2015-10-28T15:28:37+00:00

November Might be Quiet Around Here!

October 28, 2015/Judy E Martin/39 Comments

As I mentioned a while ago, I have signed up to take part in this year’s NaNoWriMo Challenge. I don’t do things by halves so have gone running full tilt into something I know very little about, which is typical of me really!

As many of you know, I have never written a book or even half a one before, so panic is now setting in at the enormity of what I am about to do. However I am nothing if not determined, and I do have a story that I really want to tell, and it has been swirling around in my mind pestering me to write it, so I am going to have a bloody good go at it!

This means that I probably won’t be blogging too much during November, as I will be trying to articulate my jumbled thoughts into a coherent story (I know, it doesn’t exactly bode well), and won’t have any energy left for anything else I shouldn’t think!

I will be around though checking in (how could I not), and anyone else that is taking part in the challenge is free to add me as a buddy if they feel like it! I do hope to write the odd post (nothing new there) now and again, but other than that, will be back in December to bore you all senseless with my trials (and hopefully not too many) tribulations!

Ronovan’s Writes, Weekly Haiku Poetry Prompt Challenge; #68 ‘Muse’ & ‘Pen’

October 26, 2015/Judy E Martin/30 Comments

This week I think the words are a little tricky! Ronovan has given us ‘pen’ and ‘muse’ to use for his Weekly Haiku Poetry Prompt, and this is where I ended up with them!

Chewing on my pen,

musing over what to write…….

Don’t my nails look nice?

TJ’s Household Haiku Challenge – Garden

October 25, 2015/Judy E Martin/17 Comments

TJ has given us ‘garden’ for this week’s Household Haiku Challenge, which you really must check out. His own haiku this week is brilliant!

Seeing as it is now well into autumn over here in England, my garden is looking a bit neglected, and there is not much to see. However, there is a little bit of colour, and I have played with the photo a bit trying to bring it to the forefront. (I am a total amateur at photography as you know, but am pleased with it)!

Anyway, on to the Haiku:

Untroubled by rain,

cosy in their purple capes

sweet peas hang in there!

I have taken TJ’s advice and am linking it to the Daily Post’s ‘Careful’ photo challenge.

Hugh’s Photo Challenge: Week 3 – What Lurks in the Shadows?

October 24, 2015/Judy E Martin/22 Comments

Hugh has gone with the spooky and the scary this week of Halloween for his photo challenge.

The photo I have decided to share with you is a rather hideous spider! As you can see he looks as though he might glow in the dark with that luminous green body. I was informed by The Book Blogger that he could be an orb – weave spider, but to be quite honest, I did not get close enough to him to try to identify him.

At the time of this photo is was back in the summer when I was working at the hospital still. I had gone outside at break with a couple of nurses and we sat on the ‘smokers bench’. This little fellow appeared, which sent us all off in different directions screaming! Give us blood and gore and we will be there poking about, but show us a spider or a wasp and you won’t see us for dust!

I was brave though as I took the photo (thank God for the zoom feature). The quality of course is not great as I took it as quickly as I could then got out of there!

Ronovan’s weekly Haiku Poetry Prompt Challenge: #67 ‘Cheer’ & ‘Call’

October 19, 2015/Judy E Martin/31 Comments

I am liking the words this week for Ronovan’s Haiku Challenge, which are ‘cheer’ and ‘call.’ I have taken a bit of a liberty with the ‘cheer’ part of the challenge and have taken it literally!

I decided that I would write my haiku about the changing colours of the trees in autumn.

Autumn pays a call

Yay, time for a new outfit!

Does orange suit me?

Hugh’s Photo Challenge Week 2: What’s In The Cupboard

October 17, 2015/Judy E Martin/21 Comments

http://hughsviewsandnews.com/2015/10/17/hughs-photo-challenge-week-2-whats-in-the-cupboard/I really wanted to have a go at Hugh’s photo challenge this week, but thought about the state of my cupboards (Hugh’s is so clean) and decided not to show myself up!

However, I forgot about the cupboard staring me in the face in the front room. The one we rarely use, as most of the music has been (painstakingly) transferred to the computer by Mr Grump.

So this is one of the few that we have which houses both mine and Mr Grump’s music collection! Ahem, most of it is actually his as mine doesn’t count for much of it at all. There are quite a few 70s and 80s compilations in there which are both of ours, but Elvis, Madonna, Michael Jackson and Meatloaf are all mine, as is Keane (I used to love them, where have they gone)? Mr Grump has got Natasha Beddingfield, Kylie Minogue (surprise, surprise, what man straight or gay doesn’t like Miss Minogue?) and one of the Now That’s What I Call Music albums amongst others.

I must say, as a rule, he actually does like more modern stuff than me, and I go mad when he puts on some of his ‘rave’ stuff or whatever the hell it is. Very fast, buzzy music which makes my head spin! Still, bizarrely we both like Eminem! If it comes on in the car, we piously flick it off as Miss Hap rolls her eyes, annoyed at being denied the chance to sing along with some of the obscenities she already knows are there!

Of course, her music is all on her phone, which is a good thing. Or maybe it isn’t as I know she likes some of this ‘bump and grind’ kind of stuff, which has near naked people gyrating around all over each other in the accompanying video! A bit of a far cry from the ABBA albums I have in my cupboard!

Tj’s Household Haiku Challenge – Eggs

October 17, 2015/Judy E Martin/18 Comments

TJ has set quite a challenge this week, giving eggs as the prompt to use. His photo and Haiku were beautiful. (He always manages to make everything looks so special, even the humble egg)!

Mine, of course, has got an entirely different take on it than his!

Here goes:

Standing tall and proud

The egg, such a brave soldier

knows the end is near!

Hugh’s Photo Challenge: Week 1 – What Did You Eat For Breakfast?

October 11, 2015/Judy E Martin/37 Comments

Hugh has started a new photo challenge to celebrate the launch of his Instagram account which you can take part in here. I thought I would like to have a go at this, as not only does it seem like great fun, but I need all the practice I can get with taking photos for my blog, as I have had a few, ahem, fails!

Anyway, if you haven’t checked out Hugh’s blog then you are missing out on all sorts of goodies; everything from his spooky short stories to his ‘Digging Deep posts that take us back into the past. Added to that, he is also one of the founding members that organized the Annual Bloggers Bash this year, and if that isn’t enough, he gives us lots of helpful tips and advice to help us out.

This was what I had for breakfast this morning:

I love granola but have to be careful as it does have quite a high sugar content. Also, for some strange reason, I am starving hungry about an hour after eating it, so that is why I bulked it out with a bit of apple. This was accompanied by the obligatory mug of tea, that I need in the mornings in order to be able to function!

https://pixabay.com

Three Day quote Challenge – Day 2

September 27, 2015/Judy E Martin/28 Comments

I have been nominated by Karen of Fill Your Own Glass a brilliant blog, filled with optimism and inspiration, to participate in the 3 Day Quote Challenge which is one challenge that I always love to participate in.

I am going to try my own quotes this time, and will take a leaf out of Karen’s book by using ‘Optimism’ as my theme.

Here are the rules:

Rules for the 3 Day Quote Challenge:

1) Thank the blogger who nominated you.
2) Publish 3 quotes on 3 consecutive days on your blog. It can be your own or from a book, movie, or from anyone who inspires you.
3) Nominate 3 more bloggers to carry on this endeavor.

And here is my quote: