#SoCS Aug. 20, 2022 – Key

Linda’s SoCS prompt.

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “key.” Use it as a noun, a verb, or use it metaphorically. Have fun!

When using a hotel keycard, it is key to know which action you need to open your door.

Gone are the days of simple metal keys inserted into locks, then turned to enter your room.

A few years back your keycard needed to be inserted too, into a little slot. A light came on telling you that the lock had been deactivated, then you could step in, but not forgetting to pop your keycard into the dock by the door, to get the lights and electrical amenities working.

Then there were ones you swiped, rather like a debit card wipe.

Yesterday we were at a hotel, and they have upped the game once more… you just tap the keycard on a panel on the room door and it lights up, ready to let you in!

Of course, it is easier to misplace those cards…

But then again, proper keys go missing, too, don’t they?

We had a case when not one set, not two, but three sets of car keys complete with house keys went missing…

We began to think a poltergeist had taken up residence in the house, but then we found said poltergeist, in the form of a giggling 2-year-old Lil Man, who had found the stash of keys left on the dining table, reached up, took one and dropped them behind the radiator! It was such fun, he felt around and took any others he could find, and did the same!

And they all got stuck behind the radiator panel, so we spent an evening trying to fish them out with bent hangers and all sorts!

Reminds me of a time my mum recalls, hearing tiny me giggle randomly one day, and following the noise to find me in front of our small fridge in the kitchen, door open, with a puddle of broken eggs on the floor. I took one at a time from the egg shelf in the door and proceeded to break around half. adoze, because it was such fun to see and hear them break!

I will be 47 in two weeks, yet to this day, my mother has never kept her eggs in the fridge!

And, likewise, our keys are always hung up now, and never left on the table!

Throwback Thursday #52 – Transitions and Modifications

Having another go at Maggie and Laurens, Throwback Thursday challenge! This week it is Maggie at the helm!

This week’s prompt is: Transitions and Modifications

  1. Think about your first haircut. Were you the kid that cut your own hair? Did you go to a salon or did your parents cut your hair? Did your parents save a lock of your hair? As Sikhs, we aren’t supposed to cut our hair, appreciating and being grateful for what God gave us. However, we are not fully baptised in our family. When I was about 6, I had a real craving to get my hair cut, and so my mum took me to the hairdresser, and I had my first page boy cut! My dad cut my brother’s hair for the first time, and that was painful for him, as my father has always kept his hair and worn a turban, but felt the pressure to do it, so my brother didn’t get any bullying as he grew up in an area that was predominantly white. One silly story of me and my hair is that I wear convinced I had too small a forehead, so I took a bunch of hair from the front and snipped it clean off at the scalp, thinking no one would notice… Er, they did And, then I had a fountain of sprouting hair growing back, soon after!
  2. How about shaving? Fathers often teach their sons to shave. Most girls I know, decided for themselves when to shave their legs and their underarms. Some cultures do not shave at all. Again, line the above, we aren’t supposed to remove any body hair, however, the majority of us who aren’t fully baptised do. I think my mum got me an electric razor first, but I also experimented with hair removal cream, waxing, etc over the years. And eyebrows and upper lip threading!
  3. Did you alter your clothes? Cut jeans into cut-offs? Cut the sleeves off t-shirts? Wear graphic tees? Tie-dyes? Sew patches on your jeans? Not really. I was pretty simple growing up!
  4. Was there a time you remember challenging the authority in your household? Do you remember the first time you found your voice? I wouldn’t have dared as a child! But as I grew older I learned how to stand up for my thoughts and beliefs.
  5. What about piercings? Girls getting their ears pierced was a rite of passage for girls. Then boys started getting one ear pierced. As time passed, piercings became more mainstream and accepted. I had my ears pierced, just those one set for each ear, and they are still just like that. I was around 8, I think.
  6. Did you walk on the wild side? Smoking? Drinking? Did your parents know? Shhhh! Okay, so there were a few drinks, as I went to Uni, but nothing more…
  7. What about tattoos? Did you get a tattoo while still living at home? Did your parents approve? Nope. No tattoos, but I do think about it now!
  8. What about language? Was swearing allowed in your family?  Did you use the same language around your friends as you did at home with your family? Nope. No swearing was allowed but as I got older and learned more Punjabi naughty words, it became fun to sprinkle them into conversations with people who didn’t understand!
  9. Think back to high school. Girls, did you iron your hair? Did you colour your hair? (using Sun-in counts!) Guys, did you grow a beard or moustache? Did you grow your hair long? Feel free to share a photo of yourself back in the day. I have naturally curly hair but didn’t even realise it was curly until I was 16, because it used to be brushed out and plaited all the time, or left in a frizz ball! Straightening wasn’t a thing, for me until uni! And Sun in… er, yes, but not before uni!
  10. Many people think our authentic self is the person we were as young children. Are you still inherently the same person you were as a child or have you changed your personality and demeanor along the way? I think. I am the same, but I have just become more confident and able. to stand up for myself and my beliefs more. The benefits of getting older!

Okay, so three times in a row was my limit, here we are on Friday, again, but be glad… I am off to a wedding and squeezed this in before we leave!

One-Liner Wednesday – Covid Spread

“First wedding to attend in 3 years… and I can’t fit into any of my clothes!”

Ritu Bhathal

For Linda’s #1LinerWeds

Chai And A Chat #199 #ChaiAndAChat

Hi there, Peeps! I apologise for the tardiness, but actually, I’m not sorry, really! For a change I have had a good chill out, which is huge for me, especially after a pretty crazy, hot week and weekend!

I have my bath of ice, hope you are sufficiently cool!

  • If we were having chai, I’d tell you that last week, I had plans. I have been picking random quotes and sayings from a couple of packs of motivational cards that I have, and this one came up. And what truth this particular quote resonates with! No, we all know my time situations. School and life drains me, meaning I can’t write as much or as often as I would like, so I have to fight. to make these words happen, at a time where I Can be productive, AKA the school holidays. And…
  • If we were having chai, I’d announce that, on Wednesday, I officially finished that first draft! It’s a monster, at nearly 109K, and no doubt there is a lot. of excess that will need trimming, but my story for book 2 is finally all out of my system!
  • If we were having chai, I’d say that I have to now start the read-back, which I am doing out loud with Lil Princess, who has shown interest in something other than her phone for the first time in a long while! (and she seems to be enjoying the story so far, so YAY!) I also need to do my own quick check-over before sending it to some trusted Alpha readers, so I can hear how much of it is actually waffle, and total rubbish, cutting it down to 80K!
  • If we were having chai, I would say that rest of the week has been devoted to being rather hot and sticky, and just getting comfortable, most of the time! And it was also Rakhri on Thursday, which is brother and sister day in India. I have written about this before on the blog, but we celebrate our sibling bonds and promises to always be there for one another by the sisters tying a sacred thread on the wrist of our brothers, and the brothers respond with a little gift for their sisters! It’s always a bittersweet day for me since my brother isn’t here locally, so I can’t physically tie my Rakni on him, but we are very close, and we always speak regularly, and my rakhi is sent to him, ready for him to get it tied by someone else, on my behalf.
  • If we were having chai, I’d sigh and say, yes, cricket featured heavily this week, with Lil Man having friends over to train with him three times this week, a training session with his club, as well as three full-day matches! Productive, but long and hot!
  • If we were having chai, I would end, as always, with Sonu Singh who this week decided to use an awful lot of energy, and try and do an escape mission out of the Velux window in my office! There I was, innocently reading in my chair, and he hopped up to snuggle next to me. The next thing I know, he had an idea and jumped up, onto the shelf below the window, and clambered up! He tried to work out how to get his paw through the gap in the open window, but then got stuck trying to get down, back onto my armchair! So this means that instead of having a bit of a breeze running through my office regularly, I have to keep the windows closed, unless I am up there, to that any more bright escape ideas he has! Stuffy! What a cheeky kitty!

This week will pass in preparations for the weekend. We have a wedding to attend. (Stick with me, here, as I try and explain who is getting married…) My brother-in-law’s sister-in-law, or rather, Hubby Dearest’s sister-in-law’s sister is getting married. Got that, so my husband’s brother’s wife’s youngest sister is getting hitched. Phew! Long-winded, I know! But, we haven’t been to a wedding since way before the lockdown and Covid graced us! So, I’ll be squeezing myself into outfits I barely fit. And I hope that it’s not so hot that my makeup just slides off my face! I hope to have lots of colourful pics for you, next week, but beware, it might be another delayed post, as we may not be back home until Monday, itself!

And while you’re here, did you sign up for my mailing list? I am in the middle of writing an exclusive Chickpea Curry Lit story for my subscribers, and there will be news, tips and even recipes! You know you want to join… go on! Click the pic below to sign up!

Spidey’s Serene Sunday – Part 388 – Natural

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“Happiness is the best makeup.”

Drew Barrymore

Thank you, Spidey, for a great quote!

This kinda follows on from yesterday’s SoCS post.

Yesterday I posted a poem I write about accepting ourselves for who or what we are and not trying to make ourselves look different to please the rest of the world.

I’m not a make-up person at the best of times. I get far too hot for make-up, and it ends up sliding off my face before long…

Sure, I’ll add on a little slap if we are going out, but especially now, as I feel my skin not being as smooth as it was, and the eyeshadow I used to apply with ease, getting caught up in those creases, or happy lines around my eyes, I find myself looking at my reflection in the mirror, and wondering, “Do I really need that? Who am I putting this stuff on for?”

Because I’m more than happy without it.

I like to have my eyebrows in order, and no one needs to see me with a light ‘tache on my upper lip, but other than that, what you see is what you get.

I no longer dye my hair, so the greys coming through show that nature has embraced me.

The smile you see will light my face more than any make-up would.

And you would see that I am genuinely happy. (Whiskers, double chin, grey hair, and all!)

So, ladies, are you one who needs their mascara and lippy to feel confident when you go out, or do you embrace the natural you? And gents, how do you feel about your appearance?

namaste

Wishing you a wonderfully peaceful Sunday, Peeps!

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