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#JusJoJan – January 7th, 2018 – Indelible

07 Jan 2018 33 Comments

by Ritu in #jusjojan, Thoughts Opinions & Memories Tags: #jusjojan, Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Image and Word, Indelible, Linda G Hill, Ruth

Day seven of #JusJoJan!

I’m going to try to write on each of the prompts!

Today the prompt is:

Your prompt for January 5th, 2018, brought to you by the fantastic photographer, Ruth, is “Indelible.” Use it any way you’d like in your post. And make sure you visit Ruth at her blog, “Image and Word” to read her post and say hi! 😀 Here’s her link: https://imageandword.wordpress.com/

Thanks, Ruth, for making me think!!

Now, the first thing that came to mind when thinking of the word indelible, was permanent marker!

A little backstory…

When Lil Man was truly little, we used to live in my in-laws’ house. Even though just the thought of that makes some peoples skin crawl, it was actually a great thing. I had so much support when I first got married, getting used to wifely duties and when my kids were born.

Though there was something I was hoping to change, slowly, and that was the decor. When we got engaged, there was this interesting maroon and gold flock wallpaper, reminiscent of the old school Indian restaurants, in the main living room.

Oh, it would have been pricey paper, but was just so old-fashioned! I saw the paper in our engagement photos (it’s a long story, but in certain stages of a Sikh engagement, traditionally the girl and boy aren’t together – that explanation deserves another post!) and was a bit alarmed!

As the wedding date was set, there commenced a big renovation project at Hubby Dearest’s house; walls being knocked through, new kitchen and bathroom, and lots of redecorating!

I was unable to be involved at this stage as I wasn’t formally part of the family, and there were no girls in the household, bar my Mother-in-Law. I gently encouraged my Hubby Dearest and his brother to go out with their parents to choose things for the house…

The reports I got back from some of his friends were that the woodwork looked great… there was loads of space… there wasn’t patterned carpet… Fantastic!

When we were finally married and I walked into the main living room as a bride, the room was full, and I mean FULL, of family and cameramen, ready to record this precious moment, lights blaring and all… and I thought I had stepped into Aladdin’s cave!

Because the flock paper had given way to more gold and maroon paper! It wasn’t flocked this time, but more embossed, and the in-laws’ had been sold it by some guy in a shop who had told them it was the in thing! And it was EXPENSIVE! (And no, the boys had NOT been there to help with this decision!)

Anyway, I had to learn to live with it, after all, I wasn’t the demanding daughter-in-law, and wasn’t about to get the whole place redecorated after they had spent so much money, with such love!

Now, back to the indelible part!

As kids grow up, they like to experiment. We all know that.

My son was no different. After he reached one, I went back to work part-time, and my in-laws’ looked after him.

One day my two/possibly three-year-old ( can’t remember his exact age when this happened!) was toddling around the house, as he was apt to, then went all silent.

My Father-in-Law likes to have writing implements all around the house, in case he needs to jot things down. Biros, pencils, markers: they are everywhere.

Lil Man took full advantage of this fact.

I arrived back from work to find that the front living room, the posh one, you know, the Aladdin’s cave, had been redecorated in one corner. Not a discreet, ‘we can hide it with a sofa’ corner, but up high, in full view, on one of the walls!

And with indelible ink!

Yes, in one pot, my Father-in-Law had left a permanent marker, a black one, which looked fun to draw with, and Lil Man used all his artistic abilities, defacing the wall, and his hands!

Thankfully the family saw the funny side, and who can be angry at a little child with the cutest of smiles?!

But we obviously couldn’t rid the wall of the stains, and my brother-in-law was getting married soon after…

So the big redecoration happened, and with me helping to choose, we decided upon no paper this time, but painted walls! It only took 9 years! And I’d already moved out of the house by this time!

See, that is one indelible memory!

See you tomorrow!

If you want to find a full list of rules and the daily prompts visit here.

#SoCS Jan. 6/18 – #JusJoJan Day 6 – Eco

06 Jan 2018 33 Comments

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

Linda’s prompt for SoCS this week…

Your prompt for #JusJoJan and Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “eco.” Find a word that starts with “eco” or has “eco” in it, and base your post on that word. Have fun!

Well, I could have gone all safe and thought about eco-friendly things. We could have talked about recycling and saving the Earth… but no…

I thought I would try and find a few words with eco in them, and see what I could think of to write.

Meconium – for those of you not in the know, that is the name given to a baby’s first poop! It’s a strange black treacle-like substance that oozes out of that cute butt, and takes forever to scrape off!

Shuttlecock – My kids love playing badminton. Hubby Dearest played as a youngster and he got the kids involved in lessons for a while. It was great to see my son involved in a sport that was not ‘typical’ for his age. And he’s good at it! As a smaller than others kinda kid, he would get overlooked for certain team sports, even though he was good, like Football, but in badminton, he is his own entity and can take on the best of em! And Lil Princess enjoys it too. If there is an activity that gets her off her tablet for a while and involves her in physical activity, then I’m happy!

Decongestant – It surely is the time of the year for all those flu and cold remedies. At any one time from October to around March, at least one person in our family is suffering from the sniffles, a blocked nose or a cough. I’ve tried so many shop-bought decongestant medicines, but sometimes its the simple things like Viks that help, or my mother in law’s favourite, toasted ajwain seeds, wrapped in a hankie that you inhale the odour of!

Decorations – Mine are down now. They usually go down by the 1st Jan, because of our darling kitty. Sonu Singh has a field day in the tree, and I usually find baubles batted off the tree, and in all sorts of places. This year, the addition of my son thinking that the ornaments are great targets for his Nerf gun meant that I couldn’t wait to put the tree away! I have actually had to throw some things away this year because his over-zealous target practice has meant that some of the baubles have got dents in, or plain shattered! And yet, as I glance around the house I find things I’ve forgotten… Drat! Another trip up to the attic to put them away too!

Records – I mean the vinyl sorts. I was lucky enough to manage to unearth some classic vinyls that my parents had stashed away at home last year! It was like stepping back in time, finding gold dust, that was not just western music, but some old Bollywood soundtracks, and some Punjabi bhangra classics too! It’s just a shame that we can’t get the record player working!

Recorder – That was the first instrument I learned how to play! I still play a mean Polly Wolly Doodle, if I get my hands on a recorder today! It’s a shame hardly anyone knows the song!

There… I think I’ve streamed my consciousness enough to even satisfy my #JusJoJan goal too!!!

Happy Saturday Peeps!

January 4 – Flash Fiction – Copper Country

05 Jan 2018 33 Comments

by Ritu in #CarrotRanch, Fiction, Thoughts Opinions & Memories Tags: #CarrotRanch, Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Charli Mills, Copper Country, Flash Fiction, Police

Charli’s prompt this week:

January 4, 2018, prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less) write a story about Copper Country. It can be any place, fictional, historical, or on another planet. Go where the copper leads.

January 4 Flash Fiction Challenge by @Charli_Mills

Though it should say January 4!

Hmmm… interesting prompt… where will it take my 99 words?

I went with the meaning of copper as a policeman, a common nickname for them in the UK, as is a Bobby! You can check this link out for more police-related slang terms and their meanings!

The Land of Bobbies!

Wherever you turned, they were there.
If you popped out for a bite to eat, guaranteed there would be at least four you would see in the establishment.
On your way to work, you were sure to be flanked by a couple.
Putting your rubbish out on collection day, there would be eyes on you.
Even in your home, you couldn’t escape. At least one family member was going to be one.
Still, at least you felt safe,if a little intimidated, by their presence.
That’s what you got for moving to Copper Country – The police were just everywhere!

https://carrotranch.com/2018/01/05/january-4-flash-fiction-challenge/

#JusJoJan – January 5th, 2018 – Memories

05 Jan 2018 29 Comments

by Ritu in #jusjojan, Thoughts Opinions & Memories Tags: #jusjojan, Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Cage Dunn, Ill, Linda G Hill, Memories

Day five of #JusJoJan!

I’m going to try to write on each of the prompts!

Today the prompt is:

Your prompt for January 5th, 2018, brought to you by friendly “gender undefined female” (click to read the post) Cage Dunn, is “Memories.” Use it any way you’d like within your post. And make sure you visit Cage Dunn at her blog, “Cage Dunn: Writer, Autory, Teller-Of-Tall-Tales” to read her post and say hi! 😀 Here’s her link: https://cagedunn.wordpress.com/

Thanks, Cage, for a great prompt word!

You should see my house – heck you should see my parents house!

It’s a place those minimalists in you would be itching to declutter!

And believe me, both my mother and I have tried to declutter our respective homes many times. Sure we get rid of many bags and boxes of things, but there are still piles of ‘things’ that we can’t seen to let go of.

Because those ‘things’ that others may see as tat, or unnecessary clutter, are memories.

In the garage of my parents house, are boxes and bags full of items from my brothers and my childhood, and university years. There are boxes of books, films, paperwork, sports equipment, and old toys. Even cassette tapes that no one will ever listen to again!

But they won’t be tossed away recklessly.

No.

My mum lovingingly goes thought boxes and keeps then in order for us to check out, and claim for our own memory chests.

My parents have has so many precious items from various members of our family, gifts from our grandparents who are no longer with us, photos of members of our family who passed away.

My brother and I do say to them to try and get rid of things. but deep down we are just as bad.

He’s lucky because, being in Finland, he is limited to the amount of stuff he can transport back there, but for me, all it takes is a boot-full and I have transported the memories to my house!

My home is a treasure trove of items. thousands of photos, real ones not digital, books, treasured pieces of clothing – all items which make me smile when I look at them.

My children love to look back on old things. They are getting to that age where our memories are of interest to them.

This past summer, when we went to visit my folks, the kids discovered the Cine projector! What a fun evening we had, looking back on these tiny reels of soundless film, showing their mummy and uncle as little tykes! Pops had more squirrelled away, which he couldn’t locate at the time, but there is promise of another evening, where we can revisit memories soon!

Now, having written this, and being still off sick, I may just go and wallow in old memories, checking out some of my old photos!

And no, you’ll never convince me to declutter… NEVER!!!!!

See you tomorrow!

If you want to find a full list of rules and the daily prompts visit here.

#BookReview – Oath Breaker by Shelley Wilson @ShelleyWilson72

05 Jan 2018 37 Comments

by Ritu in Reviews, Thoughts Opinions & Memories Tags: Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Book Review, Oath Breaker, Shelley Wilson, YA Fiction

I am indebted to Shelley Wilson.

SONY DSC

Last year I was encouraged to read her Guardians trilogy, Young Adult Fantasy fiction. This is a genre I have never been pulled towards in the past. But, as a fan of Shelley’s blogs, I thought I’d give them a go.

I wasn’t disappointed at all!

Thrilled to meet Shelley at the Annual Blogger’s Bash in 2016 and 2017 (captured above)! She’s the tall one!!!

In fact, since then, I have read a few others from the YA Genre, including Sacha Black’s Keepers, and I haven’t been disappointed.

I was thrilled to hear that Shelley had written a new story, which would develop into another series of books, Oath Breaker.

Now YA fantasy fiction is one thing. Werewolves are another. I have to confess (sorry Shelley) but Twilight and the suchlike have never been on my radar, and I wasn’t sure how I would enjoy this…

Shelley, why did I even doubt you?

The blurb…

Will she follow the pack…
Or will she destroy them?
A dead mother.
A violent father.
A missing brother.
When Mia’s father is murdered, it’s her estranged uncle that comes to the rescue, but what he offers her in return for his help could be worse than the life she is leaving behind.
Taken to Hood Academy, a unique school deep in the forest, she discovers friendships, love, and the courage to stand on her own.
As she trains hard, Mia takes the oath that seals her future as a werewolf hunter, but not everyone wants Mia to succeed.
Screams in the night. Secret rooms. Hidden letters. Mia becomes an important piece in a game she doesn’t want to play.
Will the truth set her free, or will it destroy her?

**Medallist Winner in the 2017 New Apple Summer E-Book Awards**

Oath Breaker by [Wilson, Shelley]

My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Imagine living a life of fear, and then watching the object of your fear, gruesomely murdered in front of your eyes?
Then being whisked away to an unfamiliar world, filled with mythical creatures, secrets and betrayals?
That was Mia’s life.
I have to say I loved this book and was pulled into the story of Mia’s life from the off.
There’s love, hate, friendship, hardship, and mystery… All great ingredients for a novel of this genre.
I was rooting for Mia from the off, and my support for her never waned. Not wanting to give any spoilers away, I was thrilled with the ending, and it’s left me thirsty for more.

Goodreads Review – Here

Amazon Review – Here

Check out Shelley’s Amazon page here.

And her bookshop here. Shelley is not only a fantastic YA author but a wonderful motivational writer too.