Category: Writing Prompts

Weekend Coffee Share

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coffeeshare

Good Morning!

What a week it’s been.  I made another trip to Goodwill with a full van.  Slowly but surely I am getting this place cleaned out.  The workers at the Goodwill are starting to call me the Cow Lady.  I have taken about fifty cow cookie jars to them.  I collected cows for years, unfortunately, my hubby didn’t seem to recognize the difference between a collector and a hoarder.  He just kept buying me more and more cows.  I am keeping my very favorite cows and parting with the rest.

Do you see the mug in my header graphic?  That is my all-time favorite coffee mug.  It was given to me by a young girl who lived with us for a while until she moved to live with a relative in New York.  The kids always teased me about not being human until after I had had my coffee.

I have been trying to join in with the challenges I enjoy here on WordPress.  I have done fairly well with it this week.  I am looking forward to the weather turning nicer so that I can get outside and do some photography.  Speaking of the weather, last week I had the heat on, this week it hit 80 degrees.  Not that I am complaining.  I am not a fan of winter, and the warm weather brings out the wildlife.  Like this little guy who showed up outside my front door the other night.

firstfrog

These little tree frogs sit by the light outside my door feasting on little bugs.  I just love them.  At.the end of the fall last year there were a ton of baby frogs.  They were so cute.  I know, many people think I am just a little bit crazy about how I feel about the frogs.  🙂  Anyway, they are back and I am so happy about it.

Another episode in the continuing saga of what can go wrong with my house starts like this.  I was washing dishes at the beginning of the week.  After I was finished, while standing 038877575369there in front of the sink drying my hands, I heard water running.  I looked at the faucet and saw that it was turned off.  All of a sudden I got this sick feeling in my stomach.  I opened the cabinet doors under the sink and sure enough, there was water all over.  So, after shutting the water off, I attempted to tighten all the connections but my efforts were unsuccessful.  I was without running water in the kitchen until Friday.  But,  I now have a brand new faucet in my kitchen that works just great!

I am so excited that my neighbor’s geese have started coming down to my house to visit again.  They used to come down to my house twice a day.  Then the stopped coming.  I was so disappointed when that happened.  DSCF1067I guess it’s been two years since they have been here.  Yesterday, I was sitting by the front window and looked up to see them waddling up the driveway.  I was so excited that I jumped up grabbing my camera but just as I got outside a car out on the highway made a very loud noise and it spooked them.  However, I did see my favorite goose, Gus.  I named him.  He is a saddleback goose.  The one with the bright orange beak and black spots on him.  I am hoping they will continue to come down to visit.

I am off to a local quilt show today.  I love to see all of the beautiful quilts that are entered.  This particular show is sponsored by Horry County and they always have a challenge that is a feature at the show.  Short demonstrations on various techniques are offered too.  It’s usually a nice show.

The race is in Atlanta this Sunday.  I am soooo happy NASCAR is back.  Go Kasey!

Have a good week.

Wanda

 

 

Hindsight

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Daily Prompt: Astral

The ship’s captain was showing signs of distress as he hovered over the controls of the ship. Finally, he turned to his junior officer and told him that the ships navigation system was down. Then admitted this was his first time in these waters and he was worried about finding his way back to port.

The junior officer told the captain that he knew how to use the stars in the sky to navigate. The captain just laughed and said no one knows how to do that anymore. I never even learned how to navigate that way. But, since he felt totally lost, he told him to get to it.

So the junior officer began to chart their course according to the bright stars in the sky. Satisfied, he ordered the boat to change course and they headed back to port without incident.

Impressed by the junior officer’s knowledge and cool head, the captain asked him how he learned to navigate that way since the academy no longer required it.  The junior officer told him that his father had taught him when he went along with him on his fishing boat.

After the ship got into port, the captain realized it is always good to have a backup plan in case the same thing happened again.  He gave it a lot of thought.  The next morning the captain signed up for an astral navigation class.

 

Friendly Fill-Ins Week 94

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FFBadge

Here are the questions and my answers to this week’s Friendly Fill-Ins.  If you want to join in click the link below.  🙂

Friendly Fill-Ins Week 94

1. My favorite president is George Washington because he was the first president I ever learned about.  I think he was an honorable man who did his best.

2. This weekend, I have plans to go to a local quilt show with my friend Ruth.
3. I love my hobbies especially quilting.  I have been doing it for 12 years now and I hope that I am getting better at it as time goes on.  I am also having a good time with photography.

4. I believe that if we all learn to work together we can greatly change the world.

Wanda

Katie’s Love

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Daily Prompt:  Conversant

 

seasons

Conversant in the art of needle and thread, the shy Katie walked across the stage to the podium. She smiled at her audience then began her talk about her love of quilting. She shared her many years of working with needle and thread. Then told of how she lovingly made quilts for her children, grandchildren, and her great-grandchildren.

Katie went on to say that through quilting she had made lasting friendships when she became a member of several quilt guilds over the years. Attending many classes and teaching many as well, Katie loved to share her talents with others especially making quilts for those in need.

Her motto, she said is, There is nothing more comforting than being wrapped in a quilt lovingly made with needle and thread. The audience applauded Katie at this point in her presentation.  She was an inspiration to all of the quilters in attendance.

When the audience quieted down, she told them that it didn’t matter if they were hand quilters or made use of sewing machines, have fun doing what you love.  She also said that it was important to realize that every quilt we make doesn’t have to be an heirloom.  The world needs those, it’s true, but it needs those sturdy utilitarian quilts that give love to so many.

After Katie’s wonderful talk about quilting, she went on to show some of her beautiful quilts.

 

 

Steel Pier

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Daily Prompt:  Encrusted

 

diving-horse-231x300
Image from Atlantic City

 

In 1960 when I was nine years old I went to the Steel Pier in Atlantic City, New Jersey.  My great aunts and great uncles loved to drive down to the shore on Sundays and spend the day walking on the boardwalk and this Sunday my mother, brother and I went along with them.

The main attraction was the famous Diving Horse.  I kid you not.  There was actually a horse that would dive off of a tower about 60 feet in the air into a large pool.  Usually, there was a woman sitting on the horse’s back, but sometimes the horse would take the leap by himself.

I can remember it as if I saw it yesterday.  I remember holding my breath until I saw the horse surface and swim to the edge.  I was always afraid that the horse would not survive.

As the horse dove off of the tower, you could hear the gasps of the onlookers.  It was as though everyone held their breath until they saw the horse moving in the pool.  Then the cheers would ring out and the sound of clapping was almost deafening.

 

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Image from Atlantic City Free Library

 

The other attraction on the Steel Pier was the Diving Bell.  It was a ride that would plunge into the ocean when the mechanism was released, it would pop up onto the surface.  The ride lasted only five minutes.  I wanted to go on that ride so much.  But my mother, who was a big baby about rides and such, would not let me go on it.  Maybe it had something to do with the microphones inside the bell that broadcasted the riders screams.  I don’t know.  I do remember my mother bribing me with salt water taffy, cotton candy, and popcorn so that I would stop begging to go on it.

The original bell was lost at sea in the March 1962 storm when a barge broke away and took out a 400-foot section of the pier.  It makes me sad that the famous diving bell that I so wanted to ride on is sitting at the bottom of the ocean off the shore of New Jersey encrusted with barnacles and the home of sea bass, mullet, dog sharks, and flounder.

Wanda

Color Your World

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cyw

Here is my entry for Jennifer’s Color Your World challenge, February 21.

outrageousorange

outrageousorange.png

I am a quilter.  One of the things we quilters do is collect fabric.  I thought I would show you just a portion of my collection of orange fabrics.  I had another big stack in the closet, but I thought this would be a good enough example of the outrageous fabric obsession we quilters share.  🙂

Here are just a few of the “fabric” sayings we quilters & sewers live by.  🙂

My husband lets me buy all the fabric I can hide!
One yard of fabric, like one cookie, is never enough!
Ask not what your fabric can do for you, but what you can do for your fabric.
She who dies with the most fabric wins.
My husband said if I were to buy any more fabric, he would leave me. I’m going to miss him!!
“Fabricologist Resource Centre”…that sounds more impressive than “fabric stash”
I am a material girl. Wanna see my fabric stash.
Behind every sewer is a huge pile of fabric.
I love sewing and have plenty of material witnesses.

Have a good day!

Wanda

Color Your World

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Weekly Challenges hosted by Tourmaline for February 10-24

forestgreen

I shot these photos this morning in my forest behind my house.  The mist was just beginning to lift.

earlymorningmist1

 

mistrising

 

This one is of the moisture dripping off of the branches.  I love how the bark is peeling back off of the branch and the silk threads of a spider’s web between the limbs.

mistdrippingoffbranch

 

pacificblue

I looked up and saw these turkey vultures high in the tree branches.  They just sat there and posed for me.

visitorsinthemist

 

yellow

I took these photos last summer when I was in Florida.  I found these pretty bright yellow wildflowers along a nature walk near the water in Kissimmee.

yellowwildflowerfl20171

 

yellowwildflowerfl20172

 

Wanda

 

 

Grief

Published on by Wanda4 Comments

Daily Prompt:  Constant

oceangrief

I wander around
This big house
Still looking for you.
I have so much to tell you.

You went away
So suddenly, I had
No time to say goodbye.
You couldn’t help it
I know.

Grief is my new partner.
Keeping you present
In my heart and mind.
I miss you.
How do I get over
This pain?

I can’t let you go
No matter how much
It hurts.
There was still so much
living for us to do.

The anger, the sorrow,
The loneliness, the emptiness,
Have become my
Constant companion.

They have become
Like an old friend.
One I can depend on.
One I can sit with
And cry.

I pray that one day
I will reach acceptance,
Maybe even understanding.
Until then, I put
One foot in front
Of the other,
Take one day
At a time, and
Do the best that I can.

Wanda