crispina kemp

Intrigue

Posted on January 14, 2023 by crispina kemp

image by Hawksky on pixabay

It was cryptic, the script which lay before me, written in an Elizabethan Secretarial Hand. By the spymaster himself? Could it be?

It was well preserved; it must have been the best quality vellum, and first time used, not marred with the scrapings suggestive of years of palimpsests.

But what did it mean? And who did it concern? Did its contents lead to the arrest of a traitor, conspirator or the faithful of the wrong sect? Did someone lose their head over this? Did they lay on the rack, sinews stretched until they snapped?

Intrigued, I had to know more.

100 words written for Sammi’s Weekend Writing Prompt: Script

Posted in Mostly Micro | Tagged Micro fiction, Sammi's Weekend Writing Prompt | 17 Comments

Friday Fungi

Posted on January 13, 2023 by crispina kemp

The weather has turned, fungi season has ended. Though we might find one or two with each new walk, it won’t be enough to fill a feature. And so, as promised, I’m posting the overflows from previous walks.

31st October we walked to Burlingham Woods. It was perhaps our most prolific fungi-hunt day. I’ve already posted 24 shots. Here’s another 20 or more. Enjoy!

31st October 2022

That’s all folks. Hope you enjoyed. See you with more next Friday!

Posted in Photos | Tagged Fungi, Photos | 7 Comments

CCC218: Waiting

Posted on January 12, 2023 by crispina kemp

The photographers lined the bank, standing just clear of the water, their humble identities lost amongst the pressing media reporters. For the waters of this lake had been steadily rising these past few days – and it wasn’t because of an increase in rain.

Scientists from the School of Environmental Sciences at the local university had studied and pondered the uncommon phenomenon. Then one had declared, “Eureka!”

The water was rising because of a foreign body placed into the lake – placed in and growing. What could it be?

Images returned from a quickly acquired submersible showed an ovoid object. An egg.

“It’s a dragon’s egg!”

Now everyone waited for that egg to hatch.

Posted in Crimson's Creative Challenge, Mostly Micro, Photos | Tagged #CCC218, Crimson's Creative Challenge, Micro fiction | 26 Comments

Crimson’s Creative Challenge #218

Posted on January 11, 2023 by crispina kemp

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, Photos | Tagged #CCC218, Crimson's Creative Challenge, Photo | 16 Comments

Tuesday Treats: Beach Photography

Posted on January 10, 2023 by crispina kemp

9th December 2022, a day of sharp frosts and hail, but intrepid, we walked the beach anyway. When the sun finally came out…these

9th December 2022

Sea Holly in Christmas colours!

9th December 2022

Our beautiful wave-scoured beach!

9th December 2022

Yay! Here comes the sun…

9th December 2022

The tide is outgoing. Love how it tumbles

9th December 2022

I could spend my days capturing those waves

9th December 2022

By now we’ve reached the end of our walk. Hope you enjoyed.

Posted in Photos | Tagged Beach Communities, Norfolk Coast, Photos | 14 Comments

Sunday Picture Post: Stormy Skies

Posted on January 8, 2023 by crispina kemp

9th December 2022, we hoped to catch the sun as she rose out of the sea. But it wasn’t to be. Instead, we caught some wonderful clouds which I now share with you.

9th December 2022

In the early hours the sanderlings race up and down the beach as the waves roll in and out…

9th December 2022

But looking further out…shame about the lack of light

9th December 2022

It’s only a pup. Mum’s further out

9th December 2022

No visible sun, but her rays colour the clouds

9th December 2022

Moving away from the shore, we head into the dunes

9th December 2022

Just two of the turbines out on the sandbank. A great distance, but this is on zoom

9th December 2022

These clouds remind me of the Sistine Chapel ceiling; I expect to see a hand reaching out!

9th December 2022

The wind-farm…

9th December 2022

With the sun finally put in an appearance, I became a “beach photographer”. See Tuesday Treats!

That’s it. Hope you enjoyed.

Posted in Photos | Tagged Clouds, Norfolk Coast, Norfolk Walks, Photos, Sunrise | 18 Comments

Life Returns

Posted on January 7, 2023 by crispina kemp

3rd Jan 2023

The day was dull, not much sign of life, even the wildfowl were scarce. But…the catkins were out!!!

Celebrate Life, the first title from Maria Antonia’s #2023picofthe week

Posted in Photos, Uncategorized | Tagged #2023picoftheweek, Photo | 21 Comments

The Wizard from the Bosphorus

Posted on January 7, 2023 by crispina kemp

image by Jim Cooper on pixabay

He was a Turk, a wizard from the Bosphorus
His spells, we all agreed, sounded totally monotonous
Ponderous, not at all sonorous
In a tongue that was to us quite barbarous
But alas—alas!—he’d spotted us
It seemed the wizard wanted us
We were, he said, to be his hostages
Bait, he said, to catch a hippopotamus
Ridiculous, we said
It would be far less preposterous
To use us to catch a horned rhinoceros

75 words written for Sammi’s Weekend Writing Prompt: Preposterous

Posted in Poems (Some Silly) | Tagged Poem, Sammi's Weekend Writing Prompt | 27 Comments

Friday Fungi

Posted on January 6, 2023 by crispina kemp

9th December we took an easy option and walked the beach and dunes through to the next village. We hoped to catch a amazing sunrise. Oh well, that didn’t happen. But we found an array of fungi. Btw, those small icy crystals, that’s hail! Enjoy