever on
Tasha @ Truth, Beauty, Freedom, and Books
December 3
Ana @ things mean a lot
Michelle @ The True Book Addict
Melissa @ The Book Nut
December 4
Cindy @ Cindy's Love of Books
Pamela @ Lavish Bookshelf
Christine @ the happily ever after...
December 5
Memory @ Stella Matutina
Linda @ Hutt-Write Voice
Pogue @ Katzenjammer
December 6
Teresa @ Teresa's Reading Corner
Lisa @ Books. Lists. Life
raidergirl3 @ an adventure in reading
December 7
Belle Wong @ MsBookish
Bellezza @ Dolce Bellezza
Snowball @ Come, Sit by the Hearth
December 8
Suey @ It's All About Books
Susan @ You Can Never Have Too Many Books
Robin @ A Fondness for Reading
December 9
Darren @ Bart's Bookshelf
Susanna Kearsley @ A Woman in Jeopardy
Chris @ Stuff as Dreams are Made On
December 10
Sprite @ Sprite Writes
Random Magic Tour - The Coven
December 11
Chris @ Chrisbookarama
Melissa Darsey @ Reflection of Providence
December 12
Pepca @ Beyond Strange New Words
Melissa Wiebe @ Jayne's Books
December 13
Cat @ Beyond Elsewhere
Savvy Reader @ The Savvy Reader
Joanna @ Create Your World
December 14
Suzanne @ bibliosue
Cass @ Bonjour, Cass
December 15
Joy Weese Moll @ Joy's Book Blog
Shelleyrae @ Book'd Out
December 16
Teri @ Henningsen Happenings
Colleen @ Books in the City
Cam @ epiBloguer
Jane @ Life @ Number 8
December 17
Amy @ My Friend Amy
Stacy @ The Novel Life
Lauren @ The Australian Bookshelf
December 18
Leslie @ Under My Apple Tree
Trish @ Love, Laughter, and a Touch of Insanity
Julie @ Anglers Rest
December 19
Meryl @ My Bit of Earth
Jinger @ The Intrepid Angeleno
Vicki @ I'd Rather Be Reading at the Beach
December 20
Lu @ Regular Ruminations
Alexandra @ The Sleepless Reader
John Mutford @ The Book Mine Set
December 21
Sassymonkey @ Sassymonkey Reads
Julie @ Anglers Rest
Julia @ A Piece of My Mind
December 22
Hannah @ Word Lily
Deb Nance @ Readerbuzz
Heather @ Capricious Reader
December 23
Emma @ Girl Loves Books
Carol @ Better is Possible
Kaetrin @ Kaetrin's Musings
December 24
Kailana @ The Written World
Carl @ Stainless Steel Droppings
Lauren @ The Australian Bookshelf
Cynthia White @ The Things You Can Read
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Announcing the 2012 Virtual Advent Tour
Kailana from The Written World and Marg from Adventures of an Intrepid Reader are very pleased and excited to announce that we will once again be running the Virtual Advent tour this year. This is the seventh year that we have hosted and we hope that the event has become an integral part of the book blogging community's holiday traditions.
The Virtual Advent tour first started when we pondered why should the kids get all the fun of opening a box on the advent calendar and finding a treat in there, and how could we have some blogging fun with a similar concept? So the Virtual Advent tour was born.
Each day anyone who wants to participate takes turns sharing a treat with our friends here in blogland. For example it could be something about your family traditions, recipes, your country's holiday traditions, or a favourite Christmas memory, movie, book, song...anything you like. Even if you don't celebrate Christmas we would like to hear about what your family does during the holiday season, whether it be celebrating Hanukkah or Kwanzaa or whatever it is that you do during this time.
If you are interested in signing up, then please sign up using the Google form (link below). If you want a specific date, then please include that along with your name and other details. If you don't need a specific date, then we will allocate a date to you. We will create a list of links so that as people express interest we will add them to the list, and then each day during the tour we will post a link directing visitors to the appropriate blog.
The tour will start on Saturday 1 December and run through until Monday December 24. If there are more people than there are days that's fine too.....the more the merrier! It just means that there will be more than one blog to visit on those days.
We would also like to take this opportunity to thank Alex for our gorgeous blog design!
And don't worry, we haven't forgotten the buttons for you to adorn your posts. They will be here shortly, so watch this space!
We look forward to visiting everyone on the tour.
The Virtual Advent tour first started when we pondered why should the kids get all the fun of opening a box on the advent calendar and finding a treat in there, and how could we have some blogging fun with a similar concept? So the Virtual Advent tour was born.
Each day anyone who wants to participate takes turns sharing a treat with our friends here in blogland. For example it could be something about your family traditions, recipes, your country's holiday traditions, or a favourite Christmas memory, movie, book, song...anything you like. Even if you don't celebrate Christmas we would like to hear about what your family does during the holiday season, whether it be celebrating Hanukkah or Kwanzaa or whatever it is that you do during this time.
If you are interested in signing up, then please sign up using the Google form (link below). If you want a specific date, then please include that along with your name and other details. If you don't need a specific date, then we will allocate a date to you. We will create a list of links so that as people express interest we will add them to the list, and then each day during the tour we will post a link directing visitors to the appropriate blog.
The tour will start on Saturday 1 December and run through until Monday December 24. If there are more people than there are days that's fine too.....the more the merrier! It just means that there will be more than one blog to visit on those days.
We would also like to take this opportunity to thank Alex for our gorgeous blog design!
And don't worry, we haven't forgotten the buttons for you to adorn your posts. They will be here shortly, so watch this space!
We look forward to visiting everyone on the tour.
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Saturday, December 24, 2011
2011 Virtual Advent: Day 24
And so, we come to the end of another virtual advent tour. It's Christmas Eve and I am at home hoping like crazy that I don't suddenly remember that one more thing that will mean that I need to go to the shops.
Here are the final stops on the tour:
Before we close off for 2011, we want to say a super special thank you to Carl from Stainless Steel Droppings who has supported the Virtual Advent Tour right from it's inception six years ago! Thank you Carl. Kelly and I both appreciate your continued participation and hope you will be on board again for next year!
We would also like to thank everyone who participated in the tour this year, whether it be by posting, or commenting, or tweeting or anything.
We hope you enjoyed the tour. We are already thinking about ideas for next year, and if you have any feedback or ideas to make the tour better we would love to hear them!
My final quote for this year's tour comes from a novella in the Holiday Kisses anthology - This Time Next Year by Alison Kent. It seems a fitting way to end seeing as so many of our advent tour are about sharing traditions.
Here are the final stops on the tour:
Gretchen @ A Ten O'Clock Scholar
Kelly @ The Written World
Carl @ Stainless Steel Droppings
Kendra @ My Greenwood Life
Before we close off for 2011, we want to say a super special thank you to Carl from Stainless Steel Droppings who has supported the Virtual Advent Tour right from it's inception six years ago! Thank you Carl. Kelly and I both appreciate your continued participation and hope you will be on board again for next year!
We would also like to thank everyone who participated in the tour this year, whether it be by posting, or commenting, or tweeting or anything.
We hope you enjoyed the tour. We are already thinking about ideas for next year, and if you have any feedback or ideas to make the tour better we would love to hear them!
My final quote for this year's tour comes from a novella in the Holiday Kisses anthology - This Time Next Year by Alison Kent. It seems a fitting way to end seeing as so many of our advent tour are about sharing traditions.
"You're pretty good at that. the cookies. The tree." He dipped up more glaze.
She shifted the pan again, nudging her hip against his and staying there. "Mostly I'm good at Christmas. I love it. The corny songs, stringing popcorn for the tree. Eating as much as ends up on the needle and thread."
"You do it by hand?'
"Gran and I do. Some folks buy finished strands, or fake plastic ones. But stuck fingers and Bing Crosby is our thing."
"What's Christmas without traditions, right?"
Friday, December 23, 2011
2011 Virtual Advent: Day 23
Welcome to the penultimate day of the 2011 Virtual Advent tour.
Here are today's hosts:
*
Now I need to go and finish my post for tomorrow!
Today, instead of a quote, I thought I would share a couple of contemporary Christmas songs. One is new to me this year, and the second is one that I first heard a couple of years ago now but really, really love. Enjoy!
Here are today's hosts:
*
Tania @ Lots of Book Reviews
*Brooke @ The Bluestocking Guide
*Georgie @ Georgie Lee
Now I need to go and finish my post for tomorrow!
Today, instead of a quote, I thought I would share a couple of contemporary Christmas songs. One is new to me this year, and the second is one that I first heard a couple of years ago now but really, really love. Enjoy!
Thursday, December 22, 2011
2011 Virtual Advent: Day 22
We are now very nearly at the end of the tour and I have to say ... it's been another fabulous year!I am sure that our hosts today will only add to the fabulousness
*Susan @ Bloggin' About Books
*Karen @ Sassymonkey Reads
Brenna @ Esther's Ever After
*Sasha Soren @ Random Magic Tour - The Coven
*Kathy @ A Glass of Wine
Today's quote comes from a book that I only just finished a few days ago, and I thoroughly enjoyed it! I found it hard to actually put it down which is always a good sign!
I did however forget to note down which pages the quote came from!
Christmas wouldn't be the same without Mikhail.
The room swirled with laughter and music, Peter and his brother Matt, the stockmen, were singing a drunken goodbye song, Lucy was jumping up and down near the Christmas tree demanding to know what the 'big green present' was. And Mikhail stood by the empty fireplace with his arm around his fiancee, grinning as widely as he had for the entire six months since he'd met her. Mikhail was marrying Catherine - a widow with two grown children - and they were moving to Launceston to be near her elderly parents. And Beattie would just have to learn to manage without him.
"Come on," Beattie said, flipping up the lid of the piano. "Rosella, will you play us a song to stop those men singing so terribly out of time?"
Rosella was her new neighbour. She and her husband had leased Jimmy Farquhar's farm at the start of the year, and become good friends to Beattie. Their daughter Lizzie was the same age as Lucy, and they spent every moment of the holidays together, racing around in the paddocks, building cubbies and making mud pies.
As Rosella sat and started playing 'Jingle Bells' and everyone joined in, Beattie curled her arm around Lucy and her eyes moved from face to face, counting her Christmas blessings. Two fabulous wool clips and growing side business in designing women's work wear had brought her the financial security she had long dreamed of. The piano, the little utility truck, the glass Christmas decorations.
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