Sunday Picture Post: Reflections on a Woodland Walk

Posted on November 17, 2019 by

I interrupt the Fungi Fest, for this week only, to bring you this… cos it was amazing.

Yes folks, it’s upside down…

I went in search of pine trees, for their specific fungi. But the woodland is mixed with deciduous.

Calm yet… we haven’t fully entered the woods…

And on this one DRY and SUNNY day…

Feast your eyes on that colour

the Mother Beech came out to play!

And look at that incredibly tangled ancient trunk…

I just had to share these photos… But I’m not done yet

Late for a dragonfly, this Darter’s colour is in keeping with the day

And, because I don’t want you getting fungi-withdrawals…

Just like apricots tucked in amongst the bracken. 

Possibly Powdercaps, but they could as easily be the golden version of Fly Agaric, depends on what colour those stipes. Then again, they might be waxcaps… except the cap don’t look waxy. Ho-hum.

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One Grey and Misty Morn

Posted on November 16, 2019 by

November began with heavy mist. But I refused to stay home.

Mist, like layered veils: 1st Nov 2019

Beyond the farmer’s field, the trees and hills strain to be seen through the mist.

Mist: one of the titles in #2019picoftheweek challenge. For details see MariaAntonia

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CCC53: Bobby’s Boat

Posted on November 14, 2019 by

Crimson’s Creative Challenge #53

Bobby said it was his boat. And I believed him. Never thought he might be stealing as he held the mooring rope while I clambered in. He manoeuvred us away from the bank, he pulled the cord that started the engine. He didn’t look furtive, left and right and all around him; took the boat out on the lake.

He dropped his anchor way out in the middle. The day was hot, the water cool. We picnicked from a wicker hamper. I don’t remember now what food we ate, only the wine. Full-bodied; he said like me, and I blushed.

And that’s when I heard the heavy throbbing of a hefty boat, that’s when I looked and saw the blue-uniformed men. And that’s when I realised what he’d done.

I nearly tipped into the water when he jumped overboard. Bobby Brighton died that day. I’ll miss him forever.

149 words written for Crimson’s Creative Challenge

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Crimson’s Creative Challenge #53

Posted on November 13, 2019 by

CCC53

Welcome to my weekly challenge—open to all—just for FUN, FUN, FUN

Here’s how it works:

Every Wednesday I post a photo (this week it’s that one above.)
You respond with something CREATIVE

Here are some suggestions:

  • An answering photo
  • A cartoon
  • A joke
  • A caption
  • An anecdote
  • A short story (flash fiction)
  • A poem
  • A newly minted proverb, adage or saying
  • An essay
  • A song—the lyrics or the performance

You have plenty of scope and only two criteria:

  • Your creative offering is indeed yours
  • Your writing is kept to 150 words or less

If you post a link in the comments section of this post I’ll be able to find it
If you include Crimson’s Creative Challenge as a heading, WP Search will find it (theory)
by ‘Searching’ in the WP Reader (fingers crossed)

Here’s wishing you inspirational explosions. And FUN.

Posted in Crimson's Creative Challenge | Tagged , | 46 Comments

At the Meeting of One with Another

Posted on November 12, 2019 by

A liminal place where water meets land; a liminal time when winter yields to the greening of spring

We humans have recognised the liminal times since our first awakening – the change of winter into spring, of summer into winter, the pivotal solstice as the old year yields to the new.

So too the liminal places where water meets land, and land meets sky – henges we built and monuments to celebrate these sacred times and places.

57 words written for Sammi’s Weekend Writing Prompt: Liminal

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What Pegman Saw: Chief Kai’s Canoe

Posted on November 11, 2019 by

Kaieteur Falls, Guyana, by Sunil Thaor, on Google Maps

Huge, the tree Makonaima made that night; every kind of fruit it bore.

Evil, the son who chopped it down.

Great, the gush of water that issued from that stump.

Immeasurable, the work of Makonaima to gather up the animals, to place them high in the trees and deep into caves.

High and low, the places he gave to the saved when that land dried.

Sacrifices, they made to Markonaima, creator and saviour, when they needed aid.

And so regards Kaieteur Falls, they do say…

Chief Kai, when his tribe were by the Caribs threatened

In a canoe, did sacrifice himself to its roaring waters.

105 words, written for What Pegman Saw: Guyana, South America

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“Mount Mauna Loa” ©J.E.Goldie A Nancy and Joan Story for Crispina Kemp’s 7th Word Press Anniversary. Nov. 10 2019 — Jen Goldie – A little this, a little that, some real and some imaginings.

Posted on November 10, 2019 by

The Nancy and Joan stories began with a Prompt responding to Crimson’s Creative #22 posted April 11th 2019. It had 2 parts and it was called “Not Another Word.” The photo you see above, was the photo for the prompt. Since then, there have been approximately 42 N & J stories posted for #CCC prompts. […]

via “Mount Mauna Loa” ©J.E.Goldie A Nancy and Joan Story for Crispina Kemp’s 7th Word Press Anniversary. Nov. 10 2019 — Jen Goldie – A little this, a little that, some real and some imaginings.

I had to reblog this. Jen has made such a clever post to celebrate my Creative Challenge and her participation. A must read. Thanks Jen. Click the link above to read it in full.

Quote | Posted on November 10, 2019 by | 13 Comments

Seven Years On…

Posted on November 10, 2019 by

Happy Birthday, Crimmie (image from pixabay)

Do you remember your seventh birthday? Mine: I remember we’d not long moved from a bungalow to a house. I loved the stairs, a wonderful adventure playground (alas, my mother did not agree!)

And here’s a parallel: Today is my blog’s seventh birthday, and I have recently changed its address (from crimsonprose.wordpress.com to crispinakemp.com). And wow, this blog has become an adventure playground for me.

When I started this blog seven years ago, I couldn’t have anticipated what good friends I would meet along the way. The support you’ve given me… I’m speechless (and that’s a rarity!)

I have you, my followers, to thank for the success of this blog… and I do thank you. Particular heartfelt thanks to Brian (Sillyverse) and Judy (Janthina Images) who have been with me since the beginning. And special thanks to Dale (A Delectable Life), Sammi (Sammi Cox), Lynn (Word Shamble) and Joy (Tales of Eneana)… my cabin mates for Camp NaNoWriMo last year. And to those who joined during the past year via Crimson’s Creative Challenge who have so quickly become my friends, so many I cannot mention you all. And to all my followers, past, present and future, I do thank you. To quote John Donne, No man is an island, and as I’ve found the blogging experience builds strong bridges.

I smile when I remember my first posts, many I’d long ago written to amuse my daughters when they were young. See my first two posts here (Brickbat the Cat) and (Esmeralda and the Frog). But alongside those were my stories. And oh, what a lot I posted.

Neve, December 2012 at 56 episodes; Roots of Rookeri, January 2014 at 51 episodes; Priory Project, January 2015 at 59 episodes; Alsalda, August 2015 at 79 episodes; Chronicles of Mideer, June 2016 at 14 episodes; King’s Wife, September 2016 at 54 episodes; Can of Worms, April 2017 at 34 episodes; Grandma’s Attic, June 2018 at 21 episodes. You might notice a trend towards the shorter end of fiction. I now post micro-fiction, that’s a double wow!

And posted on a dedicated site, Feast Fables December 2012 at 180 episodes. Feast Fables has become The Spinner’s Game, soon to be published P.O.D. and on Kindle.

I have grown in these past seven years, as surely as had the seven-year-old child way back then. I feel I’m now able to claim the image my eldest daughter had of me a good long while ago. Of a multicoloured octopus.

image by Bui the Dinh on pixabay

I thank you all!

Posted in On Writing, Thoughts, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 43 Comments

Sunday Fungi: What’s This?

Posted on November 10, 2019 by

Not all fungi are mushroom-shaped. Many are brackets. But some also are… this

Yellow Stagshorn

I tend not to frequent pine forests. Which might explain why, in all these years, this is my first encounter with the Yellow Stagshorn, for it likes to feed on dead pines. Oh my, was I excited when I took this pic.

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Lilies… a study

Posted on November 9, 2019 by

You must know by now I’m addicted to flower photography. But while my usual subjects are found growing by the wayside, not these. These lilies are my regular treat to myself.

Delightful, lilies in bud: 29 Oct 2019

Photo posted for #2019picoftheweek challenge title Delightful

For details see MariaAntonia

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