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.

Time to get the coffee perking and the tea steeping. There's a pot of java waiting on the counter. Teas du jour are Red Rose and Cream of Earl Grey (Earl Grey + Vanilla). And the hot water is ready for other teas or hot chocolate.

Chilly here, but no snow since Tuesday so at least we can get around.

Cold and snowy here. Wah.

I keep finding evidence of new fraud attempts by the @sshole who attempted to steal my identity last week. I thought I'd finally found everything, but discovered a Western Union money transfer last night. This guy doesn't quit. I imagine if he'd put that energy into an actual job he'd be the boss. It's amazing I lost no money.

Still messing with selling the house, still struggling with word count. Gonna be a long month. Sigh.

A coffee and a thermometer-shaped cookie please. Feel better Sara!

Hi peeps

Thanks for the well wishes..I'm slowly on the mend .

I do have cookies today .

Peeking in the cookie jars yikes they are empty .

Filling the cookie jars with hostipal/get well soon cookies theme

Giving the adorable critters fresh water and treats

Taking some Earl grey tea and climbing up in my favorite overstuffed chair

I hope that cookie syringe is full of cookie COVID vaccine.😊 I will take a syringe and a Band-Aid.

Gooooood morning!

Coffee pot is full up with some good Blue Mountain brew. Teapots have Peach and English Breakfast. Hot water is ready.

And guess what? It's Friday!

Quote by Mendalla

I hope that cookie syringe is full of cookie COVID vaccine.😊 I will take a syringe and a Band-Aid.

Gooooood morning!

Coffee pot is full up with some good Blue Mountain brew. Teapots have Peach and English Breakfast. Hot water is ready.

And guess what? It's Friday!

A mug of English Breakfast for me, please. I still can't get over the idea of fruity teas. It's downright un-Canadian if you ask me!

I'm gonna take my mug, snaffle a couple of the GF cookies that Sara keeps, and wander over to her corner to wait up. I haven't had a good fur-ruffle in a while, and she gives great ones!

No peeking, now!

Quote by JamesPBear
I still can't get over the idea of fruity teas.

Earl Grey is a "fruity tea". Bergamot, the flavouring, is a citrus fruit. 😋

Scott, I know you are due your cataract op sometime next week, so if it's sooner rather than later I wish you well. I had mine done two months ago, painless, brief and I can see so much better now. Painless on two counts really, I had mine done on the NHS. Have you had to pay? That kind of pain takes longer to get over.

Must try a couple of Sara's medical syringes. Will it be okay if I insert them orally with a cup of Earl Grey tea?

Quote by redwriter
I had mine done on the NHS.

If I waited for Medicare supported, I wouldn't even get a consult until the end of May, probably another couple months after that for surgery. Fortunately, there's a loophole with cataract surgery in that OHIP (our provincial health funding system) still doesn't cover laser surgery for cataracts, so the private laser centres that also do other laser vision-correction procedures can do it. The doctor is still a hospital ophthamologist, just don't do it in the hospital (which right now is a good thing given our COVID situation).

Off to spend the day filling a dumpster with trash! Fun!

I'd love a coffee and a syringe cookie. Fill the syringe with extra caffeine!

Quote by verbal
Off to spend the day filling a dumpster with trash!

No way you could even pull a Tom Sawyer on that one to trick people into helping. I'd say you're on your own, there.

Hi peeps

I'm finally ALL BETTER.

I heard a certain bear was needing a good fur ruffling ...

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

Peeking in the cookie jars

The cookies are good dipped in coffee or tea .

Jeff hauling trash is not fun and hard to find helpers to unload it .

Giving the adorable critters fresh water and treats

Climbing up in my favorite chair with my hot chocolate and some cookies

Stay safe everyone

So with my entry in, I've read maybe half the comp entries. Some real gems there. I especially liked redwriter's, which went down a road I thought about (a non-fantasy version of the do-over idea) and did it well. New member Ceebee has a great one, too, that goes down the "changing history" rabbit hole as part of a man's do-over.

I've got some coffee and tea on for you to enjoy as you read. There's fresh ground Ethiopian Yirgacheffe in the coffee pot (my son used to swear by it) and Scottish Breakfast and Earl Grey in the teapots. Hot water is ready for the hot chocolate and other tea crowds.

And if the weather elsewhere is like here, those hot beverages will be needed. -25C when I got up and a high of only -11C. At least it is sunny and there is no snow.

FYI, I may not be around to start the drinks for a few days this week due to my cataract surgery. Instructions are in a notebook under the counter, written in the secret Stories Space cipher (also known as my crappy handwriting).

Thanks for the plug, Mendalla. I’m glad you enjoyed it. Sorry it’s taken me so long to join and write something I’ve been skulking around reading for a while.

Me, I’d love a cup of coffee as I stare out the window and contemplate going into the garden to tidy up after the trail of devastation the wind left last night.

Hi peeps

So Ape You have doctor's handwriting:)

Ugh every time I have tried to post in here today something came up.

But I do have fresh cookies!!

A note for newbies for the cookie jars: Big Bird is the diabetic friendly, Cookie Monster is regular cookies and Elmo is the gluten free :)

In Big Bird: pecan divines, snickerdoodles, oatmeal raisin and peanut butter and banana cookies

In Cookie Monster : ginger snaps, peanut butter and banana cookies,maple walnut cookies and strawberry pinwheels

In Elmo: peanut butter oatmeal cookies, chocolate crinkle cookies, maple pecan and mocha chocolate chip cookies

Giving the adorable critters fresh water and treats

Stay safe everyone

Quote by DenimAngel
So Ape You have doctor's handwriting

Yep. Too bad I don't have the doctor's money to go with it 😜 Truth be told, my blood phobia would make me a terrible doctor most likely.

Bashed out a sequel to"The Healer's Secret" today. Still needs plenty of editing and some work on the ending, but I am mostly happy with it. Probably won't go up for a while even if I do get it sorted. There's another one ahead of it and I generally don't submit when I have a comp entry up.

And speaking of the comp, we are down to less than a week. Come on, folks. We don't even have ten for a complete short list yet.

Quote by Mendalla
And speaking of the comp, we are down to less than a week. Come on, folks. We don't even have ten for a complete short list yet.

OH! Does that mean I have a chance?

Quote by JamesPBear

Quote by Mendalla
And speaking of the comp, we are down to less than a week. Come on, folks. We don't even have ten for a complete short list yet.

OH! Does that mean I have a chance?

You always have a chance, James. And so do all the people who finish ahead of you. 🤣

But, yeah, if we have less than 10, how does it play? Everyone is on the shortlist and then the judges pick the top 3 out of that?

Let's hope we don't have to find out. Keep 'em coming, folks.

play nice Ape and Bear

Hey, we're both Canadians. We only know how to play nice, don't you know?😉

this is true unless it's hockey game

True. Then all bets (and gloves) are off.😎

thought so

Quote by Ceebees
I stare out the window and contemplate going into the garden to tidy up after the trail of devastation the wind left last night.

I don't know your location, Ceebees, but if it's the same wind we had , it has torn down half of a high fence (which has stood for thirty years), smashed glass and shifted the door in the greenhouse, which has had to be blocked with a bench.

The one bright spot yesterday was verification of a memoir genre piece which tells of how to talk yourself out of writing something after research spread over several years. My gratitude to Elizabeth Black for a very interesting comment.

I'll pour myself an Earl Grey and try another one of Sara's medical cookies.

Thank you Sara for the yummy cookies.

I'll make myself a small pot of lemon zinger tea. I'm on the road traveling and it's bitterly cold out.

Mendalla-hope your eyes recover and adjust soon. Best of luck.

I had the most delicious pan fried potatoes for breakfast amongst other things one morning and I can't eat fast food and I'm sick of eating out.

I miss making my spaghetti sauce. I make a nice big batch and it sits overnight in the fridge.

I also had the best New England clam chowder, before I started my move and the taste was so delicate and exquisite.

I hope everyone sick gets and feels better soon. And I hope everyone stays safe from the harsh weather.

I miss the days before Covid. I wish it'd go away forever.

Those who haven't gotten it, I hope you never do, those who have I hope you never catch it again.

I miss singing with other people. (In a group)

Hope we all receive miracles.

Quote by Sugarcube
Hope we all receive miracles.

With you all the way, Sugarcube.

But you have set my tummy rumbling mentioning that range of eats.

Quote by Sugarcube
I miss making my spaghetti sauce. I make a nice big batch and it sits overnight in the fridge.

Yeah, that's what we do, too. We still make the same amount as when my son lived at home and then we fridge (or even freeze) the leftover for future use. Spaghetti sauce is good for that.

Goooooooooooooooooooooo ... What was I going to say again?

Oh, right, good morning.

24 hours until I get my new left lens. Cataract has been more noticeable of late but not sure if it has actually worsened or if I am just paying more attention to it now with its demise imminent. Right will follow later in February. We're going to set the date after we see how recovery goes. Since I may not be able to be on computer for a bit, a certain furry gentleman of the Far North will be my backup coffee and tea maker.

For now, there's some nice Costa Rican coffee brewed and there's Scottish Breakfast and Cream of Earl Grey in the teapots. Hot chocolate and marshmallows are on standby for Writergirl, Sara, and whoever else swings that way.

Cold weather continues here in ape-land, but at least the snow is holding off these day.

Some Red Rose tea, please. Lots to do today, especially as we are visiting our son, DIL, and especially our 22-month old granddaughter. She's just getting the knack of talking, and is remarkably cute. And bright, brilliant, even. Amazing – and, well, my granddaughter. What more needs to be said, right?

BTW, if anyone needs their fur brushed out, I'd recommend Sara! She's an A #1 fur-brusher-outer!

Hi!

Feeling my age at Universal Studios and Disney. I've been shaken, stirred, spun, dropped. 🙄 Every part of me hurts. I think the Spiderman ride broke me. 🤣 My son is being very sweet moving slower for me.

Quote by WriterGirl

Hi!

Feeling my age at Universal Studios and Disney. I've been shaken, stirred, spun, dropped. 🙄 Every part of me hurts. I think the Spiderman ride broke me. 🤣 My son is being very sweet moving slower for me.

AAAHHHH!!!! Help! It's the Masked Writer Girl and her sidekick, Son-of-Her! Run for your lives!

(snicker)

Sounds like you're having fun, kid. Just tell your aches and pains that "age" is just a number, right?

And can you bring me back a turkey leg and a Mickey Bar from Magic Kingdom? Thanks!

Bear! Mmmmm ... I love Mickey Bars. My son is more the turkey leg in family. 😉