Fiona

I’ve always found the same, right up to last week with  the theatre nurse who held my hand while my eye was bring anatheasised for an op.  bless him. (all well post op.)

Honestly, nobody wants to get ill and go to hospital, but I don’t regret having met the staff. From the cleaner who I talked to a lot, to the nurses who tirelessly carried horrible pots away without a single complaint, to the consultant who (I now see) was joking/hinting about discharge when she said, ‘We must get this catheter out, unless you use…[Read more]

Crikey Moses, William, I’m heart-heartedly glad to hear you are home and hopefully on your way to some sort of recovery – what a torrid time you and your family must have gone through, and thank you for updating us so vividly.

Sendng love and the most healingest of good wishes

Sandra

Hell, Ath, this is too much for one person to put up with, and must have been (and continues to be) very frightening. I really do hope that the ‘frightening bit’ is treatable, and that you get an upturn in health very soon. Thinking of you loads and sending positive vibes your way.

Untitled

‘Gobsmacked’ the inelegant word that came to mind when I read the letter. What else would you expect , being told your three year-old daughter’s poem had been awarded first prize ?  A prize  which earned her up to three sittings with well-renowned portrait artist Bernard Broom. Especially when I’d not an inkling she’d  written any…[Read more]

Thank you Janette – you did us proud with thoughtful comments, and well done for every other entry, all of which fitted the remit  much more closely than my hastily-grabbed from a long-ago hidden in the drawer novel.

Simple, I thought – judge a few stories for the March competition while Ath is out of action (Ath, if you’re reading this, sending BIG healing vibes and willing a speedy recovery). But – what a dilemma to be handed. These are all excellent and worthy to be winners in their own right.

But judge I must, as promised, so here are my thoughts:

Jill -…[Read more]

Janette has kindly volunteered !!

Having heard Athelstone indisposed again, it’s unlikely he’ll be be judging  this any time soon

Damn! It messed with my formatting 🙁

The madness is all mine for thinking I could do this!

All words taken from Rod Judkins’ The Art of Creative Thinking.

DRIBBLES AND SPATTERS

Inner demons

chisel

creative confidence

Ideas so strange

wither.

Radiate defiance

Salvage mistakes with freedom

and

transform the message

Come alive!

Not yet mad enough …

Wine-heavy eyes and naked, she was cleaning her teeth in front of the bathroom mirror when he came in through the door behind her.   He stood behind her, serious-faced, saying nothing, but unignorably attentive.   She finished brushing. Spat, rinsed and spat a couple more times then put the toothbrush back in the glass on…[Read more]

Thank you for such a satisfactory February topic, Libby, and for your generous appraisal! I loved the other two entries; they could easily have won.

Congratulations, Ath – more Teabreak always welcome, and well done Jill for so richly regarding the rules. Thanks Libby for appreciating my desire to take part, but this extract the only one I could recall which specifically mentioned ‘loving’

Teabreak in love

Maureen Chapman. No, tell a lie, it was Chaplain, like a vicar. Her name, I mean—she wasn’t like a vicar. Anyway, Maureen Chaplain was perfect from my ten-year-old point of view. But I’m getting all jumbled up about how to start, so I’ll take a breath. See, it really began when the Brazells moved out from next door and the Cha…[Read more]

‘Snap’ snippet

From the steps of Leith’s registry Office, exceeding the word count and containing expletives, but the best I can do given other demands.  

Then, hand in hand, another looking-to-be-wed couple arrived from the rear carpark. On foot and windblown,  Well-matched in the scruffiness of their clothes. Even earlier for their ceremony th…[Read more]