Another daily challenge starting tomorrow

Every day I post a small piece of writing at my other blog, Pausing to pick up small stones. During April I am planning to participate in another daily challenge. The A to Z Blogging Challenge! It involves posting something each day in April (except Sundays) with each post dedicated to a letter of the alphabet starting with A and ending with Z. 
I have decided that I will make an alphabet card each day and post photos here. So at the end of April I hope to have a beautiful set of alphabet cards. I am still deciding what size they will be. I think I will do a capital letter on one side and a lower case letter on the other. It should be a wonderful way to use some of the many beautiful papers I have collected over the years as well as give me a good reason to play with colours and shapes each day. I also look forward to seeing other people's approach to the challenge. There are a huge number of people signed up to participate (over 700 when I last checked). Click on the badge above for more information. 

Three Word Wednesday - March 30th 2011

Three Word Wednesday time again. I didn't think I would play this week and then more words came to join the three (loud, persuasive, riches) for this week. Here they are: 


Life can be packed full of riches 
Maybe not of the monetary kind 
Words persuasive need not be loud 
Whisper listen - what will you find?  

Sunday Scribblings - March 27th 2011

The prompt this week for Sunday Scribblings: nearly. 


After the phone call 


Nearly, she sighed, clearly wasn't enough 
Application and interview both really tough 
And now here she cried 
Feeling glad she had tried 
Yet really quite right out of puff 

The March garden update

A couple of weeks ago I was going to post the garden update for March but thought it was a bit early but now here it is almost the end of March. Here is some of the garden news. 


Growth has been fairly steady in the garden this month. I have rescued a few seedlings from Bunnings (parsley, marigolds and some basil) and look forward to seeing how they go. The marigolds really seem to like their new environment. They look really strong and are starting to flower. 

Marigolds rescued from Bunnings

The beginnings of bright orange flowers

I planted some basil seeds a while ago and they seem to be going well in the garden. 

beginning basil 

The zucchinis and squash are, well, taking over the garden. Next year I will know to plant them further apart. I have enjoyed a few zucchinis and there are many more growing. The squash plants haven't produced as well but I am hopeful I will get to enjoy some soon. 

taking over!

I love seeing these bright and cheery zucchini flowers

Hoping to enjoy this squash soon

There have been a few visitors to the garden. I have discovered quite a few snails under the zucchini leaves. Something is enjoying the rocket I planted from seed. I hope the plants are strong enough now to withstand attack. I have had some difficulty in the past growing rocket in the garden, losing plants to hungry creatures. 

rocket with holes 

Looking very healthy is the plant I got when I saw the Magic Harvest film last month. 

Next job is to do some weeding I think!

Six Word Saturday - March 26, 2011

Two six word sentences this week. Simply because I came up with two and I can't choose between them. 

What will I write this week? 

These six words hold much curiosity. Another six words, ha ha. At the moment I am enjoying participating in a couple of weekly prompt sites as well as 6WS. It has been a lot of fun and I have produced some writing that I am quite pleased with. 

Sunday Scribblings provides a theme which people then write about. Last Sunday it was: free. My approach is to consider the prompt and post something if I feel like it. I have done so for the last few weeks. There was one week I didn't come up with anything although I did think about the prompt a lot. I am taking a low pressure approach to this one - it's good if I come up with something and revising something old to fit the prompt is okay and it's also fine if I don't come up with anything. 

Three Word Wednesday provides three words each Wednesday which participants then incorporate into a piece of writing. I have been participating for the last three weeks. For this one I am writing something new, often a poem. This week I wrote a list poem about meditation (see previous post). I am really enjoying this process. It feels really difficult at first but then with some thinking and playing with words each week something has begun to unfold and before long I've had something ready to post. I think that I will keep giving this one a go for a while and enjoy the challenge. As with Sunday Scribblings I will not give myself a hard time if I don't come up with anything suitable to post. 

I wonder what I will write for both of these this week. Will I even write anything at all? I look forward to seeing how they both unfold this week. 

I'm confident that I will write at least something each day this week. On my other blog, pausing to pick up small stones I post a small piece of writing each day. I am looking forward to July when many other bloggers around the world will join in and post a daily small stone in the river of stones. Find out more about this and how you can participate here. I wonder what my small stones will be about this week??

As well as blogging I am also doing a reasonable amount of journal writing. I use my journal to play around with some ideas for the prompts too. I am also writing a piece about the role of singing in my life and my participation in the singing group which I wrote about for 6WS a couple of weeks ago. I wonder how much of that I will get done this week. It will involve planning some time to write. I think this week will include much writing. I'll see how it pans out. 

And now the second six words for this week...

There are millipedes in the house. 

It's unusual to have so many millipedes in the house. A friend asked yesterday if I had millipedes in the house. She was getting frustrated with all the sweeping them up. I did notice lots around this week. They were at work too. It must be something to do with the weather. We are just moving into Autumn here but it has been quite wet recently and Summer wasn't very hot compared to other years. Seeing so many millipedes reminds me of living in the Adelaide Hills where they would be everywhere. I think one of the years I was living in the Hills there was a real plague of them. I remember public toilet walls just covered in black. There also seems to be more spiders around. One has a very intricate web in the corner of our yard. And there are lots of crickets around too...

Some hopes for meditation

My third week participating in Three Word Wednesday. Wow! I am enjoying producing a piece of writing that would not exist if not for the three given words each week. This week's three words: dual, identical, volley. What I ended up with was quite different to how it started! 


Some hopes for meditation 


To be one in a circle of identical poses 
To experience a dual state of awareness: thinking self, observing self 
To calm a volley of emotions 
To let go of perfection 
To enjoy a gift to myself 

Some fun and brightness

A relaxing and fun afternoon of drawing and painting. 

by Casandra 

by Kylie 

                                                                                                       

by Casandra

Sunday Scribblings - March 20th 2011

The prompt this week for Sunday Scribblings: free. What a huge prompt. My thinking is going in so many different directions. Buy one, get one free! Now I am free! The freeing of emotions! The freedom of holidays! 


I am left feeling unsure of whether I can do this prompt justice with words. Maybe they will come later? So for Sunday Scribblings this week I offer an image. 

Here I feel free. I appreciate living so close to such a beautiful beach. 

Six Word Saturday - March 19, 2011

To try something new is good. 

Last week was my first post for Six Word Saturday. It was good to try something new. This week I also tried a new food. While in the fruit and vegetable section of the local supermarket I spotted a fruit I have never seen before. 

KiwiBerry! 

It didn't take a lot of thinking on my part before I popped a punnet into the trolley. I love kiwi fruit and I love berries. I was fairly confident I would like them. I did. I offered one to Alysha to try as well then regretted doing so. She is usually reluctant to try new foods but she loved them too and promptly ate a few. So they didn't last long. Each one about the size of a strawberry, they tasted a lot like kiwi fruit. They were just a little less tart and their skin was smooth, not furry, making them more easily palatable than regular kiwi fruit. I hope the supermarket keeps them in stock. I want some more. 

Yum! 

The empty punnet

I love lazy Sunday mornings

I just wrote this for Three Word Wednesday. The words for this week: breeze, mellow and tickle. 


I love lazy Sunday mornings 


On a mellow Sunday morning 
the whisper of a gentle breeze 
tickles my feet 


wrapped in my stretch and doze cocoon 
there is no place I would rather be 

A picture from my sister's fridge

Artwork by Teya, age 4. 

Sunday Scribblings - March 13th 2011

The Sunday Scribblings prompt for this week is big. I had a lot of ideas for this one. My offering is a slightly revised version of a poem I wrote a few years ago. 


A great big hug 


Love is ... 
A huge cuddle
Sitting on a chair, eyes closed
'Your surprise is coming' 
'Stay there' 
'Close your eyes' 
A bunch of soursobs 
Placed in a glass on the kitchen bench 
Another cuddle 
'I love you mum' 
'Sit down, close your eyes' 
'Stay there' 
A picture especially drawn 
Another cuddle 
A smile about to burst 
'Do you want more flowers?' 
'Yes please' 
'I love you Mum' 
'I love you too' 
A great big hug 
An afternoon with a nearly five year old 

Six Word Saturday - March 12, 2011

Have fun and leave feeling happy. 

These six words were offered by a group member to describe the singing group that I often attend on Thursday afternoons. What an apt description! We get together and sing for a couple of hours with a break for afternoon tea in the middle. It is heaps of fun. 


This is my first post for Six Word Saturday. Click on the badge above for more information. 

Time to let go

Written for One Single Impression. 


Time to let go 


It was an accidental break 
following much daily use 


Submerged in warm soapy water 
with hardly any pressure applied 
A sudden break 


The mug 
a part of the daily routine 
no more 


Sometimes we learn
from a break to routine 
A comfort has been outgrown 
Memories still remain 

Addition to post (6:30pm): I wrote this poem this morning. I could rewrite it now with a couple of small changes. Mug to Sugar Bowl. Submerged in warm soapy water to Knocked off the kitchen bench. Boo Hoo. 

Dollhouse dreaming

I wrote this poem for Three Word Wednesday. The words for this week: Dainty, Haunting, Tantalize. 

Dollhouse dreaming

‘You have a right to feel safe’

She didn’t feel safe 

The words of the teacher

just seemed to tantalize

Stiffly she sat

Hands in lap

Back straight

Eyes to the front

Biting the inside of her lip

Tongue smoothing over a growing sore

Eyes blinking wetness away

‘You have a right to feel safe’

She didn't hear the words that followed

Images kept haunting her

Pieces of memory

like a movie playing in her mind

Children laughing, pointing, pushing

Playground play

She flicked the channel

At home

Alone

Safety in her bedroom

and a wooden dollhouse

Chubby fingers wrapped around a dainty figure

A figure painted by her father

A dress matching her own

favourite

A figure complete

with a tiny red bow in its hair

just like hers 

‘Stop’

was her single word

as she banged the figure down

Her other hand making

the other children listen

apologise

offer to be her friend

‘You have a right to feel safe’

The teacher’s voice boomed

through her thoughts

She wanted to believe

She wanted

to be the big school girl

those adults always spoke about

Green sheep fun!

Yesterday I tried out a green sheep activity with some toddlers. It was great fun! Here's a picture of my green sheep. 

I read 'Where is the green sheep?' by Mem Fox to the group. Attention was a little lacking (they were very young!) for the reading of the story but afterwards they all seemed to enjoy sticking the green wool onto their sheep. The template I used is available here. 


This is an activity I would definitely like to do again. Which is lucky as I have a good supply of green wool as well as wool I am yet to clean and dye. 

A big thank you to my friend, Casandra, for the supply of the wool. I asked her about dying cotton wool for this activity and she asked if I would like some real wool. Yes please! She had a really great supply. Some of it was quite dirty and full of prickles. I quite enjoyed cleaning it and working out how to dye it. I used dishwashing detergent in warm water to clean it. To dye it I used food colouring in hot water with a bit of vinegar (apple cider vinegar as that was the only vinegar I had in the house!) then zapped it in the microwave for a few seconds. 

Sunday Scribblings - March 6th, 2011

I have wondered all day what to post for this week's Sunday Scribblings prompt: Raw. Then it came suddenly this afternoon when my daughter called out "Mum". 

------

'Mum', came the call from the lounge room. I sensed the urgency in her voice. 

'What is it? What is it?' I called back as I moved somewhat wearily from the bedroom where I was trying to get a few minutes rest. 

She greeted me with a new, slightly different smile and a flat hand, proudly presenting a tiny white tooth. 

'Wow! Your tooth came out'.

'Yeah'. 

Promptly she pulled her lip down to expose the red, raw gum surrounding a tiny speck of white. 

'And the new one is coming through already. It was time'. 

'Yeah'. 

Tissue dabbing and tooth placed in a cup of water and the latest wobbly tooth saga is over. It is once again possible to crunch into a raw apple. A small pleasure she has missed of late. 

Card making fun

I enjoyed making a card today for one of Alysha's friends. It has been a while since I made a card and I enjoyed being immersed in the process. I stuck to a purple and blue theme on Alysha's suggestion. The photo is not a fantastic representation. It was difficult to photograph the gold ribbon and the purple plastic. 

Brianna made one too when she got home from school.