Hello, everyone!

I've come in for some of those Godzilla and King Kong cookies!

Good to catch up with all your news. Mum was discharged from hospital yesterday, so fingers crossed that the pain relief she was given is sufficient to cope at home. It's her 90th birthday tomorrow.

I'll have an Earl Grey tea to help me with the hoovering!

Evening all. Hugs to Larry and Gill!

The coyote repellent conversation is an eye-opener! Let us know what you decide, Verbs!

A cuppa and some of Sara's wonderful cookies would do nicely.

Hello everyone! Nice to get a bit of culture and Tchaikovsky!

I'll grab a cuppa and some of Sara's delicious cookies!

Thank you for the good wishes for mum, everyone! Hugely appreciated.

She's still undergoing thorough tests (and suspects this might be a spinal issue) and she's back to her normal self, complaining bitterly about medical standards and the way things are run in the hospital, which is a big relief. It's when she starts acting like a sweet little old lady that I get really worried!

Sorry to hear about the car, Elizabeth, and that sounds a good plan to go to UVA for your eye check. Keep us posted.

Sorry you and Verbs have dental treatment to contend with too!

I'll grab a coffee and some of Sara's wonderful cookies as it would be rude not to!

Happy Birthday, Scott! Getting jabbed in the arm and a takeout from your fave Viet-Thai place sounds as good a way to celebrate as any! I'll add a lemon drizzle cake to Sara's wonderful cookies to celebrate the occasion!

Thanks so much, Gill, Elizabeth and everyone. Mum is now in hospital (thankfully she's had both Covid jabs) with it being 3rd time lucky calling the ambulance out in the middle of the night! She's under investigation and the consultant is calling it a bit of a puzzle as to what is causing the severe pain. Mum will be 90 in a couple of weeks, so you can understand why I'm a bit frazzled. Everyone's kindness and well-wishes mean a lot.

Elizabeth, I'm so sorry to hear about your eye issue, which sounds very unpleasant. I do hope the consultation with the eye surgeon is helpful. Hugs to you!

Evening, Inspirators!

Thanks, Bill, Larry and Verbs. Mum is still in agony, bless her and got the ambulance out again early this morning. The medics are convinced it's something muscular so hopefully, the muscle relaxants she's been prescribed will help her, fingers crossed.

Wild day today with hailstorms galore!

I'd love a handful of your cookies with a cuppa, Sara!

Evening, Inspirators!

Sara, hope you've had a nice, quiet day and Scott too!

Thanks for the setup, Larry! And Bill that sounds like a busy and productive day! I'm sure it was great to see your son and Ziggy and Simon the wonder dogs.

Mum got rushed to A&E by ambulance today. After a whole bunch of blood tests showing nothing much is amiss, she's back home in bed with muscle relaxants to help with the pain. And breathe.

It was a long afternoon waiting to hear for any news so hugs are gratefully received!

I'll grab a lemongrass tea and a handful of Sara's delicious cookies!

Thanks, Sara and Gill. Hugs to you, Sara. My late dad's birthday was on April 13th.

Poor mum is in agony, so we have to wait and see for the blood test results and see if they shed any light on the cause.

Gill, that's so nice of your middle son. And your birthday feast sounds delicious! Hope the after effects and chronic fatigue ease for you and your husband as times goes on.

Glad you're feeling better, Kim!

Looks like I'm first in, so I'll get some coffee on the go for myself and all other Inspirators!

Happy Birthday to our wonderful Gillian!!



I'm glad you are starting to feel a good bit better and here's to more improvement!

Thinking of you, Verbs. (hugs)

I'm a bit stressed out here as my elderly mum is in a lot of abdominal pain and no one seems to have worked out what's wrong so far. Trying not to worry to much.

A jar full of cookies might help... I'll have a few with a cuppa.

Welcome, Kim! Great to see you here. :)

Fingers crossed for the novel, Verbs! Hopefully, second time around it will flow for you!

I'll grab a tea and see if Sara has left any cookies!

Sitting cross-legged, with sustained focus, the unfamiliar sensation builds. A jolt at the base of her spine sends a leaping flame flickering over her core. A wave of warmth sweeps up from her belly to a sense of empowerment and gladness of heart. A growl escapes her throat then a sharp mental clarity floats into a deep, thrumming, universal peace. After an endless moment, opening her...

Added 18 Oct 2020 | Category Micro Fiction | Votes 7 | Avg Score 5 | Views 134 | 10 Comments

Stillness is an art, a challenge, a marathon, An elusive quality to strive for. Life’s distractions are simpler, Busy-ness, activities, filling the diary, Padding the mind with the next thing to do. The white noise of chatter Externalises focus, Like the buzz of traffic, A sea crammed with boats, The skies packed with planes. So, in this threatening, frightening, enforced stillness, It...

Added 14 Jun 2020 | Category Poetry | Votes 8 | Avg Score 5 | Views 409 | 7 Comments

At our local swimming pool, you can clearly perceive the pattern of the school year, especially during the holidays. It gets markedly busier at half terms and the Easter break and even at Christmas (if parents really don’t know what to do with their children on a bad day weather-wise, having steadily worked through all the seasonal movies in the nearby multiplex)! These are brief flurries...

Added 21 Sep 2019 | Category Musings | Votes 10 | Avg Score 5 | Views 511 | 11 Comments

“You’re planning on doing WHAT ?” Isabella exclaimed, her voice emerging higher and louder than she expected, but her startled outburst had little or no effect on her group of friends. The men of the party, Luke and Marius, who were normally so protective of their female companions, just grinned at Aelia and Zenobia, who looked pleased with themselves and quietly excited. “But one of...

Added 30 Dec 2018 | Category Young Adult | Votes 11 | Avg Score 5 | Views 719 | 9 Comments

Kate stumbled down the neatly raked path, her glasses steamed up with the heat of raw emotion and half-blinded by tears. She trusted she would find her way to her favourite spot in the Walled Garden if she were blindfolded, or even in the pitch dark. That was if the entrance hadn’t been barred by solid metal doors at nighttime. It was as though she was led by a homing device to her place...

Added 09 May 2018 | Category Romance | Votes 8 | Avg Score 5 | Views 685 | 10 Comments

Perched on a craggy outcrop, staring out to sea, the priest opened his mind and his heart to God. In such wild and lonely places, he felt closest to his Maker and His divine word. He was not a young man, and knew his role as a travelling preacher, bringing God’s message to those isolated enough to be those starved of it, would not last forever. Previously, he could put in a day’s march in...

Added 21 Feb 2018 | Category Young Adult | Votes 5 | Avg Score 5 | Views 610 | 5 Comments

Dancin’ the blues Is a complicated business; First, you focus on the rhythm, Then you try to feel How your partner moves, Fumbling to sway with his groove: Most of all, you strain to blend with All the glory of That music, In three or four pressurised minutes, When you concentrate intensely On all these elements.   If you can surrender To the beat, your partner, That music, ...

Added 05 Dec 2017 | Category Poetry | Votes 10 | Avg Score 5 | Views 772 | 9 Comments

...

Former British Army Lieutenant Adam Merryweather survived the Western Front of WWI and has slowly recovered from his injuries. But can he heal from a broken heart?Torn between family duty and personal happiness, he sacrificed his love for Alf and has never ceased to regret it in the two years since...

During the summer of 1816, Lord Byron invited the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley and his wife-to-be Mary Godwin to spend some months at the Villa Diodati in Switzerland. These poetic rebels were attempting to escape society's disapproval of their radical lifestyles at home in England and to engage in a...

Arriving in Bath Spa to accompany his sister Letty in her first experience of polite society, Jacob Longley, Lieutenant in His Majesty’s Royal Navy, is more at home on board the good ship Gloriana. To his surprise, he has a possible suitor of his own in the glamorous Sebastian...