CCC53: Bobby’s Boat

Posted on November 14, 2019 by crispina kemp

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

Posted in Crimson's Creative Challenge | Tagged , | 40 Comments

Crimson’s Creative Challenge #53

Posted on November 13, 2019 by crispina kemp

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 , | 51 Comments

At the Meeting of One with Another

Posted on November 12, 2019 by crispina kemp

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

Posted in Photos, Thoughts | Tagged , , | 16 Comments

What Pegman Saw: Chief Kai’s Canoe

Posted on November 11, 2019 by crispina kemp

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

Posted in Mostly Micro | Tagged , , | 42 Comments

“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 crispina kemp

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.

Posted in Uncategorized | 13 Comments

Seven Years On…

Posted on November 10, 2019 by crispina kemp

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 , , | 45 Comments

Sunday Fungi: What’s This?

Posted on November 10, 2019 by crispina kemp

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.

Posted in Photos | Tagged , | 30 Comments

Lilies… a study

Posted on November 9, 2019 by crispina kemp

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

Posted in Photos | Tagged , , | 38 Comments

One Year of Crimson’s Creative Challenge

Posted on November 7, 2019 by crispina kemp

I took this photo just as Crimson’s Creative Challenge was beginning. It seemed an apt image for this celebratory post

We celebrate this week one year of Crimson’s Creative Challenge. Wee-hay! And what a year it has been.

There have been folks joined in, and folks dropped out, some have remained faithful, some we’ve never seen again. And the responses! Every genre imaginable: comedic, romantic, fantasy, folk tale, history, maritime, western and military, dystopia, gothic and sci-fi. Wow! What a lot. Some have posted photos in answer, others have posted drawings. I note none to date has posted a dance, though we have had ditties and limericks.

I’ve been straining my brain on how to celebrate this wondrous diversity.

A recap of the photos? A pick of the varied responses to the prompts? Alas, to do justice to the full fifty-two weeks amounts to a rather long post. I thought then to provide links to everyone’s contributions. But alas, that would be equally cumbersome.

And so I’ve decided just to thank everyone for making this such a successful Challenge. And here’s looking forward to another fifty-two weeks.

My special thanks to Sammi Cox for being my inspiration last year.

And my thanks to all participants (in order of appearance):

Morpethroad | Brian Bixby | The Dark Denizen | JP the wide-eyed wanderer | The Story Files | Word Shamble | Blogternator | padresramblings | Thru Violet’s Lentz | Of Maria Antonia | Tina Stewart Brakebill | Table for One | The Abject Muse |A Dalectable Life | Flights of Fancy | MJL Stories | Bobby Fairfield | Panache | Susan’s Place | willowdot21 | Willow Poetry | Let Me Tell You the Story of… | The Haunted Wordsmith | syncwithdeep | syncwithdeep | Prats Corner | Starlight and Moon Beams | Abandoned Amenities | Jen Goldie | The Diary of a Country Bumpkin | Nut House Central | awisewomansjourney | Entangled Designs | mbrazfieldm | What she wrote next | Nova’s Namaste 365 Online |  From the Window Seat | D.Avery @shiftnshake | joanne the geek | Ramyani Bhattacharya | Indira | Na’ama Yehuda | Ruby Manchanda | larry trasciatti | Von Smith | Christine’s Collection | Bladud Fleas | kittysverses | Pratibha | Rekha Rajgopal | Invictus | rugby843 | Den of Dreams / dragonwarrior07987 | arthurhofn | Kim Smyth | Keep it alive | pensitivity101 | MythRider | Does writing excuse watching? | Fiction Playground | TedBook | Reena Saxena | MindfulDoodles draws & writes (@artmaterdotcom) | Jane Dougherty | God’s Gift – K-popawheely | Snapshot Vignettes | 68 total

If I’ve omitted your name, I do most sincerely apologise. It’s been quite an exercise going through 52 posts to garner all names.

Posted in Crimson's Creative Challenge, On Writing, Photos | Tagged | 55 Comments

The Tweenies of Tweeny Wood

Posted on November 7, 2019 by crispina kemp

Crimson’s Creative Challenge #52

Between and betwixt the Hall and the Marsh, there you’ll find the Tweeny Wood
where Tweenies live – ‘tween this year and the last
‘tween this month and next
‘tween this day and the last
‘tween this moment and next
‘tween this and another
‘tween this bush and the rest
‘tween this berry and the flower
‘tween this burrow and the nest
leaping, skipping, capering, tripping
faster than an eye, forbidding
follow if you can and if you dare
the Tweenies’ll lead you twixt here and there
from child to teen to adulthood
twixt Hall and Marsh, in Tweeny Wood

A little bit of nonsense for Crimson’s Creative Challenge

Posted in Crimson's Creative Challenge, Photos, Poems (Some Silly) | Tagged , , , | 52 Comments