WordPress Glitch

Over the last few days, the number of WordPress blogs I follow on which I have been unable to comment has grown. I gather that some of you can’t comment on mine. Here is a very useful post by Karen of Booker Talk which sums up and deals with some of the issues. If you’re a WordPress blogger or follower, I urge you to read it and if you’re affected, to contact WordPress.

Alert: Blog Comments Blocked by WordPress Glitch

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio: Pexels

That Important Conversation

The other week, I accepted a challenge. Sammi Cox of Whispers and Echoes asked her readers to write a story in 100 words – neither more nor less. And yesterday she published my offering. Thanks, Sammi!

Whispers and Echoes

‘He just can’t do it any more. Miles he’d walk. Every day. Now he can hardly get to the end of the road. And food! He’s hardly eating. His digestive system seems to be shot. Just … don’t ask.’

‘Well he’s a pretty decent age you know. He’s done well. He’s not going to get any better. You might consider whether it’s time to put him out of his misery, before he really starts to suffer’.

‘To be honest, I’d been wondering myself. Just let me get used to the idea.’ said Rover, with a business-like flick of his tail.


Margaret Lawrenson blogs at From Pyrenees to Pennines

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‘People tell you all the time, poems do not have to rhyme’*

About three years ago, I joined a writing group for strict amateurs: people who have no particular aspirations to publish.  I’m still part of it.  Our facilitator, Sheila, is inspirational and fun.  I remember our very first session.  She produced a bag full of dice, faced not with numbers, but letters.  We threw the dice, and looked at the letters that landed face up. The task was to make a word that used as many of those letters as we could.  The only rule was: this word must not actually exist.  We fell to with enthusiasm.  And made a word I’ve now forgotten. Next task?  Define it.

Sheila’s full of strategies to get our creative juices flowing, and has transformed a small band of people with only pencils and notebooks in common into a creative, constructively critical and mutually supportive group.

But that’s not all.  Sheila’s the person who encouraged me to write my first poem.  Then another, and another. Here are a couple of my more recent – and seasonal – efforts.  I’m no poet, but I’ve come to enjoy practising.

In my blogging life, I’d started to follow Fake Flamenco.  It turns out that each month, Rebecca chooses a poetic form and invites us to craft a short poem on the theme she suggests.  And do you know what makes this so special?  Before she publishes our work on her blog, Rebecca translates every single one into Spanish. I really look forward to this extra dimension, as well as the chance to share poem-making with bloggers on every continent  Thank you Rebecca.  I haven’t been tagging along all that long, but this singular poetry challenge has just celebrated two creative years. All bloggers welcome!

And what serendipity! Only this week, another Rebecca, a certain Lady Budd, introduced us to the work of Colleen Chesebro, who is not only a poet, but someone who loves to share the skills of poetry making here, and runs a poetry challenge, #Tanka Tuesday.

This poetry malarkey could catch on. If we start ’em young, as the header photo suggests we do, perhaps …

The post title quotes the first two lines of An Attempt at Unrhymed Verse by Wendy Cope*

Odds & ends that didn’t get their 5 minutes of fame … until now

Becky’s Square Odds challenge has had us all producing all kinds of odds and ends to display in the blogosphere. Today is the last day, so I’m giving a chance to all those photos I thought I might use .. and didn’t.

Thanks Becky. I’ve had fun finding (square)oddities, and enjoying contributions from bloggers in every continent. Till the next time!

An Oddly Grumpy Tooth Fairy

Did you get visits from the Tooth Fairy when you were little and those first teeth fell out? I did, and so did my children … and their children. It turns out that the one who visits our family is an odd wee besom who leaves grumpy notes – tiny ones, written on a piece of paper little larger than a postage stamp – to the children whose teeth she recovers…

For Becky’s Square Odds.