#SoCS | But I Smile Anyway...

#SoCS Nov. 25/17 – Cramp

02 Dec 2017 14 Comments

by Ritu in #SoCS, Thoughts Opinions & Memories Tags: #StreamofConsciousnessSaturday, Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Cramp, Linda G Hill, Socs

Linda’s prompt for SoCS this week…

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “cramp.” Use it any way you’d like. Enjoy!

Cramp…

So many things come to mind when I think of cramp.

Firstly, it’s that general accompaniment to the monthly ‘blessing’ that women get. I’ve been lucky to not have really experienced them badly, but they are debilitating for some ladies out there. All you want to do is curl up with a hot water bottle and wither away until Aunt Flo has disappeared!

Then there is that cramp you get in your leg. Again, not one I get often, but it affects my sleep sometimes as when Hubby Dearest gets a cramp in his leg in the middle of the night, the groans are insufferable, and then I have to get up to help him stretch it out!

Writer’s cramp – there’s another one that us bloggers and writers don’t want to suffer from, but thankfully not as many of us spend hours grasping a writing tool, so much as tapping away at a keyboard, to aid our craft. But then again, because we write physically with a pen much less, the cramp is more likely to hit quicker, when we do!

Cramped spaces was another thought that came to mind. Cosy. I like cosy places, but cramped is another matter; when you are made to be near other people or objects, against your will… The Tube is a place which, during rush hour is really cramped. If you are lucky, you may get a seat, or else you are left hanging on to a bar or handle, or possibly wedged between other commuters; that being the only support you have to prevent you from being thrown around as the carriages move along.

Right, I’m off now… don’t wanna cramp my style, waffling on about cramp!

Happy Saturday Peeps!

#SoCS Nov. 25/17 – Ink 🖋✒

25 Nov 2017 39 Comments

by Ritu in #SoCS, Thoughts Opinions & Memories Tags: #StreamofConsciousnessSaturday, Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Fountain Pens, Handwriting, Ink, Ink Pens, writing

Linda’s prompt for SoCS this week…

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “ink.” Use it as a noun or a verb. Have fun!

It’s quite funny actually that this was the prompt for today, considering I wrote about using a fountain pen, or an ink pen, to improve my writing in my post on Cursive Writing the other day!

I have always loved a proper fountain pen, ever since I was given the go-ahead at school to graduate from pencil to the handwriting pens, then onto a proper ink pen!

I loved my first Parker pens and went from the plastic variety to the more posh metal ones. From Parker, we moved onto Waterman pens. And until the necessity of speed in writing, and the more common use of keyboards took over, I took great pride in writing with my fountain pen!

I used the simple cartridges mainly, but I even went through the stage of refilling my pen using the traditional bottles of ink… in the classroom!

Oh, the messes we made! Ink splodges decorating not only our fingers and pages, but even the desks we worked upon, and sometimes we were unaware of the dreaded smudge across our faces!

But boy, did I feel grown up with my fountain pen!

I was so excited for Lil Man when he was given his Pen Licence at school (yes they had official documents to say kids were ready to use a pen rather than pencil a few years ago in school!) He drove us crazy trying to find the right pen!

Then, as he grasped the technique, so I learned how fountain pens, and their ink, were probably the bane of my mother’s life. Thank goodness for washable ink! The splodges that I had coveted, on what I call my Writer’s Lump, on my right-hand middle finger, my callus developed from excessive handling of pens, were not as welcome when they were gracing the fingers of my own child!

He prefers a rollerball now. (Thank God!)

But still, I do love a good ink pen!

Nowadays, in my fast-paced life, it’s not as often as I like, that I sit and craft letters on a page, creating a thing of beauty, rather, a rushed scrawl which I often have trouble deciphering myself!!!! So, excuse me if I am a little rusty, but here is an example of my handwriting! It’s still not as great as I can usually do it, but it’s better than when I use a biro!

My most recent pen acquisition!

Happy Saturday Peeps!

#SoCS Nov. 18/17 – Psst!

18 Nov 2017 30 Comments

by Ritu in #SoCS, Fiction, Thoughts Opinions & Memories Tags: Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Fiction, Linda G Hill, Psst, Socs, Weight

Linda’s #SoCS prompt this week:

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “psst, or any other attention-getting noise or word.” Find a word or noise that you’d use to get someone’s attention, and start your post off with it. Enjoy!

Ahem… Cough, cough… Are you listening?

I feel I need to be a little honest here…

I’ve been a bad girl.

Well, okay, not like law-breaking awful, but still, I have been naughty.

You know I spent all that time posting all that yummy healthy food, and my weight loss journey?

I’ve only gone and fallen off the wagon!

Okay, so it’s not as bad as it could have been… but ever since Easter (wow that is a while back!) I have been struggling with my willpower. Too many chocolate eggs around didn’t help… and I found myself craving the things I shouldn’t have.

If I wanted something, one wasn’t enough, I needed two. But I managed to control myself for a while longer.

But…

Since the summer holidays, OMG, I can’t stop eating!

I try so hard to be good. And I am. During the day.

But once the evening hits, I am unable to stop myself from pigging out on the stupidest of things!

As a result, I am now at the stage where I need to lose half a stone, or seven lbs to make me feel better about myself again!

Eeeeek!

But, since it’s anniversary weekend, don’t expect me to start this weekend!

Maybe I’ll be part way there by Christmas…

Now, let me get back to my ~~chocolate~~ fruit!

#SoCS Nov. 11/17 – Arm

11 Nov 2017 25 Comments

by Ritu in #SoCS, Fiction, Thoughts Opinions & Memories Tags: Arm, Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Fiction, Linda G Hill, Socs

Linda’s #SoCS prompt this week:

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “arm.” Use it as a word or find a word with “arm” in it. Have fun!

” ‘Armless fun, that’s all it was, honest Guv!”

Pete sunk onto the curb as the policeman stood there, staring down at him, a look of pure disgust spreading across his face.

His colleague was scribbling notes into his little pad of paper, whilst a third officer was consoling an old gentleman.

Around their feet lay a sea of red; scattered poppies that had been sat safely in a cardboard carrier that the veteran had been holding.

He hadn’t meant to scare the living daylights out of the man. Just a few toots of his motorbike horn, and a few circuits around him, then Pete had been intending on presenting him with the roll of notes that he and his mates had collected for The Royal British Legion.

How was he to know the trauma that the old soldier had lived through?

It hadn’t occurred to him that his horn may sound a bit like a siren blaring, and the roaring of his engine like the planes circling, before releasing the bombs.

How was he to know that all those years ago, this man had only arrived home on a 48 hour pass, minutes before his house was razed to the ground, taking all he loved from him.

How was he to know, the anguish that veteran went through, trudging through the trenches, watching his comrades fall by the wayside.

But he did know.

Pete had only recently returned from Afghanistan.

He’d seen the horrors. He’d lived though the losses too.

His only saviour was that his family had been at home waiting for him, unlike that poor man who he had scared nearly half to death.

This was not how he had wanted to celebrate Remembrance Day…

#SoCS Nov. 4/17 – Shortcut/Cut Short

04 Nov 2017 33 Comments

by Ritu in #SoCS, Challenges, Thoughts Opinions & Memories Tags: #StreamofConsciousnessSaturday, Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Foreheads, Hair, Home Hairdressing, Linda G Hill, Shortcut/Cut Short, Socs, Sun In

Linda’s prompt for #SoCS today:

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “shortcut/cut short.” Use one, use both, whatever strikes your fancy. Enjoy!

Well, I tell you what, just the other day I was talking about something stupid I did as a kid… I was blessed with a small forehead… well, smaller than the rest of the folk around me, and I HATED it!

When I was around eleven or twelve, I decided to take matters into my own hands. I took a clump of hair from the front of my head, and using a pair of scissors, I snipped. It was cut short, heck, I nearly scalped myself to be honest! But I thought I looked great to be honest!

The thing is, I can’t have cut back too far into my hairline, because no one appeared to notice, until a few days later, when the regrowth started…

Call me stupid ( I already have), but in my young mind, once I cut that clump, I would finally have the high forehead of my dreams! Obviously, things don’t run that smooth.

Hair grows back.

And when it is an area at the front of your head, where the very obvious regrowth sticks up rather than grows downwards, people will notice.

And they did!

I got a right royal telling off from my mother, and had to suffer the sniggers of my classmates too, until it grew long enough for me ti clip it back!

Looking at my forehead now, I can’t understand what my problem with it was!

But one thing I learned was that it was never wise to take shortcuts when it came to my hair!

Actually, that’s a lie… I did try Sun In bleach spray as a uni student, to get that ‘realistic’ sun-kissed highlights look!!! But that’s a whole other post, filled with the straw-like remnants of hair I was left with, after that experiment!

Happy Saturday Peeps!!!!