
A bright wintry path
leading who knows where, to spring?
pause and be mindful
https://readinpleasure.wordpress.com/2015/01/22/thursday-tanka-definition/
Come away with the raggle taggle gypsy-o

A bright wintry path
leading who knows where, to spring?
pause and be mindful
https://readinpleasure.wordpress.com/2015/01/22/thursday-tanka-definition/

My first go at Julia’s prompt for ages, Freedom jumped out at me and my flash fiction wrote itself.
Helpless, me?
Far more subtle than physical abuse, more a creeping way he had of getting under my skin. He projected his own sick feelings of inadequacy that spread like a virus through any sense of self I possessed. He made me believe that I was useless, with no value or purpose at all.
How could I possibly help when he fell into the bowels of Hades Shaft, a disused mine, on Botley moor?
I’d shown him on the map, but he insisted he had the better sense of direction.
Then as the clouds lifted, I found my freedom and he’d met his maker.
Me, helpless?
Join in at https://jfb57.wordpress.com/2015/01/12/100-word-challenge-for-grown-ups-week163/ if you ‘re quick before this weeks deadline!
Serenity (noun):
The state of being calm, peaceful, and untroubled.
Cheri Lucas Rowlands has been to Hong Kong and was impressed by the serenity of the big Buddha in Ngong Ping, on Lantau Island. Cheri challenges us to interpret serenity in photos.
I’ve posted about St Peters Cathedral in my home town, Exeter, before and I probably will again. Today it was the first place I thought of as serene, what do you think?
Perhaps you will join the challenge, https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_photo_challenge/serenity/
‘Open your heart and keep it open’ Words of wisdom from Barbara.

I believe this song is familiar to at least half of us. I love to listen to it while having a bad day. We, the citizens of the world have had a bad week. Mass murders in Nairobi and in Paris. More people were killed in Nairobi and my heart cries for them and their families. May they all RIP and may their families find comfort and freedom.
In Paris, we also had murders. We had a crazy horrible breach of Charlie Hebdo offices and twelve people were dead. Both events left the world shaken and stunned. This is the bad part, the painful part.
The good part is the love shared by the people around all of the victims. It is the love we, the rest of the people in the world feel for all those effected. The good part is also people drawing together to support each other.
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a trace of azure
wrapped in a skeleton tree
just biding its time

For a summer loving lass like me, a balmy hour on a garden bench surrounded by plants is perfect. This one is at Penshurst Place, near Royal Tunbridge Wells, taken last June.

Jude has created a new monthly challenge, a photo of a bench. She has discovered that lots of people have a passion for taking photos of them, and have many in their collections. I’m a one of those bench anoraks, as well as windows and doors! If you are too, why not pop over http://smallbluegreenwords.wordpress.com/bench-series/ and join in?
Jude says,
For some time now I have been photographing benches when I come across them. I like benches. I especially like them when they are placed in a convenient position, like half way up a hill, or on the top of a cliff, preferably with a view. Some benches have plaques, some have slats, some are made of wood, some are good (to sit on). So for the next year, as a new feature, I am going to post a photo of a bench/seat each week. So you can take the weight of your feet and relax and breathe…
Jude is a real garden lover, so she is kicking off the challenge this month with the theme of garden benches
Experimenting with shadows can be a fun and rewarding way to push yourself to try something new with your camera, your subject, and your surroundings. Shadows can also add depth and drama to an otherwise ordinary image.
For this week’s Photo Challenge, find the shadows. You can choose a literal interpretation and shoot an actual shadow, or you can play with the light and dark, and create a moody scene, or capture your subject in a rich and interesting way.
So, I’ve tried to choose some images where something is shadowed!

The courtyard at Bridport Arts Centre is shadowed by a decorative canopy and the buildings on each side of Buckydoo Square.

She’s beautiful, you’ll just have to believe me as she is so well shadowed.

A Dartmoor day with the sort of weather that makes the clouds shadow the distant moor, beyond Scorhill.
Maybe you will join in?
https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_photo_challenge/shadowed/