It’s Terrasse Time! – Friday Fictioneers

Posted on August 10, 2022 by Dale | 86 Comments

Good Wednesday, my peeps! It’s Friday Fictioneers Day and I could not resist this photo. It kinda called me to do a certain sequel to my story from a couple weeks ago. As always, a thank you to Rochelle, our fearless leader, who, while still frolicking in the ocean, still manages to host our weekly shindig. Should you want to join in and write a story inspired by Roger Bultot’s photo, then click on the frogs below to add your link!

frog, chair, cozy, for two, drink, wine, soaked, cute, sweet, funny, relaxation | Pikist

Click to play

Since you didn’t like my choice last time we got together, you pick.

It was disgusting. And great, it’s terrasse weather. I know just the place.

Terrace weather, you mean.

Terrasse, terrace. The important thing is we sit outside.

In the shade?

Yes, in the shade.

Okay. Meet you there?

7:00 pm.

***

This is your choice?

Yes, this is my choice.

You thought my tables looked like toilets, what the hell is this?

Art.

Art? It’s graffiti!

Stop. The food and drinks are worth it.

They better be.

At least we won’t feel crowded.

Why does that bring me no comfort?

Morning Pages

Posted on August 9, 2022 by Dale | 94 Comments

Whilst chatting with Bill, my favourite writing pluviophile, he mentioned something about doing his “Morning Pages”; or rather, that he had let himself slack off but would be getting back on track, or something to that effect.

What are Morning Pages, you ask? I had to look it up. This was invented by Julia Cameron and is described more fully in her book “The Artist’s Way”. However, it was more a blog post by Shelby of “Little Coffee Fox” that got me even more intrigued.

Apparently, this daily ritual can unleash our creative potential, so to speak – and not limited to the creativity in writing, either. It can help artists of all sorts. The point of this practice is to encourage us away from negative self-talk and away from the fear that holds us back.

Okay, sounds a little woo-woo but hey… I’ve been writing my gratitude journal for over fifteen years and what harm is there in going to bed thinking of five things to be grateful for? It forces me to think of five positive things. Some days the choices are slim but find them, I do.

So. how does this work? Pretty simple. Every morning, first thing, you dump your thoughts by writing three pages in longhand. No plotting or strategizing, just stream of conscious writing. Nothing pretty, punctuation and all that jazz doesn’t really matter. The important thing is to simply write whatever comes to mind and to not stop until you have three pages worth. What if you run out of things to say? Find anything. Just do it. Oh, and here’s the best part.

NEVER READ WHAT YOU WRITE.

More importantly,

NEVER LET ANYONE ELSE READ WHAT YOU WRITE.

It’s a brain dump. Let it out. And let it go. You can’t let it go if you go back to it, can you?

Alrighty then. I am three days in. A little early to see if anything comes from it but I like what Glitter Guide said after she tried it for thirty days: she missed her therapist a bit less and her mind felt less cluttered as she started the day. Did she have any big creative breakthroughs? No. But she was open to the possibility.

And so am I.

Now, if I can just stop calling them Morning Papers maybe Prince will stop taking up space in my head…

It’s Gonna Be a Bumpy Ride – Friday Fictioneers

Posted on August 3, 2022 by Dale | 135 Comments

Hello my peeps. Lovely to see you on this first hump day in August. How it is already August when July was barely a day long is beyond me, but I digress. Rochelle may be off cavorting in the ocean on vacay but she still manages to host this weekly shindig. She is a rockstar, eh? When I saw this photo by the super-talented Sandra Crook, I knew exactly where I wanted to go. Then I remembered (vaguely) that I was pretty sure I had written about this experience before. Dang it! A search revealed that I did. Back in June, 2017. Wait… back in 2017… who the hell is gonna remember it anyhow, right? Right. And, hey, it happens that others repost old stuff. This is more of a rearranging. Apologies to those who do remember it. I was surprised to see the number of Fictioneers from then who are still around today. Hope the newbies enjoy… If you’ve got an idea for a 100-word original story, then by all means, do click on the frog below and add your link. G’head. It’s fun 🙂

Frog Driving Car Stock Illustrations – 99 Frog Driving Car Stock Illustrations, Vectors & Clipart - Dreamstime

Click me to play!

“Total gridlock, Mon, in Sint Maarten! We’re gonna miss the boat!”

The walkie-talkie crackled with Sébastien’s voice. “If I make a move, you guys gonna follow?”

“Hah! Go? There’s nowhere to go!” Mick grumbled.

Karl’s voice came on, “We’re in!”

Suddenly Sébastien’s jeep, followed closely by Karl’s, passed us on the left. On the sidewalk. People scurried out of the way.

“Are they stupid?”

“You best be stupid, too, if you don’t wanna miss the boat!” I yelled. The song “Bumpy Ride” came on the radio. Serendipity? A sign?

“Put the music up louder!”

“Whoo hoo! Go, Daddy, Go!”

Weekend Writing Prompt #270 – Jamboree

Posted on July 31, 2022 by Dale | 93 Comments

A word prompt to get your creativity flowing this weekend. How you use the prompt is up to you. Write a piece of flash fiction, a poem, a chapter for your novel…anything you like. Or take the challenge below – there are no prizes – it’s not a competition but rather a fun writing exercise. If you want to share what you come up with, please leave a link to it in the comments. And it’s still the weekend, so, yay me! Thank you, Sammi, for hosting this weekly jamboree… okay, it’s more low-key than that, but still 😉

There is a time and place for parties that go big and loud. And for me, that place is in the past. Let’s just say I’ve become less enthusiastic.

Our last family cruise vacation in March 2020, (just before the shit hit the fan and the world stopped) was an exception. Three generations at the back of the ship drinking and dancing and raising hell qualifies as big and loud.

That aside, the kind of jamboree I seek out now is one brought on by nature.

Happy Wife, Free Man? – Friday Fictioneers

Posted on July 27, 2022 by Dale | 120 Comments

Well, well, well… Would you look at this coinkidink? It is the Brilliant Birthday Boy Bill’s photo today! And Rochelle chose today to use it for Friday Fictioneers. How cool is that? Well, I, for one, think it is so there. So, apologies, Bill and Yolonda. I done used ya. But all in good fun, o’ course! Should you have a great 100-word story you’d like to share, inspired by this here photograph, just click on the frog below and add your link. Easy peasy!

Oh, and Happy Birthday Bill!! 😘

Photo by Brazen Birthday Boy Bill Reynolds

A Dancing Frog and Inside A Greenhouse Background in 2022 | Greenhouse, Background, Plant shelves

Click me!

Quite the spread you have here, Bill.

Thanks. There’s a shit-ton of work to do but that’s okay. Work never killed nobody.

Beg to differ—

Shaddap! You know what I mean; don’t be so pedantic.

Just pulling your leg. How far’s it go?

I have about 50 acres in all.

Holy shit! What are gonna do with all that space?

The wife wants a greenhouse. This one seems to have good bones, so it’s a start.

What about you?

Once she’s happy puttering in her flowers, I’ll be free to do what I want.

***

That’s what you think!

Oh, hey, Yolonda…

Shift In Gears – dVerse

Posted on July 26, 2022 by Dale | 134 Comments

There is no way in hell I could resist this fantabulous challenge, issued by Lillian, for dVerse in which it’s all about Ben & Jerry’s ice cream… More particularly, the flavours listed below (the dates are when they were in service or laid to rest. But here’s the rub. We cannot write about ice cream, AND, we cannot change the names of the flavours. The only thing we are allowed to do is add punctuation and play with the capitalisation. We could use one or two or, in my case, ALL of the flavours. Hope you smile as much as I did, writing this baby! We actually visited the factory back in 2010 so…

At the factoryChange is Brewing – current Half-Baked – created in 2000 -still going strong Urban Bourbon – 2017 -still going strong Coffee Coffee Buzzbuzzbuzz – current Wavy Gravy – 1993 – 2001 Urban Jumble – 2000 -2001 Dastardly Mash – 1979 – 1991 Miz Jelena’s Sweet Potato Pie – 1992 – 1993 Goodbye Yellow Brick Road – limited edition available July 18 to 25, 2008 Late Night Snack – 2010 – 2014
Imagine Whirled Peace – 2007 – 2013 Sugar Plum – 1989 – 1990 Economic Crunch – only in 1987 during the stock market crash
This is Nuts 2001 – 2002

A change is brewing, my dear

the time has come

What do I mean, my Sugar Plum?

It’s time for what?

I’ll tell you what!

To say goodbye, Yellow Brick Road

This urban jumble of a jungle

This constant coffee, coffee, buzzbuzzbuzz

This is nuts, I say, nuts!

This economic crunch forces us

to go go go, a dastardly mash

a non-stop dash

And for what I tell you?

For some half-baked notion

that more is more?

Well, it’s not

I wanna slow things down

feel wavy gravy while we partake

of the urban bourbon of life, slow-like

while we imagine a whirled peace

a different way of living

Are you in? What say you? Wait.

How about this? We’ll have a slice of

Miz Jelena’s Sweet Potato Pie, or,

if you prefer, some key lime instead,

And plan for our shift in gears.

Design Flaws – Friday Fictioneers

Posted on July 20, 2022 by Dale | 169 Comments

It’s Wednesday. Oh. Em. Gee…. So, this happened! I wasn’t gonna but then, with fifteen minutes left to work, I didn’t want to start something I couldn’t finish so I looked at the FF prompt and suddenly a story popped into my head. How do you like them apples, Rochelle? Fleur Lind’s photo sent me nowhere I thought it would. Should you have a grand idea inspired by this photo, then please click on the frog below and add the link to your 100-word story.

Hey! Good timing! I didn’t order you anything yet, since I wasn’t sure what your mood was.

Smart. It’s like you know me.

I do. Are you in a bourbon mood? Beer? Martini? Couldn’t chance it, yanno?

Hah! Smartass. What is UP with this table?

Funky design, eh?

Crappy, if you ask me.

Crappy?

Yeah, it looks like a toilet bowl. It’s gross.

Jesus. The things you see…

Babe. Seriously. Look at it! They could at least have made the inside white.

Oh, great. Now all I can see is diarrhea.

Guzzle that. We are outta here.

Copy that. Next!

For Our Lovely Sorceress, Resa

Posted on July 19, 2022 by Dale | 77 Comments

Little birdies know this that month is the one when our Sensational Sorceress of Silk, our Goddess of the Graffiti, our friend and fellow blogger was brought into the world. The exact date remains unknown so our little group made up of Gigi, from Rethinking Life, Beth from I didn’t have my glasses on…, Holly, from House of Heart and me decided that we would celebrate our friend today. Mid-month should keep us safe, right?

Resa brings nothing but joy to us all through her blogs Graffiti, Lux Art and More, as well as her impossibly beautiful gowns at Art Gowns. She has made us all gorgeous as her AGM models and created wondrous stories to go with her wonderful drawings.

She adds sparkle to the world and I could not think of any better image to represent her than fireworks!

My dear Sorceress, from me all of us, we wish you a most wonderful and happy birthday! (Not your AGMs, but hey, this is my bouquet to you!)

Lotsa love,

Thunder

xoxoxo💞💞💞💞💞xoxoxo

Fairy Tale Redux – Friday Fictioneers

Posted on July 6, 2022 by Dale | 133 Comments

Wednesday is here and – gasp! I am participating for the second week in a row! Wild. Rochelle is both hostess and photographer, this week. A thanks goes out to you, Miss Thang, for being at your post week after week.

I fear I have lacked originality this week but so be it. It is what it is and for some strange reason, the idea I had before starting to type was something completely different but my brain could not seem to control my fingers. It’s my story and I’m sticking to it 😉 Should you have a better take, they please, by all means, click on the frog below and add your link! G’head! I’d love to read it 🙂

I hate fairy tale gift frog fairy elf' Men's Vintage T-Shirt | Spreadshirt

G’head click to play

Tell me a story, please, Mom.

Fairy tale or a real story?

Fairy tale. Real life is too unbelievable.

Hah! Gotcha. Classic? Rumpelstiltskin?

With your twist.

That’s my girl! Lemme see…

“Once upon…”

Really, Mom?

Shhh. Quiet. “Once upon a time a farmer’s daughter met a goofy-looking elf. He had these sweet powers and could turn anything to gold. So they partnered up and made a fortune selling golden strands of wool. He really wanted a kid so they adopted one. He stayed home, while she took care of business.”

Why adopt?

Lots of ragamuffins back then.

Win-win for all.

Restocking – Friday Fictioneers

Posted on June 30, 2022 by Dale | 132 Comments

It’s Thursday! Last working day of the week for us Canucks as tomorrow is Canada Day. I hemmed and hawed. I thought and pondered. I went here and then there and came up with this! The Wisoff-Fields are in cahoots this week as hostess and supplier of photo. Thank you Jan for your image and Rochelle for your always diligent presence on this jaunts! Should you wish to play along, you can click on Rochelle’s name for the what’s what or go directly to the frog and link up your 100-word story. Happy Thursday y’all!