Lovely Ron with his Haiku Challenge prompt words this week:
Woke & Up

Pixabay Image
Branches reaching high
Unfurled in the summer sun
Soaking up the raysRitu 2018

17 Jul 2018 24 Comments
in #ronovansweeklyhaikuchallenge, Poems, Thoughts Opinions & Memories Tags: #MicroPoetry, #ronovansweeklyhaikuchallenge, Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Challenge, Haiku, Woke & Up
Lovely Ron with his Haiku Challenge prompt words this week:

Pixabay Image
Branches reaching high
Unfurled in the summer sun
Soaking up the raysRitu 2018

16 Jul 2018 32 Comments
in #AmReading, Reviews, Thoughts Opinions & Memories Tags: #BookReview, Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Eden, Sacha Black, Victor, YA Fiction
I’ve been reading plenty this year, but recently, events beyond my control meant that I was so tired, I couldn’t stay awake long enough to read more than a couple of pages of any book every night.

Now, usually, I can’t read in a moving car. Trains and planes are fine, but reading in a car gives me headaches and nausea.
This time, however, I tried to read, and, lo and behold, no headache or sickness!!! I managed to plough through a WHOLE book in the car on my way to see Pops!
And that book was none other than the sequel to Sacha Black’s Keepers, named Victor.
Read the review of book one here!
![Victor (The Eden East Novels Book 2) by [Black, Sacha]](https://images-eu.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51KsYTmRxVL.jpg)
Here’s the info.
And here’s my review…
Star rating – ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
It’s been a while now since Keepers was published. I devoured that and was waiting eagerly for the next instalment, Victor.
And I can honestly say I was not disappointed at all.
The story picked up from the end of Keepers and within moments of opening the first page, I was right back in the action.
Beautifully written, with evocative language, Black kept me on the edge of my (car) seat the whole way through the book. I could feel the emotions and picture the scenes within my mind.
I loved the developing relationship between Eden, the protagonist, and her Balancer, Trey (who, might I say, is a hero of dreams!)
The constant reappearances of the should-be-dead Victor had me racing through the pages.
And the ending… Oh My!
Trutinor, what is going to happen?! (Don’t worry, no spoilers here, but WHAT AN ENDING!)
I am now going to be constantly checking for news of book three! Hurry up Sacha Black!
Reviewed on Amazon – Here and Goodreads – Here
Buy your copy here.
If you don’t know Sacha, why not?
She is blogging event organiser extraordinaire, being the birth mother of the Annual Bloggers Bash and Awards, and an author of four books, two fiction, and two non-fiction, with more due soon! And she is a loving wife and mother too, to top it off!

Find out more about Sacha and her books here.
I do love Sacha, she has been ace at giving me, ahem, gentle nudges when it came to getting that first draft finished too!

15 Jul 2018 46 Comments
in #bloggers bash, Audio, Family, Spidey's Serene Sundays, Thoughts Opinions & Memories Tags: Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Family, Parents, Quote, Serene, Smile, Spidey

“You don’t choose your family. They are God’s gift to you, as you are to them.”
Desmond Tutu
Thanks, Spidey.
After the particularly harrowing week we had with Pops, this quote couldn’t ring truer.
It’s always been a struggle being three hours away from my parents, being so emotionally close to them.
And it’s always been one of my biggest fears too, one of them falling ill, and me not being able to do anything, immediately. My brother being in another country doesn’t help either.
But here is where the beauty of having a large, close-knit family comes into play.
My parents have, over the years done SO MUCH for everyone, that when they are in need, there is no shortage of people offering their support.
Even so, not everyone can commit to a long term solution.
When Pops was ill, he stayed with his niece, my cousin.
Whilst I couldn’t come down, I was given regular updates on his health. Even after the major hospital stay, once I had to come home, I received calls and messages to let me know how he was.
When I came to spend days with him, I stayed with them too. No one wanted me to be alone at Pops and Mums place.
And now, since he needs a lot of rest and recuperation, they have taken him in again, until I can come down more long-term in the holidays.
I was with him again yesterday, and he’s tired… lots of well wishers on the phone and visitors, but he’s comfortable.
My cousin and her family are really looking after him.
They really are a gift from God to us.
Have a peaceful Sunday ❤

14 Jul 2018 39 Comments
in #SoCS, Poems, Thoughts Opinions & Memories Tags: #StreamofConsciousnessSaturday, Blo-Jo, Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Socs, Teaching, Three Words
Linda’s prompt for SoCS this week…
Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “3-letter word.” Start your post with any 3-letter word. Bonus points if you end with one too. Enjoy!
Can you believe it’s almost the end of another academic year?
It’s flown by.
I’ve experienced the craziness of teaching in two classes every week, being a Governor, and heading the School Council.
I was certainly busy enough for it to feel like it just whizzed by.
But it definitely wasn’t easy.
Being in one class means you build a rapport with your children.
You really get to know them.
Being in two means you feel neither here nor there.
Yet you are still responsible for the progress they make.
Being a Governor gives you a real insight into the managing of a school, realising why decisions are made, which, as your average staff member, sometimes seem pointless.
Being the School Council lead means I am able help foster a sense of pride in the children about the school they attend. It has been fun, and I wish I had more time to actually do stuff with them!
There are still a few home visits to attend to for next year. There is a little preparation to do to enable us to be ready for the new intake.
Final reports and assemblies, old staff leaving and preparing to welcome the new.
But now, the year comes to a close.
Then this chapter comes to an end…

Catch ya later Peeps! Happy Saturday!
https://lindaghill.com/2018/07/13/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-july-14-18/
13 Jul 2018 23 Comments
in #CarrotRanch, Fiction, Thoughts Opinions & Memories Tags: #CarrotRanch, Alone, Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Broken Fence, Charli Mills, Childhood, Father, Flash Fiction, Step Dad
Charli’s prompt this week:

July 12, 2018, prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less) write a story about a broken fence. You can mend it, leave it, or explain its place in a story. Go where the prompt leads.
Broken Fences: Realised Dreams
Many an afternoon, I’d sit there, peering through the gap in our broken fence.
It was like a portal to another world.
I’d see them all laughing, playing together, running around freely.
Oh, to be able to laugh openly with friends.
Laughter was in short supply here since my Daddy died, and that new Father had arrived.
He didn’t want no brats running around the place. It was bad enough I existed.
To escape the prison that our home had become, I’d come and sit here.
For the first time in years my Mummy seemed happy.
I didn’t complain.
https://carrotranch.com/2018/07/12/july-12-flash-fiction-challenge/