Inspirations, the Stories Space Coffee House: If you're reading this it just might mean I'm back, sorta. If you're not reading this, well, congratulations.

Quote by verbal
It's gonna be an annoying ton of work, getting everything ready.

Yeah, when we finally put our current place on the market, I can see needing to sink some money and energy into it first. Still a few years off, though. Not until I retire (she's retired now).

Sara. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. You kept your promise so quickly. Different flavoured shortbreads in three jars. Magic! I could just sit here munching, and sipping hot chocolate, but my unfinished romantic story 'The Red Umbrella' begs attention so I can't linger . But thank you (or have I already said that?)

Congrats to all comp finalists!! What a fantastic array of stories in the entire competition! Great stuff! And a big thank you to Molly for all the organisation. ❤

Nice to catch up with everyone's news too! I grab and coffee and biccies from the Elmo jar while I'm here!

Quote by henrietta_fielding
I grab and coffee and biccies from the Elmo jar while I'm here!

Hi Henrietta, Enjoy your biccies but lay off the shortbread. I'm assuming that Sara, out of the goodness of her heart, made them especially at my request.

How are you anyway? Haven't been in touch for a while, I trust that life is treating you well.

Short bread. Long pork. What’s the difference?

If you don’t know, don’t ever request or eat long pork. I wrote a story about it but never published it. Maybe I should. I will if we have a competition theme pertaining to it. 😉

Sadly, winter is here to stay. This is the first winter in my life that I’m cursing it. I guess I’ve hit that age. Sigh.

So much rain in British Columbia. Sections of major highways, including the Coca Cola highway, as I call it, have been washed away. This kind of stuff doesn’t happen in Canada. Climate changes dictate they do now. Hot and firey in the spring and summer, wet and floody in the fall and winter. Sigh again.

Last night, Team Canada and Mother Nature beat Team Mexico at their own game - devious game day tactics. Canada bested Mexico on and off the pitch yesterday, 2-1 in snowy, -10 C weather, or as we Canuckleheads call it, shorts & T-shirt weather. Mexico then, at the end of the World Cup pre-qualifier match, cleared the sidelines and tried to start a bench-clearing brawl a la hockey. I suppose when in Rome (or hockeyland)…

Canada should be going to Barain/Ba Rain/Brain (come on spell check, help a guy out!) in 2022 for the World Cup.

Have a groovy day everyone!

Ping, Given your spooky success I'm sure you could work wonders with a story about cannibals, (long pig) is their main meal.

And just to ahow what a smart a-- I am, it is Bahrain, but surely Canada haven't qualified--oh, boy, we Brits have a great chance.

Quote by redwriter

Ping, Given your spooky success I'm sure you could work wonders with a story about cannibals, (long pig) is their main meal.

And just to ahow what a smart a-- I am, it is Bahrain, but surely Canada haven't qualified--oh, boy, we Brits have a great chance.

This footie qualifying thing is beyond me. I don’t know how it works but the announcers from last night’s match were seemingly counting unhatched chickens or pollo (Spanish for chicken?). Next to the Masters in April, the World Cup is my favourite global sporting event. I love the colours, especially now with high definition TV. My favourite team is Cameroon because I like yelling, “Ka-mar-ooooooooooooon!”

Now that I think about it, I’ve written two stories on the above said topic. One is a short funny, the other is dark, sordid, gender-fluid (no innuendo pun intended) soul-searching (and digesting) tale, with contemporary slant and a murderous twist. It even involves Limoncello. Yummy. 🤣

No Talia Wednesday! It's Fun With Googly Eyes day! The cats are not amused.

Nice to see you Red. You too Henrietta! Ping, Ape.

The weather is turning colder, but Thanksgiving is nearing, which is my favorite holiday--Christmas without all the gift-buying hoopla. Just good food and togetherness.

Time to fight the blank page. A coffee and a stack of cookies, please.

Quote by redwriter

Ping, Given your spooky success I'm sure you could work wonders with a story about cannibals, (long pig) is their main meal.

And just to ahow what a smart a-- I am, it is Bahrain, but surely Canada haven't qualified--oh, boy, we Brits have a great chance.

Actually, we are apparently quite close to qualifying. Given that our women regularly play, and even make the later rounds, in the Women's World Cup, our men need to up their game and it is starting to look like Qatar might just be the one.

Good afternoon, folks. Was at my first large in-person meeting since March 2020, hence my absence. Fun to see people again. And I now know that my vaccine passport is valid and works (the venue was checking).

Putting on some coffee and tea. Hot water for other drinks is available.

Hi peeps

A beautiful day here even though it is chilly

Good to see everyone in here

A large hot chocolate with a double handful of MARSHYMALLOWS would be great.

Productive morning untangling family trees and now a break from it for Thanksgiving holiday no more trees until December 1 unless someone calls me to help at their home .

Even had a small window to look at my own family tree and that was interesting.

Peeking in the cookie jars yay still in good shape.

Giving the adorable critters fresh water and treats

Stay safe everyone

Marshymallows? Is that a new thing? frantically checks supplier catalogues

Family trees are most interesting when there's some ... um ... odd ornaments on them. Alas, mine is rather dull. Ministers, lawyers, doctors, cheese makers (at least i know where my love of old cheddar came from, eh), hardware merchants. No cool scandals found so far and that's after my uncle, my mother, and my brother have all had swings at it.

Good morning, storytellers and story readers! The coffee is brewing and there's a fresh pot of Red Rose. Also a big thermos of hot water for other teas or hot chocolate. Marshmallows (both the public stock and Sara's) have been restocked. Not sure about the marshymallows, though.

Family trees can be fascinating though. I've traced my father's line back to 1815 and found an amazing number of births occurring just four or five months after the marriage of mothers and fathers. They didn't talk about that sort of thing in those days.

Now, could I try that a cup of that Red Rose that everyone is talking about, please? Along with a lemon shortbread.

And I'll take a cuppa Red Rose, please, with a couple of GF cookies, with thanks to Sara!

Grey, overcast day here. I'm going to try to put my head down and actually, you know, WRITE something!

Broke 31K words. Is it any good? Who knows? It is fun to write (so far).

Cold sunny day, which is kind of bracing. Lunch with youngest later, meaning I've got to hit the keyboard early, and soon.

I have a lovely googly eyed work of art for you today, but I am too lazy to upload it, so I'll just tell you: a googly eyed electric toothbrush!

Coffee and a yummy cookie please.

Sixty, six-toed cats.

Solve the meaning or identify the significance of that reference and Verbs will send you a signed copy of his 1985 Verbs’ Beefcake Calendar, with him sporting big ass ‘80’s hair and bombastic ’80’s flair.

Hi peeps

Scott no need to panic .. MARSHYMALLOWS is what my grandson who is 7 has always called marshmallows

A beautiful day here chilly but the sun is shining.

A large iced coffee sounds yummy.

Not a lot going on today plans were cancelled so it's a chill at home day.

I do have fresh cookies! Moving the old cookies to the emergency cookie tins behind the counter and filling the cookie jars to the tippy top

Today's offerings are fun fruit shaped sugar cookies that are diabetic friendly and gluten free friendly too. Fruit shaped cookies : apples , bananas, pineapple, watermelon, lemons,limes, strawberries, kiwis,cherries and peaches

Thought different sugar cookies would be fun and keep the cookies interesting ! Bunch of new cookie recipes to try out for the holiday season.:)

Giving the adorable critters fresh water and treats

Stay safe everyone

Quote by Ping

Sixty, six-toed cats.

Solve the meaning or identify the significance of that reference and Verbs will send you a signed copy of his 1985 Verbs’ Beefcake Calendar, with him sporting big ass ‘80’s hair and bombastic ’80’s flair.

Ping, all I can say is, there's the right way, the wrong way, and the Hemming way.

Quote by verbal

Quote by Ping

Sixty, six-toed cats.

Solve the meaning or identify the significance of that reference and Verbs will send you a signed copy of his 1985 Verbs’ Beefcake Calendar, with him sporting big ass ‘80’s hair and bombastic ’80’s flair.

Ping, all I can say is, there's the right way, the wrong way, and the Hemming way.

One of the world’s wackiest, that is for certain. You pounced on that like Mike Tyson on ears. Guess you don’t want to part with one of your NYC modelling reminders.

Quote by Ping

Quote by verbal

Quote by Ping

Sixty, six-toed cats.

Solve the meaning or identify the significance of that reference and Verbs will send you a signed copy of his 1985 Verbs’ Beefcake Calendar, with him sporting big ass ‘80’s hair and bombastic ’80’s flair.

Ping, all I can say is, there's the right way, the wrong way, and the Hemming way.

One of the world’s wackiest, that is for certain. You pounced on that like Mike Tyson on ears. Guess you don’t want to part with one of your NYC modelling reminders.

If I can dig up my long-haired NYC head shot from back in the day, I promise to post it for 24 hours. You will, I promise, be highly entertained.

200 words to go for the day. Feets don't fail me now.

Quote by verbal
Feets don't fail me now.

If you used your hands, it would probably be quicker.🤣

Quote by Ping
Sixty, six-toed cats.

This is either cute and cuddly or mind-blasting horror. I am on the fence right now.

And apple and a kiwi cookie should go nicely with evening green tea.

Quote by verbal

Quote by Ping

Quote by verbal

Quote by Ping

Sixty, six-toed cats.

Solve the meaning or identify the significance of that reference and Verbs will send you a signed copy of his 1985 Verbs’ Beefcake Calendar, with him sporting big ass ‘80’s hair and bombastic ’80’s flair.

Ping, all I can say is, there's the right way, the wrong way, and the Hemming way.

One of the world’s wackiest, that is for certain. You pounced on that like Mike Tyson on ears. Guess you don’t want to part with one of your NYC modelling reminders.

If I can dig up my long-haired NYC head shot from back in the day, I promise to post it for 24 hours. You will, I promise, be highly entertained.

200 words to go for the day. Feets don't fail me now.

I knew it. No one who’s lived in NYC and has been arrested three times has not ever had long hair. Since you have a David Gilmour vibe (not the sex toy but just the appearance of being a dildo), 😜 see what I did there, I suspect we’ll see a Pompei concert look, unless you had the shaggy Peter Frampton/Robert Plant mop, or, dare I say, the Art Garfunkel Jew-fro, but my money is on straight, silky-smooth, ankle-length Crystal Gayle locks. You’ll be in drag too.

“… gunna make my brown eyes blue… “

I’ll have what Rump’s having. Geez, I hope he can get back on a regular basis. The change has not be easy for him.

I'm not overly fond of Hemingway's work, but he did love his cats, extra toes and all. Who else would think of making sure they would do well after he was gone.

Had a few beautiful sunny 70 degree days. Wind and rain return tonight. I love it but was happy about the good weather so the roofers could put on our new roof. It was amazingly loud, and my cats were not bothered in the least. They'd look at the ceiling at times and go back to sleep. They have the right attitude.

I am trying to decide on the pie selection for Thanksgiving. I always want to try something new, but then everyone will lament their favorite pie missing.

I thought you might like this, Jeff.

Good morning and Happy Fry Day!! It's the day when we all got out for what my shawarma place calls "STIX" (rice is ROX). Or maybe I'm just goofing off.

Coffee is in the pot, tea is Earl Grey, hot water is ready for all what need it. Marshmallow supply seems good right now but I'm sure the chip shortage will impact it somehow. 😜

Might finally get back to my story for the Ghost Orchid Press comp this weekend. The deadline (end of month) draws near so I need to finalize it, convert it from Google Docs to Word, and get it in.

Thanks for the googly eyed love, Gil.

Today's entry is below.

So, is it 60 six-toed cats, or 66 toed cats, or one giant 66 toed cat?

Not much going on. 32,243 words. I'll break 33k today.

I won't go into politics, but some upsetting news just came down on the news. I'm gonna turn to the solace of the blank page. See you all soon.

Coffee and a cookie would improve my mood.

Ooh, almost forgot. This one's a self portrait. Note the goatee.

Quote by verbal

Ooh, almost forgot. This one's a self portrait. Note the goatee.

Two surprising things: THAT verdict and the proximity that electrical outlet is to your shower. Yikes. While standing in your shower, you can reach the outlet. Unless the picture’s perspective is off, that is a huge building code violation. And back to the news… That verdict. Wow. How?

Cheese and crackers, please. Any kind will do. Some ice water too.

Good morning! It's the weekend and as Loverboy (Canadian rock band) said, "Everybody's working for the weekend." Well, except retired people, I guess. And the unemployed. And probably some other groups I'm forgetting. Okay, many people are working for the weekend. Except that doesn't fit the tune. 😕

There's some fresh coffee in the pot and tea du jour is Scottish Breakfast. Hot water is ready for other teas, hot chocolate, etc. For those needing a quick feed, I've added some cups of instant ramen. Just add hot water and steep for three or four minutes. Several flavours, including a couple spicy ones. Chopsticks and forks available.

And for those wondering what I'm babbling about (did these guys ever have any hits outside Canada):

Doug and the Slugs did it better, in my opinion.

And almost certainly never had a hit, or were heard of, outside Canada.

Quote by gypsy

Doug and the Slugs did it better, in my opinion.

And almost certainly never had a hit, or were heard of, outside Canada.

I love Doug & the Slugs. And they are about as Canadian as it comes. If you cut Doug, he bleeds maple syrup. Blue Rodeo (country-rock or alt-country depending how you call it) would be another, I think, though they might had some success stateside. I forget.

This was from Rodeo's very successful debut album, Outskirts. That album also gave us "Try", which I think still remains their biggest hit.