G is for Granny’s Doll

It’s a grey, overcast day in Wellington, NZ. The temperature is predicted to reach 19.
Well, it is winter here in NZ, and I will put on layers so that I can be prepared
if it does get to 19. And today, working through the alphabet, we come to G.
Here is another post from the 100-word challenge.

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Granny’s Doll

Posted on May 22, 2015 | 10 Comments | Edit

In the chair at the foot of Granny’s bed the doll sat as it always had. As a small child she’d occasionally picked it up to play with “but gently” as her Granny always reminded her.

And now, Granny was no longer there, but the doll was and as she picked it up with reverence she thought of the trials that had befallen her grandmother in her long life. How she and grandfather had lost everything during the Great Depression, then a son lost in the Great War, but somehow through it Granny and her doll had survived unharmed, together.

 This post is in response to the 100 word writing challenge from Velvet Verbosity where we are asked to write 100 words inspired by a single prompt. This week’s word is REVERENCE

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C is for CONFUSION

If you have been following me for any time, you will know how I love words. I particularly like challenges where we are given a prompt a word, and a specific number of words to use. This post was originally published on May 30, 2015.

This post is in response to the 100 word writing challenge from
Velvet Verbosity where we are asked to write 100 words
inspired by a single word prompt. This week’s word is SMOOTH

Hot, so very hot; panting like a dog and oh the pain; if only someone would make it go away and then she could concentrate on why she was here and what she had to do.

But the pain was never-ending and the noise – could that be her voice she could hear yelling obscenities ?

Suddenly there were smooth, calming hands on her forehead and a gentle voice said ‘It’s OK Mrs Jones, only a few more pushes now.”

And then she was back in this stark hospital room with doctors and midwives encouraging her as her son’s head appeared.

Note – Shortly after this post was published Velvet Verbosity’s site was unavailable/missing but it recently has re-emerged. The last post was in June 2022. The site has changed course; my suspicion is that it’s another author.

JB, WELLINGTON, NZ
MAY 3, 2023

DISTANCE

I enjoy following Tara at Thin Spiral Notebook and have done so for several years. She is a writer of fiction, an artist, photographer and so much more.
She is an inspiration!
And I particularly like her 100 Word Challenge.
As Tara says, use  100 words no more and no less. for the challenge.
This week’s challenge is DISTANCE

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I am very lucky.  Both of my children live close and so am in constant contact with them and visit regularly. My daughter lives above me and my son and daughter-in-law are only 50 km away. But things have changed. Here in New Zealand, we are living in “bubbles” comprising only those people who live in the same house: the distance between me and my son and daughter in law is too far.

But what of my friends whose children live in other countries and in a different hemisphere. Distance takes on a whole new meaning in a pandemic.

 

 

PANIC

I enjoy following Tara at Thin Spiral Notebook and have done so for several years. She is a writer of fiction, an artist, photographer and so much more.
She is an inspiration!
And I particularly like her 100 Word Challenge.
As Tara says, use  100 words no more and no less. for the challenge.
If you want to play along, this week’s challenge is PANIC and here’s my effort.

 

If you saw my contribution from last week, I should tell you that lockdown has been put in place for over 70s since Saturday lunchtime – it’s Monday evening here. So my worst fears have come to pass. The fortress has been erected and all social activities have been cancelled.

And on Wednesday, local time, we are moving to Alert Level 4 and all but essential services have to shut down.

Our Prime Minister’s advice to the nation is “Don’t Panic. We will get through this if we all work together.” Well said, Jacinda Ardern. Hopefully, the populace will listen.

 

Quarantine

I have enjoyed following Tara at Thin Spiral Notebook for several years.
She is a writer of fiction, an artist, photographer and so much more.
She is an inspiration! And I particularly like her 100 Word Challenge.

As Tara says, 100 words no more and no less. If you want to play along, this week’s challenge is Fort and here’s my effort.

Quarantine and self-isolation are words that chill me.  I am one of those people who are out and about most days. The thought of being confined to the house scares me.

For a short six months when I wasn’t allowed to drive following my misadventure, I was dependent on others coming to visit or take me places.

And now each time I read the news or a blog post, these words jump out at me.

In the event we have to commit to this here, I shall feel as if I am in a fort, cut off from the world.

Retire

I have enjoyed following Tara at Thin Spiral Notebook for several years.
She is a writer of fiction, an artist, photographer and so much more.
She is an inspiration.  And I particularly like her 100 Word Challenge.

But today I saw that it is ow 16 months since I last entered the challenge – so here goes!

“I’m too young to retire,” she said. “What would I do with my time?”

Sitting around  the dinner table, she was upset that her husband who had recently retired, thought she should do so too.

‘We can go on trips together” he said. “Buy a Winnebago and travel to all the parts of the country we have never seen just as we always said..”

And now, three months later she couldn’t imagine not being retired.

After so many years working and with no time pressure, they had time to get to know each other again  as they travelled the country.

 

 

You’re How Old?

I have enjoyed following Tara at Thin Spiral Notebook for several years.
She is a writer of fiction, an artist, photographer and so much more.
She is an inspiration.  And I particularly like her 100 Word Challenge.

Each week Tara sets a challenge and this week’s challenge is –Using the idea of age for inspiration, write 100 Words – 100 exactly – no more, no less. You can either use the word – or any form of the word – as one of your 100, or it can be implied. If you’d like to play along click on the ink.

I haven’t done this for several months so here goes

Thinking back over a long and mostly happy life I say I have lived a blessed life.

Unfortunately, I have outlived my Dashing Young Scotsman and The Architect neither of whom got to be my age. And when younger people seem to be amazed that I am still enjoying myself at this vast age I tell them that I still have family and friends with whom to enjoy myself.

And I have a suitcase of memories to look back on and remember the highlights, and a couple of not so highlights. But I am glad I have reached this age.

“Your face is marked with lines of life, put there by love and laughter,
suffering and tears. It’s beautiful.”
― Lynsay Sands

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Intent

I have enjoyed following Tara at Thin Spiral Notebook for several years.
She is a writer of fiction, an artist, photographer and so much more.
She is an inspiration.  And I particularly like her 100 Word Challenge.

 

This week’s challenge is Intent. ” Using “intent” for inspiration, write 100 Words – 100 exactly – no more, no less. You can either use the word – or any form of the word – as one of your 100, or it can be implied.”  Click on the link to play along.

 

Here’s my offering:

Her intentions were good, always.  But somehow, what she planned didn’t always work out as she had intended.
Why was it when she bought that large box of special chocolates for her mother, she had forgotten she was diabetic?
How had she forgotten that her best friend had a broken ankle when she suggested a walk along the beach?
And taking that rescue puppy to her sister’s when she had forgotten the kids were scared of animals?
And now it was almost New Year,  This year, her Resolution would be to look at the outcome of her actions before acting.

 

Missing Letter

Well, WordPress is having fun today at leat with my sites. I published this post earlier today and now it’s gone.  Disappeared into the either.  I know it was there as I had at least one comment.  So here it goes again.

A very interesting challenge from Tara at Thin Spiral Notebook this week.
We are challenged to write 100 words without using the letter A.
Could you meet the challenge?  Why not try.

When she woke up she found she’d forgotten to put the clocks to winter time before going to sleep.  Summertime gone; wintertime now in force.

But how to spend the surplus but completely unexpected hour? She decided to spend it in bed.  Should she continue the exciting novel on the desk that she’d been so involved in the night before or should she read posts from those she followed?  Of course, the novel won.

So climbing into bed, she settled down, holding the book, coffee close by she opened the book then continued where she left off, quickly becoming involved.

 

 

 

Missing Letter 2.

 

A very interesting challenge from Tara at Thin Spiral Notebook this week.
We are challenged to write 100 words without using the letter A.
Could you meet the challenge?  Why not try.
Go over to Tara’s site and get the rules and then let’s see what you come up with.

But I misread the Challenge.  I thought you had to write 100 words without using the letter A.
In fact, it was without using the letter N.  Hence, the second post.

She woke up to see that she forgot to put the clocks back the hour at the close of summer time before sleep yesterday.

What to do with the extra hour before her?  So she thought she would use this hour either to read posts from those writers she followed or should she read the book she started the day before.  The book by a fresh author, the story that had completely riveted her from the start?

The book of course.  So back to her bed, book and T-cup close by, she settled to read, for just the allotted time.

I found this on Pinterest. I hope I’m not impinging on anyone’s copyright.