Words for Wednesday

This meme was started by Delores a long time ago.  Words for Wednesday is now provided by a number of people and has become a movable feast. 

Essentially the aim is to encourage us to write.  Each week we are given a choice of prompts: which can be words, phrases, music or an image.   What we do with those prompts is up to us:  a short story, prose, a song, a poem, or treating them with ignore...  We can use some or all of the prompts.

Some of us put our creation in comments on the post, and others post on their own blog.  I would really like it if as many people as possible joined into this fun meme, which includes cheering on the other participants.  If you are posting on your own blog - let me know so that I, and other participants, can come along and applaud.

The prompts will be here this month but are provided by Margaret Adamson, and her friend Sue Fulcher.  They  have also included photographs by the very talented Bill Dodds.



This week's prompts are:

1. Orange
2. Dizzy
3. Perpendicular
4. Languishing
5. Virtuous
6. Theatre 

And/or

1. Pedestrian
2. Laconic
3. Stable
4. Typewriter
5. Dashing
6. Branches

Have fun.

Next month the words will be on Cindi's blog.  She has very generously said that she will post them on Tuesday so that participants from the Southern Hemisphere will see them on their Wednesday. 

Next year is looking good too, and when my email behaves I will finalise the schedule and post it.  

Sunday Selections #456

Sunday Selections was originally brought to us by Kim, of Frogpondsrock, as an ongoing meme where participants could post previously unused photos languishing in their files.

Huge thanks to Cie who gave me this wonderful Sunday Selections image.
  
The meme was then continued by River at Drifting through life.  Sadly she has now stepped aside (though she will join us some weeks), and I have accepted the mantle.
 
The rules are so simple as to be almost non-existent.  Post some photos under the title Sunday Selections and link back to me. Clicking on any of the photos will make them embiggen. 
 
I usually run with a theme.  While I have been hunkered down disliking myself there have been plenty of things of beauty.

In the sky (at both dawn and dusk)...

In the garden...

I love these burma orchids and they are thriving in several parts of the garden.  And the vandal birds only attacked one of them.

We have lots of these beauties but almost all of them have white stamens.

On a visit to the local library... 

There is a knitting club which meets at the library each week and knits for charity.  I really liked the Noah's ark and its animals (and apologies for the blurred photo - taking photos through reflective glass is challenging).

I cast a looooong shadow don't I?
 
And of course there was a kangaroo fix.

Thank you so much for your comments and emails of support.  They have been much appreciated.  I have now pulled up my big girl pants again and restored comments.

I am still having issues with my email.  I receive emails but cannot reply or send emails to a lot of domains (including but not limited to yahoo and hotmail).  It works briefly and then it fails again.  I have made repeated calls to my ISP and they have promised (again) that it will be fixed by tomorrow.  I am not holding my breath.

Words for Wednesday

This meme was started by Delores a long time ago.  Words for Wednesday is now provided by a number of people and has become a movable feast. 

Essentially the aim is to encourage us to write.  Each week we are given a choice of prompts: which can be words, phrases, music or an image.   What we do with those prompts is up to us:  a short story, prose, a song, a poem, or treating them with ignore...  We can use some or all of the prompts.

Some of us put our creation in comments on the post, and others post on their own blog.  I would really like it if as many people as possible joined into this fun meme, which includes cheering on the other participants.  If you are posting on your own blog - let me know so that I, and other participants, can come along and applaud.

The prompts will be here this month but are provided by Margaret Adamson, and her friend Sue Fulcher.  They  will also include photographs.

This week's prompts are two very evocative photographs taken by Bill Dodds.

Have fun.

Sunday Selections #455

Sunday Selections was originally brought to us by Kim, of Frogpondsrock, as an ongoing meme where participants could post previously unused photos languishing in their files.

Huge thanks to Cie who gave me this wonderful Sunday Selections image.
  
The meme was then continued by River at Drifting through life.  Sadly she has now stepped aside (though she will join us some weeks), and I have accepted the mantle.
 
The rules are so simple as to be almost non-existent.  Post some photos under the title Sunday Selections and link back to me. Clicking on any of the photos will make them embiggen. 
 
I usually run with a theme.  This week I am going down the 'snippets' route.

Unaddressed advertising material (aka junk mail) usually goes straight to recycling and doesn't enter the house.  Last year (about this time) we received a piece from a local real estate agent acting as an agent for Share the Dignity.  This year's Christmas Drive is called '#ITSINTHEBag'.  I participated last year, and kept a watch for it this year - and had fun filling a bag for a homeless/disadvantaged woman.

I hope she enjoys it.  I had fun selecting essentials and some small luxuries.

Then to the birds.

This sulphur crested cockatoo (aka vandal) delighted us one afternoon preening just outside the windows.

 

 And some colour in the garden.

Even just after first light I enjoy the garden.


At the moment I can only send emails through Webmail (my ISP is working on the issue) - and have difficulties even there in sending messages to River, to Cindi, Margaret Adamson, Mark Koopmans and Robyn Engels.  There may be others too.

Thank you so much for your comments and emails of support.  They are very much appreciated, and led me to feel that a brief explanation is in order.  

I am ok(ish).  The fires, while horrendous, are not in my area at the moment.

I always feel inadequate.  I am convinced that anything I do could/should be done better.

While it is not precisely comfortable, most of the time I use that inadequacy to spur myself on to greater effort.  For some time now rather than feel inadequate I have been feeling like a complete and utter waste of space and I wonder whether the world would be better off without me. Feeling like this has led to my blog break while I try and refind some equilibrium.  I should add that I am not actively considering suicide.   I have been in this place before and hope that I will emerge again.  Thank you again for your messages and your patience.

And yes, I have turned the comments off again.

Words for Wednesday

This meme was started by Delores a long time ago.  Words for Wednesday is now provided by a number of people and has become a movable feast. 

Essentially the aim is to encourage us to write.  Each week we are given a choice of prompts: which can be words, phrases, music or an image.   What we do with those prompts is up to us:  a short story, prose, a song, a poem, or treating them with ignore...  We can use some or all of the prompts.

Some of us put our creation in comments on the post, and others post on their own blog.  I would really like it if as many people as possible joined into this fun meme, which includes cheering on the other participants.  If you are posting on your own blog - let me know so that I, and other participants, can come along and applaud.

The prompts will be here this month but are provided by Margaret Adamson, and her friend Sue Fulcher.  They  will also include photographs taken by Margaret's friend Danny McCaughan.

This week's prompts are phrases.

...Add insult to injury

And/or

Nothing ventured...

Have fun.

I am still in a dark place, and also still having email issues.  
My heart goes out to those (human, animal, and birds) who are in the path of the fires tearing through so much of my country at the moment.  

Sunday Selections #454

  Sunday Selections was originally brought to us by Kim, of Frogpondsrock, as an ongoing meme where participants could post previously unused photos languishing in their files.

Huge thanks to Cie who gave me this wonderful Sunday Selections image.
  
The meme was then continued by River at Drifting through life.  Sadly she has now stepped aside (though she will join us some weeks), and I have accepted the mantle.
 
The rules are so simple as to be almost non-existent.  Post some photos under the title Sunday Selections and link back to me. Clicking on any of the photos will make them embiggen. 
 
I usually run with a theme. While our visitor was with us we went back to the Australian National Botanic Gardens.  It was windy that day.  Very windy.  So windy that most of the gardens were closed for safety reasons.  We still spent a very happy couple of hours there - and enjoyed ourselves.  There was colour everywhere we looked.

 

There were plenty of water dragons too, in varying sizes.

We were told that the Eastern Brown Snakes were about too - but didn't see any.

There were birds...

Magpies are one of my favourite birds.  I adore their call.

An Australian Wood duck family.

And a crimson rosella.

There was a heap more colour too.

Do you wonder that we love it?

In other news.  My head is not in a good or a safe place.  I am struggling a bit at the moment and am largely stepping away from the blogosphere.  Despair and darkness are my strongest emotions at the moment and I am in the middle of a vicious attack of the inadequacies, which is a truly rotten time to try and interact with others.

I will continue to post Words for Wednesday, but will probably not play.
I am still working out the schedule for this fun meme for the coming year and will let you know the outcome when it is finalised.  Huge thanks to all those who volunteered to provide the prompts.

I may continue to post splashes of beauty for Sunday Selections but will, as I have this week, turn off the comments.  I hope to return sooner rather than later. 

I hope your lives are full and happy. 

PS:  I am having huge problems with my email at the moment.  When I send a message it appears in my sent folder.  And maybe it has gone, and maybe it hasn't.  So, if you are expecting or waiting for an email from me, please nudge me and I will try again.