Squidge

  • Thank you Sandra, and Athelstone too!! I don’t think I could have managed what I did if Ath didn’t set his usual bar for quality, enjoyable, supremely witty writing 😊✨

    That said – and Please Forgive Me if this isn’t the place to say it, I’m not sure where that place would be – it kinda feels like its just mostly us three passing the ball around…[Read more]

  • I should spend less time on the test site and more here. Cracking story, Knicks. Well done. Thanks for the competition, Sandra. I found it tough but fun.

  • Sandra posted an update 4 years, 3 months ago

    I’ve just been reminded of Allan Guthrie’s 34 tips on writing, including pleonasms – a word unknown to me when I first heard it, but which tweak my writing conscience quite frequently. https://notetoselfhumanize.wordpress.com/2010/09/14/32-writing-rules-allan-guthrie/

    • Thanks for the link, Sandra. I’m guilty of using pleonasms. They’re filler words when I’m thinking of what to say next, like typing a comma whenever deeper thought is needed.

    • Thanks, Sandra. This is an excellent list. I shall bookmark it.

  • Sandra posted an update 4 years, 3 months ago

    December competition winner now announced.

  • December destined to be a quiet month, I suppose, and very few of you seemed to have suffered from the prurient curiosity about the activities of Jack and Jill’s activities I did, Nevertheless the two entries submitted were a pleasure.
    Ath’s trawl through several nursery rhymes returned me to childhood, browsing through books illustrated by the…[Read more]

  • RichardB posted an update 4 years, 3 months ago

    One piece of good news for the new year: subsequent to the vile attacks on it by the Farage thing (and others) for rescuing migrants in the Channel, the RNLI has just announced that donations in 2021 have broken all previous records. The more I think about the implications of this, the better I feel.

    • Yes, I saw that. It’s great. Really marvellous. We seem to have certain people amongst our present government who lack even the most basic decency and compassion*, so it’s heartening to see a positive reaction like this.

      *for the sake of impartiality, other domestic political parties may well have members similarly lacking in humanity.

      • Although, of course, Farage is not a member of HM Government. The fact that he has stood for Parliament seven times (I believe) without ever coming near to being elected is another heartening sign that his poisonous opinions aren’t as widely accepted as he (and others) would like to think.

        • Hi Richard, did you catch the radio programme about the Penlee lifeboat disaster?

          • Unfortunately I missed it, but I have found something on YouTube posted by the RNLI itself. I hesitate to post a link because funny things have been known to happen when I do, but a search for ‘RNLI 40th Anniversary of Penlee Lifeboat Disaster’ will find it. Relatives of the lost crew, and others, reminiscing. It’s rather moving.

  • Just realised deadline is today – I’ll be back ASAP to read and muse over a decision.

  • A very happy new year to all Denizens. Here’s hoping for a better one.

  • A very merry Christmas to all Denizens.

  • RichardB replied to the topic Sounds familiar? in the forum Blogs 4 years, 4 months ago

    I did actually consider putting in something about rationing, but decided that I’d make my point more vividly by keeping it simple and sticking to one issue.

    Rather more distressing than your neighbour, I had an e-mail argument a few months back with my oldest friend (I haven’t seen him for a couple of years, and perhaps it’s just as well), who…[Read more]

  • Athelstone replied to the topic Sounds familiar? in the forum Blogs 4 years, 4 months ago

    Also “An IOPC spokesperson told PA Media: “We can confirm that on 17 December we received a referral from the Metropolitan police service [MPS] of a complaint about an alleged party at Downing Street in December 2020.

    “Having fully assessed the referral we have decided it is invalid and we have returned it to the MPS to handle as it det…[Read more]

  • Athelstone replied to the topic Sounds familiar? in the forum Blogs 4 years, 4 months ago

    Absolutely!

    I do not like wearing a mask when I go shopping, but it is a tiny hardship compared with, say, passing on the virus if I unknowingly had it, to somebody else. I’m so tired of hearing people, my neighbour for instance, declaring that he will “never” wear one in a shop because he’ll “never catch it that way”. He’s a tree surgeon and…[Read more]

  • RichardB started the topic Sounds familiar? in the forum Blogs 4 years, 4 months ago

    Let me introduce you to a news story that might have happened in an alternative November1940.

    JAILED DOCKER IS HERO, SAYS MP

    It was a national disgrace to jail a man for striking a blow for freedom, said Marcus Snellgrove, MP for Much Ordure and leader of the Bin the Blackout campaign, after Poplar dock worker Albert Throbbing was sentenced…[Read more]

  • Well Done

    Jack opened his eyes to see the hooded glower of Constable Roquefort shining down upon him like the judgement of heaven. That glower caused him to squint, which drew his attention to the dull pain pulsing from his vinegar-wrapped crown.

    “Where’m I?”

    “Hospital.” Roquefort’s brusque, deep growl was like a wolf’s, of which Jack wa…[Read more]

  • Ath this proper Mother Goose / Enid Blyton 😊😊 Gonna do my best Sandra!

  • Thanks, Ath, though I’m not sure I’d welcome being 21 again, in many ways (all those nights with screaming babies!!)

  • …Oh, and a very happy 21st to you!

  • Up the hill

    Popular Oldwell couple Jack and Jill Bouquet are recovering in hospital from what police described as a “vicious and unprovoked attack” on Saturday night. Regulars at the Old Well pub on Old Well Hill were alerted by calls for help around 11:00 in the evening. Landlord John Spratt described how he and his wife found Jill Bouquet col…[Read more]

  • Come on folks! Jack and Jill went up a hill … As a child you must’ve wondered what happened to send them tunbling down! It’s my birthday on Friday (a horribly big one) so please present me with a story for the December comp.

  • Janette posted an update 4 years, 4 months ago

    Apologies for the over-long gaps between my visits to Den. So much is still going on for me, including regular follow-up hospital visits following my multiple, bi-lateral arm breaks, one arm sadly looking towards being permanently handicapped. It happens to be my dominant arm, so many problems have arisen, including housework, personal care, the…[Read more]

    • Oh dear, Janette, that sucks on so many levels. All I can do is send you a virtual hug, so consider it sent.
      At least you’ve been getting follow-up care. MrsB fell and broke her left humerus while we were on holiday about fifteen months ago. There were a couple of visits to local hospitals while we were still there, but since coming home she’s…[Read more]

      • Oh, Richard, that’s not good. If she’s still not right, they should be looking after her. I have to say I cannot fault my treatment, and they sent me for a bone density test, which showed up Osteopenia, which they are addressing. Is a consultation with your doctor worth a go?
        Thanks for the hug – sending one right back.

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