Wednesday, 8 November 2023

Words for Wednesday 8/11/2023




This meme was started by Delores a long time ago.  Computer issues led her to bow out for a while.  The meme was too much fun to let go, and now Words for Wednesday is 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, and mixing and matching is encouraged.

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.

Huge thanks to  Sean Jeating for providing the prompts last month. The prompts will be here again this month and are provided by  Alex J. Cavanaugh

This week's prompts are:

  • Cumquat
  • Blubber
  • Quest
  • Limestone
  • Furry
  • Purple

     


And/or 


  • Buttress
  • Mammoth
  • Fedora
  • Harsh
  • Snickerdoodle
  • Overlord

Charlotte (MotherOwl)  has given us Mint Green as the colour of the month.  If you can also incorporate it into your stories she (and I) will be grateful.

Have fun.

In related news.  This year is rapidly drawing to a close and I am seeking people who are happy to provide the prompts (either here or on your own blog) next year.  If you are able to do so, please let me know in the comments, stating which month suits and whether you will post here or on your own blog.  I hope to be able to post next year's schedule some time next month.  Some kind souls have put up their hands, but I need more.

 

 

81 comments:

  1. A CUMQUAT (or Kumquat) is a fine and lovely fruit as anyone will tell you, even those who haven’t had the pleasure of eating one. Lots of PURPLE prose has been devoted to the lowly cumquat. In your QUEST for dietary excellence, with the aim of not piling on more BLUBBER you could do much worse than nibble on a cumquat, and unlike peaches or Kiwi fruit it is not FURRY. It will BUTTRESS your Vitamin C too, and we all know that’s a good thing. There’s no HARSH taste and while it may not have the appeal of a SNICKERDOODLE , it’s good for you, for god’s sake. We all know that MAMMOTHS roamed the Earth for at least a half million years, only finally vanishing about 20,00 years ago. They were the OVERLORDS of the savannah and we can learn much about them based on fossils found in LIMESTONE deposits. I have to scratch my head under my FEDORA, however, as I ponder the most seminal question of all. Did mammoths eat cumquats? We all know what happened to them.

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    1. David M. Gascoigne: Drat you - and now you have me wondering whether mammoths ate cumquats. I do hope they had the opportunity. As always, I really enjoyed your take on the prompts.

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    2. Piling on more blubber - I like that!

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    3. Hi David - good one ... I suspect the poor mammoths squashed the cumquats in their hedges ... but fun story including all the words. Cheers Hilary

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    4. Did mammoths eat cumquats ... now we'll all be wondering. Thanks for the words!

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    5. I believe mammoths were cold weather creatures, and cumquats are a tropical fruit. Although I am simply speculating.

      Nice use of the prompts!

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    6. Well done and always educational from David.
      XO
      WWW

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    7. This is grand, David:)
      Sandra sandracox.blogspot.com

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  2. Hi, Sue: Please add my name to those who will supply prompts. Pick the month that best fits your needs. I will post on your blog.

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    1. Hi Sue - add my name to the prompt list ... again when it suits you ... I could do January - if that would help ... but otherwise - whenever ... cheers Hilary

      I'll be back with my WFW tales shortly ...

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  3. Nicole had two choices. She could burst into racking sobs (blubber as her family put it) or at least attempt the mammoth job her fedora wearing overlord had set.
    He knew that she was technologically inept but had set a harsh task in front of her. A quest of sorts she supposed, to try and satisfy two people with such different tastes. His wife wanted their house to be decorated in cutting edge style and he wanted the colour scheme nailed. No purple he insisted. Or furry looking soft furnishings. He leaned towards limestone bench tops and fresh mint green walls. Nicole knew that wouldn’t be enough for Sarah. Taking her courage in both hands she opened the graphics program and entered the brief details he had given her. Then she toggled the snickerdoodle scanning through multitudes of colour and texture combinations. Eureka! Cumquat was the accent colour she wanted.
    She would print off the details and give it to him, secure in the knowledge that knowledge of his extra marital affairs (plural) gave her an excellent buttress against the fear of being sacked.
    And yes I do know that snickerdoodles are sweet treats – one that I have never seen or tried. It just sounds to me like a graphic artist’s thingamajig to scroll through colours. Forgive me.

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    1. To my understanding, a snickerdoodle is basically a sugar cookie with cinnamon added. I've had them. They're good.

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    2. Funny use of the word. Yeah, they're a crunchy cookie.

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    3. LOL! "Snickerdoodle" does seem like it should fall in the same class as "thingamajig" and "whatsit". (But snickerdoodles are yummy; thingamajigs and whatsits tend not to be.)

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    4. Mint green walls and cumquat accents sounds like something from the 70s. I hope Nicole manages to please both of them. Without having to play the blackmail card.

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    5. Hi Sue - brilliant ... love thingamajig!! Clever take on the words ... climbing the walls - cheers Hilary

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    6. Oh yes, I also thought snickerdoodles were some subspecies of thingamajigs - now I'm wiser I might try to bake some. I like your story, and thanks for including my colour.

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    7. I'm glad she got the assignment nailed. You used the words nicely and I agree, snickerdoodle is a funny name.

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    8. Always handy to have a bit of blackmail on the side. Great take EC!
      XO
      WWW

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    9. Woo hoo. Loved this. You did a grand job. Held my interest all the way through.
      My mom made snickerdoodles when I was growing. They were amazing. It's a cinnamon cookie.

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  4. Nothing like a little potential blackmail to grease the wheels!

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  5. It might be a way to get traffic to my poetry blog if I provide the prompts. I'm open to January, February, March, May, June, July, August, or December.
    I'll be incorporating these words into a story I can't share yet. First draft for a publisher I haven't worked with before. We'll see what happens!
    Here's something I did with words (not these words) this past Sunday.
    https://poetryofthenetherworld.blogspot.com/2023/11/blackout-poem.html

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    1. Ornery Owl of Naughty Netherworld Press and Readers Roost. I would love to have you join us, but sadly I would have to ask that you remove comment moderation from those posts. This meme needs people to be able to see and comment on other people's contributions. I will email you.

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  6. The first lot: ... cheers Hilary

    Look Dahling you really must learn to spell … a blueberry is a blueberry – not a blubber; it's blue, not purple … also not mint green as you insist on describing those hedges outside.

    Could you get your head out of the kumquats – fragrant though they may be … and make sure the children know that these are from the limequat hybrid – a cross between the Key lime and the kumquat.

    Dahling … could you get on with making the Keylime-Kumquat pie … pretty please … my folks will be here soon.

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    1. Hilary Melton-Butcher: This is great fun - though I suspect I would not warm to either of the characters. Dahling sets my teeth on edge for starters.

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    2. Yup Sue - 'Dahling' sets my teeth on edge ... but perhaps from David, I'll tolerate it and laugh it off ... cheers Hilary

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    3. Huh, what a story!" But Key lime-kumquat pie sounds tempting.

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    4. Nicely done, and I'd like to try the pie, also.

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    5. Great pie, I'd love to try it but not with those people!
      XO
      WWW

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    6. Hehe. This was thoroughly fun to read, dahling;)
      Sandra sandracox.blogspot.com

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  7. Fun! Enjoy the rest of your week my dear friend :)

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    1. DeniseinVA: It is fun isn't it? You have a great week too.

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  8. Still pulling my hair over these prompts. But I can supply prompts for a month of your choosing next year on my blog.

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    1. Charlotte (MotherOwl): Thank you. I am looking forward to seeing where Alex's words take you. Do you have any preference for a particular month?

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    2. Thanks. They're tough for me - not words I would use for my Susan-story, so I have to go elsewhere.
      And no, I have no preferences for any month. I pre-post them in January anyway ;)

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    3. When I let go of the fixation on Susan and her world, the story almost wrote itself. Here you are: WfW

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    4. Charlotte (MotherOwl) I have read and enjoyed it.

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  9. I'll go write, then come back to leave a link and read.

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    1. messymimi: I very much enjoyed reading where the prompts took you.

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  10. I have my first sentence already written, but the rest may take some time.

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    1. River: I look forward to reading your story on Friday morning.

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  11. I was on a quest in some limestone cliffs looking for the elusive purple furry cumquat but some blubber kept me out of the small crevice.

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    1. Mike: A furry cumquat? Eeeuw. Even before the blubber appeared.

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    2. blubber up a cliff ... most definitely not a good idea - I hope the fat melts away with shock at being up the cliff. Horrible to think about!! Cheers Hilary

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    3. Now who put the blubber up there? Someone who would like you to not find the furry cumquats?

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    4. Succinct, and not something I'd want to quest after (even if my story had a similar quest).

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  12. The harsh overlord in his fancy fedora would buttress his idea for a mammoth snickerdoodle.

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  13. Nice tales..

    “Did you see that CUMQUAT growing over there Jane,?”
    “No”, said Jane, “I’m too busy looking at this beautiful PURPLE coloured LIMESTONE and watching my FURRY cat at the same time”.
    You see the two girls were on their way down the cliff with Angel’s cat on a lead. What magic they saw when they edged closer to the seacliff to see the Seals BLUBBER, how healthy they all looked.

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    1. Margaret D: Now that is an adventure I would love to go on - though a cat on a lead can be challenging. I am so glad that the seals are healthy.

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    2. It sounds like a fun adventure for two plus a cat.

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    3. Love the seals image. I would have them sunning on the beach in front of my last house and you brought the memory back.
      XO
      WWW

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  14. I will feed this mammoth snickerdoodles so he won't eat my fedora.

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    1. Sandi: Big smiles - though I suspect that having enough snickerdoodles to feed a mammoth would require a LOT of baking.

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    2. Sounds like a good idea, but I agree with EC. That would take a load of snickerdoodles ;)

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    3. I do believe the cookies will taste better to the mammoth than the hat.

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    1. Authors with Advice: They always are. It is a great meme isn't it?

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  16. No me siento muy inspirada, pero he leído todas las aportaciones que han llegado.
    Como sugerencias para una historia y pensando en la fiesta de la Navidad, voy a ponerlo muy fácil.
    * Navidad
    * Niños
    * Alegría
    * Canciones
    * Flores de Pascua
    * Regalos
    Un abrazo

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    1. VENTANA DE FOTO: Thank you. Wisewebwoman is providing the prompts next month - I wonder whether any of your suggestions will be included. Enjoy the season.

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  17. The prompts are quite unexpected, I can't think of anything right now but will think about it. BTW, you have 'buttress' twice on the list.

    I would like to supply prompts/host the prompts for one of months, any month will do. It's so strange to think next year is coming up so soon. It's like the year just sped up, I haven't quite caught yet.

    Have a lovely day.


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    1. lissa: Thank you - both for volunteering to provide the prompts and for pointing out the double buttress. I thought I had fixed that, but it seems not. And yes, Alex's prompts are indeed a challenge.

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  18. Got a kick out of David's story, made me laugh. Hard to believe the year is coming close to the end. Time is too fast. I'd like to slow things down. Had to laugh when I saw the word cumquat. It made me think of years ago when I pregnant. When my feet would swell and be all puffy I said I had cumquat toes. Haven't thought about that in years, and don't think I've used the word since then either.

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    1. Sandy: Cumquat toes? That sounds incredibly uncomfortable. I hope you haven't had them since that time. David's story was great wasn't it?

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    2. Sandy - cumquat toes? just brilliant description - though no doubt I'd have felt for you at the time!! Cheers Hilary

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  19. Harsh snickerdoodle
    Morning morning light
    Our furry overLord
    On a Cumquat
    Blubber Quest.
    Limestone, Furry,
    Purple.Fedora
    My Harsh
    Snickerdoodle!

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    1. Cloudia: Well done. Harsh snickerdoodle is a juxtaposition that would never have occurred to me.

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    2. I wonder what was in the snickerdoodle - poison?
      XO
      WWW

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    3. Hi Cloudia - clever poem ... thank you = cheers Hilary

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  20. Following on with my story of Dahlia and Edward. All words and yes, colour used! Challenging prompts!
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Hello Dahlia
    I am now back in St. John’s and I did try calling you but alas, voicemail.
    I dropped by the magnificent limestone gallery in a quest to locate you, wearing my respectable fedora and my clean grey suit but that mammoth of an owner behaved as an overlord - her towering purple hairdo quite intimidating -responding in harsh tones to my inquiries as to your whereabouts. A buttress of a woman brooking no nonsense from me.
    Oddly, there was an enormous bowl of what looked like furry cumquats along with a platter of snickerdoodles on the reception desk. Art pieces? Edibles?
    I didn’t dare ask la formidable in her mint green mumu. She would have reduced me to blubber.
    Where are you?
    Yours,
    Anxious and intimidated.
    Edward

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    1. Wisewebwoman: Oooh. I love this and am hoping fervently that all is resolved next week,

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    2. The plot thickens! I also hope you can keep going.

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  21. Good meme and great prompt. Fun reading all the entries!

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    1. Romance Reader: It is a wonderful meme isn't it?

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