Nice to catch up with everyone here!

We've had a windy day with odd glimpses of bright sunshine in between heavy showers. Typical Irish summer day then!

I'll grab a lemon and ginger tea and some of Sara's delicious cookies. Evening all!

Nice to see the place buzzing! :)

Good news about Gav's updates, Larry, must check those out! And Sara, I'll look forward to the next Scamp adventure!

It's been quite nice here so far this week. Sunny but with a nippy wind so only the unwary goes out without a cardi!

I'll grab a coffee and one of Sara's delicious cookies. :)

Good evening, everyone! Thank you for the cookies, Sara! Delicious!

Anna, I had a look at the 'bubble' blurb and couldn't make sense of it! I'll just carry on self-isolating. We have slightly different recommendations here in N. Ireland, that, for once, seem to be clearer than those coming from Westminster! Hey ho.

I'll grab a lemon and ginger tea.

Hello everyone! Good to catch up with all your news.

Gill, I hope you get that family trip to the beach, sounds like you really need it! (hugs)

Hi Anna, Bill, Larry and Sara!

It's raining here again in Ireland, surprise, surprise. It's meant to dry up sometime this afternoon, so I can get my washing on the line!

I'll grab a coffee and one of Sara's world-famous cookies!

Just catching up on everyone's news here. Glad your mom is improving, Sara (closely supervised by Tyson!) And glad you are back online, Larry.

All is find here. This week the weather has flipped from being hit and sunny to gale force winds, rain and being positively cold! Oh, the joys of an Irish summer!

I'll grab and coffee and a handful of those delicious biscuits, Sara! Hope everyone's having a good day.

Just caught your latest Scamp story, Sara and it's an absolute delight! Glad your mom is improving and Tyson is supervising!

Hope both Bill and Larry get their technological stuff sorted okay. We all depend so much on it!

We're having absolutely glorious weather here at the moment. So nice to get some sunshine as we know it won't last! I'll snag a chocolate covered cherry cookie with my lemon and ginger tea. Thanks, Sara!

Morning everyone!

I will grab a coffee and one of Sara's delicious cookies. Hope your mom's blood sugar has normalised and her doctor is happier with her progress. And the floods looked terrible! Keep us posted, Sara. Great to hear there's another Scamp story on the way!

A hazily sunny day here today and looks like it will be warm-ish too.

Thanks for the welcome, guys! It's nice to have a spare moment to pop on here and catch up. :) Hello, Larry! *waves* Morning, Scott!

Sara, that is the best news about your momma. So glad she is recovering well. (hugs)

Rumps, on the origins of Bank Holidays, I thought you might like this little snippet from the UK.

The curious history of our official bank holidays begins in 1871, when they were first recognised in an Act of Parliament authored by Sir John Lubbock. He was a banker who, it is said, was so keen on cricket he chose dates when village matches were played in his home county.

Hello everyone! Nice to get a chance to pop on here and catch up with all your news!

So glad to hear your momma is recovering from her op Sara. Big hugs to you!

It's a Bank Holiday this side of the pond, but no special commemoration, just a rather uninspired 'Late Spring Bank Holiday'! Not very spring-like today as it's cold with gale-force winds!

I'll grab a coffee and some of Sara's delicious sounding cookies.

Belated happy birthday, Scott!

Larry, I do hope things settle down for you soon. *hugs*

Hiya Bill!

Sara, I'll take a few of those delicious sounding chocolate chip cookies. You look after us so well here.

I'll grab a lemon and ginger tea.

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 222 | 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 331 | 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 511 | 9 Comments

John strode across the bustle of Piccadilly, the wide road alive with people even at this late hour. He was glad to turn his steps towards home and to disappear into the huddle of dark streets that was Soho. He felt more at ease here in the shadows than he did in the melee of the West End. There, flaming torches lit the way, gilding the streets with an orange glow leading towards the...

Added 20 Oct 2018 | Category Supernatural | Votes 8 | Avg Score 5 | Views 507 | 8 Comments

London, Spring 1816 He clearly remembered when he first became aware of a hint of unease; a sense of otherworldly darkness. Before then in his life, of course, he had moments of disquiet in terms of worry and fretting, but they were normal daylight concerns. He remembered as if from a great distance his medical training in the cool grey light of Edinburgh, his careful studies on...

Added 27 Sep 2018 | Category Supernatural | Votes 10 | Avg Score 5 | Views 465 | 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 7 | Avg Score 5 | Views 461 | 9 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 503 | 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 585 | 9 Comments

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