But I Smile Anyway...

#SoCS July 28/18 – Tee, Tea T

28 Jul 2018 45 Comments

by Ritu in #SoCS, Poems, Thoughts Opinions & Memories Tags: #StreamofConsciousnessSaturday, Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Socs, T, Tea, Tee

Linda’s prompt for SoCS this week…

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “T, tea, tee.” Theme your post around “tea” or “tee,” or find a word that starts with “T” and talk about that. Bonus points if you manage to incorporate all three. Enjoy!

Today I forfeited my morning cup of tea. It was just too stifling to sip a hot beverage, in temperatures nearing the 30’s at 8am…

I rumaged through my wardrobe to find something suitable to wear. It was going to be a long day, driving back up to Brum with my children in the car…

After the shennanigans of the last trip (5 hours for a 3 hour journey) I was not looking forward to it. They had argued the whole way there…

Then I came up with a plan (read bribery!) We are with my Pops for 10 days at least, so I made them a deal. If they could cope with being together, no full on arguments and rows, no whining (Lil Princess) or winding the other up (Lil Man) then I would log £2 against their name. If we get home and they managed a whole TEN days without bloodshed, they’d have earned £20! At the time of writing this we have managed a day and they have really controlled themselves… how long will that last?

Back to the suitable clothing… I tried on a tee-shirt but even that felt too sticky on my body. A shower felt pointless as I was glistening (Ladylike way of saying sweating like a P-I-G!) within moments of getting out. Then I remembered my lovely tie-dyed swing dresses… Oh they feel so good in this weather! I have around five of them, picked up from a great cheap shop here by my parents place!

And boy was I glad that was what I wore, because it did indeed take up another FIVE HOURS, sitting in a car with AC that is helpfully NOT WORKING!

Tea-riffic! Temperatures Tee-tering Towards Top Thirties Throughout!

Written at 23:35pm on Friday night!

Catch ya later Peeps! Happy Saturday!

https://lindaghill.com/2018/07/27/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-july-28-18/

July 26– Flash Fiction – Stranded Suitcase

27 Jul 2018 86 Comments

by Ritu in #CarrotRanch, Fiction, Thoughts Opinions & Memories Tags: #CarrotRanch, Alone, Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Charli Mills, Family, Finland, Flash Fiction, Grandchild, Pops, Recovery, Stranded Suitcase

Charli’s prompt this week:

July 26, 2018, prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less) write a story about what happens next to a stranded suitcase. Go where the prompt leads you, but consider the different perspectives you can take to tell the tale.

Suitcase of Hope

Opening the bedroom door, the first thing I saw was the abandoned suitcase, open on the bed. Half packed, it had been left, bereft at not being full, zipped up, and off on another adventure.

I walked over, closed the lid, fastened it and placed it to one side. “Don’t worry, he’ll be better soon, then you can both go on your travels, with no worries at all.”

Pops appeared by my side, having taken a few moments longer to climb the stairs than me.

“It’s okay Pops, rest up. I’ll pack your case when the time is right.”

Today’s take is based upon true events. If you have been reading my blog recently, you’ll know that my Pops has been extremely unwell, needing emergency open surgery a few weeks back. On the day he was being operated on, my sister-in-law gave birth to my new nephew, and Pops’ fourth grandchild.

My mum is already in Finland with my brother and his family, and the plan was that Pops would be joining her there so he could enjoy the delights of his new grandchild too.

Unfortunately, that is not the (suit)case at the moment, he won’t be flying anywhere for a while. I arrived back home with my children today, to ease him back into his own home, after spending the last three weeks after being discharged from hospital convalescing at his niece’s house.

Though a case was not actually strewn across his bed, there are several scattered around the house, Mum’s part-packing jobs done before she left, so she could take more things when she does a return journey, with Pops!

He’s doing so well, considering the ordeal he went through, but still very weak. We went for a slow, short walk this evening and it was so wonderful to see my Pops almost back to normal, a little slower, a little thinner, but definitely my Pops. ❤

❤ my Pops

And here’s hoping that after his follow up appointment in September, he will be able to go and finally give that new addition a proper cuddle! ❤

https://carrotranch.com/2018/07/27/july-26-flash-fiction-challenge/

#WritePhoto – Stone

27 Jul 2018 42 Comments

by Ritu in #WritePhoto, Fiction, Poems, Thoughts Opinions & Memories Tags: #WritePhoto, Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Flash Fiction, He Man, She Ra, Stone

Sue’s #WritePhoto Prompt this week:

He-Man grinned, surveying his new surroundings.

“This looks just wonderful! All the greenery, lush lands, and me standing at the top of it all.” He looked around. “She! She-Ra? Where are you? Come, let’s claim this for ourselves!”

He was looking forward to drawing his sword, and yelling, at the top of his voice, “By the power of Greyskull! I have the power!”

But he seemed unable to find his sword.

In fact, he couldn’t find his arms either. Looking down, he realised his body appeared to be absent without leave…

“She-Ra! Help! I’ve lost myself!”

She slowly sauntered up the hill.

“Shhh! I’ve got a headache!” She looked up to where her bulked up dope of a boyfriend was. “Jeez! Look at you! I knew we got a bit legless last night, but you went the whole hog!”

Sorry, that stone made me think of He-Man, the moment I saw it! A silly flash!

Image result for he man and she ra

https://scvincent.com/2018/07/26/thursday-photo-prompt-stone-writephoto/

Colleen’s Weekly #Tanka Challenge – Beliefs & Strange #MicroPoetry #Tanka

25 Jul 2018 40 Comments

by Ritu in #ColleensWeeklyPoetryChallenge, Challenges, Thoughts Opinions & Memories Tags: #ColleensWeeklyPoetryChallenge, Beliefs & Strange, Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Cinquain, tanka

Colleen’s tanka challenge, as always includes the premise that only synonyms for the prompt words must be used…

This week, the words were;

Beliefs & Strange

I penned two verses; one a tanka and the other a cinquain.

Hands World Map Global Earth Globe Blue Cr

War, famine, anger
Conflicts tearing us apart
Will it ever stop?
Extraordinary hope
That our world will become one

Ritu 2018

https://colleenchesebro.com/2018/07/24/colleens-weekly-tanka-tuesday-poetry-challenge-no-94-beliefs-strange-synonymsonly/

Welcome to Tanka Tuesday

Have a great day!

One-Liner Wednesday – #1LinerWeds –

25 Jul 2018 46 Comments

by Ritu in #1linerweds, #onelinerwednesday, Children, Sonu Singh, Thoughts Opinions & Memories Tags: #1linerweds, #onelinerwednesday, Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, kids, School, tired

The holidays are here!… so why am I off to school again today?

Just a thought that probably goes through the heads of many non-teachers…

Including family and spouses.

I’d love it if, over the holidays, a classroom fairy came and waved a wand over our rooms, and magically made the previous year’s mess disappear, books filed away, and arranged for all the new pupils books to be ready, display boards to be all freshly backed and ready for us to start on the first day back.

But that’s not the case.

I’ll be popping in for a day (some will be in there for longer) to get things all organised, so I can then (kinda) forget about school for the summer, and concentrate on the kids, my hubby, and my Pops (might get some writing in there too!) for the rest of the break, until it nears the end of August, when we are back officially!

And the fact that I have been in during the holiday means I can start with a less stressed mind, knowing everything (almost) is ready for the new year!

Right, off to pack my school bag, one last time for this academic year… have a good day!