Drifting through life

On Wednesdays , Delores, from A Feathered Nest has a meme which she calls  "Words for Wednesday". She puts up a selection of six words which we then use in a short story, if we are able. Sometimes I look at her words and nothing at all comes to mind. This week's words are:  1. blank 2. flashlight 3. four leaf cover 4. trembling 5. shadowy 6. dashing Here is my short story: Dashing outside with her flashlight, Olivia noticed the leaves of the cottonwoods were trembling slightly in the breeze that had sprung up as the sun began going down.   They were so beautiful; Olivia stood for a moment, remembering that day so long ago when she and Alex had planted them. She headed into the shadowy recesses under the trees, searching for that four leaf clover that she’d spotted just yesterday while retrieving the ball that bounced in while the grandkids were playing.  It would look great stuck inside that blank card she’d bought for...

Turmeric. That bright yellow/orange spice powder that is an ingredient in curry powder. How is it pronounced? Ter-mer-ic? T-you-mer-ic? Too-mer-ic as my mum used to say? then there's this>>> More of our good stuff going overseas. Yet our governments continually exhort us to support our country and growers by buying local. Hmmm............ and how about this nifty little gadget? I bought this from a K-Mart store about 35 years ago. Here is the full image, a blue plastic frame with a handle, designed to hold a one litre carton of pretty much anything. Milk, as I have here, juice, custard,anything at all that comes in a one litre carton. 35+ years old and still going strong. This oh-so-handy item makes pouring from a carton so very easy, no worries at all that a carton might slip from arthritic fingers or small hands. I used to have a two litre one, in red, for two litre cartons of juice. Then we started buying juice in plastic bottles with h...

Welcome back to Whimsical Wednesday! The day for your googled giggle that gets you over the hump that is Wednesday and sliding down into the weekend. I wish I'd had a tiger to make math homework more interesting.

Attention all those who design family homes. There is something lacking in most of the new, modern, resort style homes displayed in the real estate section of newspapers.  And in the new display homes in the "Homes" section of the weekend papers. A coat closet. Years ago, well, a couple of generations ago, when you walked into your home, there was a coat closet built in somewhere near the front door, or at least a shelf for hats and a row of hooks under it for coats. So handy for coming and going to have your coat and hat always ready  by the door. Now, when you walk into your home, you have to go all the way to your bedroom wardrobe to hang up your coat. I've also noticed in a lot of new designs, there doesn't seem to be a linen press in there. Not in the laundry, not in the hallway. Where are people expected to store their sheets and towels? Their polishing cloths? And whatever else people shove in there. There doesn't seem to be any provision for...

"What Irritates You Monday" is a meme thought up by Delores from The Feathered Nest. Here, on a Monday , we get a chance to vent our little, or not so little, things that irritate us. It doesn't have to be something on that particular Monday, it can be anything that irritates you any day of any week.   Today, my irritations are.... Iffy internet connections. Yes, I've said it before, but it is still happening and I'll probably say it again in the future.  Yesterday, I was online for maybe an hour.  That's it.  One hour, all day. And.... people who shuffle their feet when walking.  Elderly people who are unsure of their balance are excused from this.  But young people whose feet barely leave the ground, irritate me with their shoosh,  shoosh method of perambulation. Shuffle, shuffle, shuffle, you can hear them coming from three rooms away. For heaven's sake, pick up your feet and step properly.  Left, right, lef...

Welcome back to Sunday Selections! This once-a- week-meme was originally begun by Kim of Frog Ponds Rock, as a way to showcase some of the many photos we all take, but don't get around to showing on our blogs. The rules are very simple:- 1. post photos of your choice, old or new, under the Sunday Selections title 2. link back to me, River, somewhere in your post 3. leave me a comment so that I know you've joined in and can come over and see what you've posted. 4. hop on over to The Elephant’s Child to see more of her wonderful photos. Kath and Andrew often join in as well. I usually go with a theme for my Sunday Selections but this week I have some photos I took on my way to the shops a couple of weeks ago.  a splash of autumn colour. flowers or seeds on this conifer? the orange and the green of a date palm flower heads almost ready to bloom This gorgeous persimmon is just down the road from my home. The fruits ripen a...

Following on again with Toni's A-Z "a...is for" meme, this week's letter is V. I really had to search hard for something, V isn't an easy letter. There's plenty of things out there starting with V, it was just a matter of narrowing it down to one. So... V V...is for Ventriloquism Ventriloquism is the art of "throwing one's voice", to make it appear that inanimate objects near to you, (or further away if you are really good at it), are speaking. When throwing your voice you must do it without moving your lips at all, that makes it much easier for others to believe that yes, that broom is talking to me, and good heavens!, it's telling me to "clean up my act!" Ha Ha. Most ventriloquists use a dummy of some kind, usually a male or female doll, with the mouth operated by the ventriloquist via a hand through an opening in the back of the dummy. When I was very young, maybe ten or thereabouts, I used to watch Shari Lewis ...

On Wednesdays, Delores, from A Feathered Nest has a meme which she calls   Words for Wednesday. She puts up a selection of six words which we then use in a short story, if we are able. Sometimes I look at her words and nothing at all comes to mind. This week's words are: 1. tissue 2. cemented 3. boardwalk 4. rolling 5. bubbles 6. balding Here is my short story:   Faith was enjoying the sunshine and fresh air after being cooped up with the flu for a fortnight. She was finally well enough to wander across the foreshore and sit by the boardwalk that ran beside the ocean.  She still had the sniffles a bit and was going through tissue after tissue .   She'd have to go back to the cabin soon, Mum had said 45 minutes was the absolute limit. Faith had mentally rolled her eyes, thinking, "I'm eighteen mum, I'll be okay", but secretly she was pleased to be babied a bit. The flu had really knocked her for six, she'd be...