So I thought I’d do something different and have a go at The Friday 56 Meme for my Friday post this week. I chose The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller as it is definitely a book that I intend to read soon.
It is a weekly meme hosted by Freda’s Voice, click on the link to her blog, and the rules are pretty simple:
Grab a book, any book.
Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader
(If you have to improvise, that’s OK.)
Find any sentence, (or few, just don’t spoil it).
Post it.
Add the url to your post on Freda’s Voice.
“And I? I was shy and silent with all but Achilles; I could scarcely speak to the other boys, let alone a girl. As a comrade of the prince, I suppose I would not have had to speak; a gesture or a look would have been enough. But such a thing did not occur to me. The feelings that stirred in me at night seemed strangely distant from those serving girls with their lowered eyes and obedience. I watched a boy fumbling at a girl’s dress, the dull look on her face as she poured his wine. I did not wish for such a thing. “
Now doesn’t that short quote just make you want to read the book? It certainly sets my curiosity into hyper drive!
Here’s the Goodreads synopsis :
A tale of gods, kings, immortal fame, and the human heart, The Song of Achilles is a dazzling literary feat that brilliantly re-imagines Homer’s enduring masterwork, The Iliad. An action-packed adventure, an epic love story, Miller’s debut novel has already earned resounding acclaim from some of contemporary fiction’s brightest lights. Fans of Mary Renault, Bernard Cornwell, Steven Pressfield, and Colleen McCullough’s Masters of Rome series will delight in this unforgettable journey back to ancient Greece in the Age of Heroes.
Have a Happy Friday and a great weekend.
Happy Reading, Writing, and Creating. Enjoy yourselves, let me know what you’re reading, or intending to read. I’m currently about half way through Lisa Williamson’s debut novel The Art of Being Normal, more to come on that soon!
This week I’ve been inspired by Esther Newton’s ten word story challenge to write a story with the words Potato and Friday, she originally posted this challenge on the 2nd of April.
So apologies for being so slow on the uptake Esther. I’m kind of behind on the date of the challenge but never mind. I had a go at this one anyway. Here is my belated ten word story:
Friday Hunger dug a cavernous potato hole in his stomach.
Esther’s looking for ten-word stories, with the words: discombobulated, fabulous, bacon and unicorn.
Sounds quite a challenge!
First of all let’s take the word discombobulated, quite a mouthful isn’t it? Doesn’t roll of the tongue with ease but I do kind of like the word, it means to confuse, disconcert, upset, frustrate. I kind of think the discombobulated idea suggests a touch of humour, and poor old Mr Pig may have to chat up a fabulous unicorn or else he might end up as bacon!
Here goes:
A discombobulated pig courted a fabulous unicorn who ate bacon.
This guys waving at you and that’s ok, he’s quite beautiful from afar but you sure don’t want to get up close and personal and you definitely don’t want to stand on him. He’s a sea urchin, also archaically known as a sea hedgehog.
You can see the resemblance. But this guy’s kind of cute.
This hedgehog really is a bit of a sneaky fellow, hiding away, a bit like his cousin the Sea Urchin.
Don’t mess with Sea Urchins, guys, I’m talking from experience, well second hand experience. My youngest daughter stood on a Sea Urchin whilst on holiday in Greece. The Sea Urchin may have great senses but it had no idea she was about to make this mistake, as they don’t have eyes. Shame, they can move with their adhesive tube feet but how was the urchin to know? It was a terrible experience. She ended up with thirty spines on her foot, and each one of these little darlings had to be removed individually by hand with the sharp point of a needle. No anaesthetic. My husband had some job holding her down. She looks slim and delicate but don’t let that fool you she’s wily and strong. She screamed the resort down. The resort doctor didn’t seem at all sympathetic, maybe this happens so often she’d just anaesthetised herself to any emotional response, too many unprepared tourists standing on sea urchins. But, my poor daughter was so disturbed by this unfortunate event that she developed a bit of a phobia for needles. Well, a massive phobia and this fear of needles continued for some time.
After all that, you’d think that she would have hated the holiday but no, she loved it. It was a wonderful opportunity for her to join in the watersports, hang out with new found friends, but it was one of those holidays when every possible accident that could happen did happen, and they all happened to her. In the space of two weeks she stood on a Sea Urchin, cut her foot on glass, banged her head on the pool, had an asthma attack whilst out swimming (in the middle of the ocean, as she tried to swim back to the boat we were on.) She managed to get a tick in the ear, and even got stung by a fairly innocuous jelly fish. Yes, it was such a memorable holiday, a veritable catalogue of accidents! Amazingly she still had fun, and kept on smiling, kids are so resilient aren’t they? But I have to say it wasn’t one of my favourite holidays.
So it’s no surprise that I have a bit of a love hate relationship with these creatures. I love them with their spines removed, but I hate them with their spines intact.
These spineless cute darlings.
Having said that there’s no doubt about it Sea Urchins are beautiful in their own way, even with their spines. But don’t forget to view them from a safe distance!
Maybe You Might Like To Plant a Sea Urchin Cactus?
Or Create Pretty Sea Bed Mats
Interspersed with colourful sea urchins
How about a Sea Urchin Snowman?
Sea Urchin snowman
Or a Sea Urchin Lamp?
And light up your way!
Bored? Grab some pencils and make a Sea Urchin.
Hungry? Some people even like to eat them, in the West Indies, slate pencil urchins, are eaten. Sea Urchins are commonly eaten by the Alaska Native population around Kodiak island. It is commonly exported, mostly to Japan. So I could get my own back by eating an unsuspecting Urchin but somehow that doesn’t appeal.
Here’s some pictures of other places in the world where you can eat Sea Urchins if the fancy takes you!
Barbeque anyone?
Camiguin Islands
I’ve no idea how you’d eat these?
Phu Quoc Vietnam
At least you get some slices of lemon and lime
and chilli sauce to wash these down with!
Coronado Island
Anyway don’t knock what you’ve never tried, apparently eating Sea Urchin is good for you, and their roes are considered to be an aphrodisiac in some parts of the world – Japan.
So remember the next time you dip your feet into the ocean if you expect that there might be Sea Urchins lurking in the seabed, waiting to stick their spines into your poor, unsuspecting feet, please buy a pair of these, they’re don’t cost much and they’re well worth the money!
So have a wonderful Friday, watch out what you do, and where you might step. See you again soon!
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I hope you’ll agree that they are quite amazing. Let’s start off with this beauty:
This one’s a bit dingy in comparison! Hope you have a warm jumper and a torch.
Maybe you prefer to be cushioned in a tree hand. What about something a bit more uplifting?
Or perhaps you’re a gambler who likes to take risks? The architect for the one below must have been drink! It reminds me of a pack of shuffled cards that’s out of order and tumbling everywhere!
Or would you like to blend into the environment? This one’s calm and tranquil. But how would you find your way home at night? Maybe you’ll need a sheep dog.
Perhaps you like to live dangerously?
This one would suit a hermit with a love of the tropics. Just imagine, you could swim every day. Heaven.
Quirky, yes, why not? I wonder if you have to climb up that hill with your groceries? Or would you give up and live off the land?
A fondness for mushrooms perhaps? Just don’t pick poisonous ones or magical ones!
Eggs? Yes, this reminds me of the material egg boxes are made of. I hope it’s not windy, or this egg box house may turn into a frisby. I hope you can climb trees.
One for a posh hermit with a love of the tropics who likes diving, and living precariously.
You enjoy the circus? Some stilts perhaps?
A lover of shoes?
Fond of gardening and like to keep chickens? This one’s a fancy chicken coop, but you could have a bigger version!
Like your garden but fancy an oriental touch?
An oriental tree house?
An artist with an obsession with plastic lunchboxes?
Or an artist with a door obsession?
A lover of books?
A bookworm wouldn’t just settle with the house, we’d need a few accessories too!
For skiiers, and adrenalin worshippers who also like a touch of summer sun?
Cat lovers, don’t look at me like that, I haven’t forgotten you.
And of course, last but not least, a special home for all those dog lovers out there, equipped with tail, and cute puppy.
Thanks for coming on this Friday’s Quirky house tour, hope you enjoyed yourself. Have a wonderful Friday, and a lovely weekend see you again soon!
THIS BLOG claims no credit for any images posted on this site unless otherwise noted. Images on this blog are copyright to its respectful owners. If there is an image appearing on this blog that belongs to you and you do not wish for it to appear on this site, please cdontact or e-mail me with a link to said image and it will be promptly removed.
This litte poetic ditty was inspired by this wonderful sculpture which I had the pleasure of seeing in all its splendour at Juniper Artland, Wilkieston, Scotland. You may remember that I mentioned this wonderful inspiring Artland before in a much earlier blog post, on the 15th of June 2014.
The Puzzle of Unforgiving Turf
Black space, a jigsaw of blue, confusing skies.
A giant piece of white mystifying lies,
Still we twist, baffle, and turn,
While blackened steel pieces confuse and burn.
My fingers decipher thoughts, raw and aching,
Questioning layers of paint work mercilessly flaking,
I turn to discern the last bewildering step,
I piece the puzzle, too late, the enigma lies cold and wet.
I trip, and fall, unravel, flip an ankle,
In scattered pieces I confusingly entangle,
But there’s no bewildering cuddle,
Just a gap, no cushion, in air’s baffling puzzle.
A pocket of relentless sky and bemused clouds,
Blankets the confused sounds,
As I fall in pieces, scattering, to the perplexed earth,
Triumph hitting the newly solved, but, oh so, unforgiving turf!
That was such fun!!!! Love poetry, just wish I was better at writing poems. Still, it’s nice to try. Please, if there any poets out there reading this, do give me feedback, I’m looking to improve 🙂
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A yellow leaf sitting on a bed of sparkling snow. Sometimes the most beautiful images are just so simple. It’s the Fifth of December who could possibly believe it, where does time go? I’m sure Father Christmas leaps into the year earlier every winter and steals a bit of time so that he can get on with his job. Cheeky fellow!
I decided that on this first Friday in December that I would post some lovely images of winter for you and myself to enjoy. Thought it would be therapeutic! I’m not a winter person, as soon as the clock goes back a tiny switch inside me goes click, and I become lethargic and grumpy, Seasonal Affective Disorder, no doubt. I love warm weather, blue skies, and the seaside. I live in Cambridge, a beautiful University city but the sea is a bit of a car drive away, and it isn’t warm enough, not for me. Maybe one day I’ll live abroad again, somewhere sunny who knows?
With the change in the clocks I turn into a miserable so and so, with each tick of the clock I become more Scrooge-like. This winter I am battling against the hands of time to boot out the Scrooge in me and launch myself into the spirit of Christmas. Christmas is a double celebration in our house as it is also my eldest daughter’s birthday, so I have to be extra enthusiastic! She was born two weeks early nineteen years ago on the 25th of December. An unexpected but very welcome Xmas present. I ended up eating my Christmas dinner in the delivery ward! My youngest was born exactly on her due date. Two sisters with very different personalities, what can I say? Anyway, I’m digressing a bit, so without further ado here are some wonderful winter images to enjoy.
Let’s start off in a playful mode with this fellow who looks just like Kermit and see where he takes us! He suggested reading a book to escape, what a wonderful idea, always one of my favourite things to do. At the moment I’m reading David Mitchell’s The Bone Clocks, so I’m leaping in and out of a multitude of bodies, travelling through centuries of time. Kermit decided to follow suite and leapt out of the confines of his stone body to go out and play in the snow!
Kermit, I heart you.
Kermit on his bum in the snow
After playing in the snow Kermit began to get restless and he remembered some of the wonderful adventures he had experienced while reading. Books take you to incredible places so Kermit wanted to make this journey a really memorable one. An adventure…..
Reading adventures
Kermit reckoned that you might like to see an Ice Sculpture? So off we go to…………………….
Ice sculpture Lake Louise Alberta
Just one of many amazing ice sculptures in Lake Louise. Great suggestion Kermit.
We’ve all heard of Cinderella but what about an ice slipper anyone?
A trip to Bryce Canyon?
Bryce Canyon, Utah
How about some winter shadows now?
Wonderful winter shadowsHay Tedders, Hoar Frost
Or spectacular blue skies?
Colle-di-fuori France
Twinkling lights in a winter cabin?
Winter cabin
Amazing Artic skies…………..
Artic ocean
A sleigh ride anyone?
Sleigh ride
Or a trip to Canim falls?
Canim Falls, British Columbia, Canada
A touch of frost, and a glimpse of the moon?
Frost and the moon
Some falling snow?
More falling snow!
What about some winter berries?
Don’t forget the snowman, otherwise his nose might get out of joint.
Snowmen
And our chirpy little friend the robin:
A sleepy doggie too:
Rudolph he’s invited.
And of course Father Christmas too:
Whatever you do this Winter holiday, have fun, and don’t be a grumpy Scrooge!
I found this fun idea via Skye Turner author on Facebook today. Basically type your first name into Google images followed by the word meme and choose the very first image to post. I laughed when I saw Marjorie Dawes! Trust me!
We Marjorie’s are a strange lot.
Have a go and see who you get. Please share in the fun by commenting below.
Let me introduce you to Antelope Canyon. I’m totally captivated by these wonderful photos. The canyons are without doubt one of the most beautiful wonders of the world. I had fun arranging these images into an order, the top few are more shadowed, having less light filtering in than the last. They are all exquisite. Enjoy. Antelope Canyon is located near Page, Arizona, on Navayo, native American tribal land. Antelope Canyon consists of two photogenic slot canyon sections, Upper Antelope Canyon or The Crack; and Lower Antelope Canyon or The Corkscrew. The Navajo call Upper Antelope Canyon Tsé bighánílíní, which means “the place where water runs through rocks.” Lower Antelope Canyon is called Hazdistazí (“Hasdestwazi”) by the Navajo Parks and Recreation Department), or “spiral rock arches.” Of the two canyons Upper Antelope canyon is the most frequently visited by tourists. This is because its entrance and entire length are situated at ground level, requiring no climbing. Thank goodness! Like the sound of that! Also, direct beams of sunlight from the openings in the top of the canyon are much more common in the Upper than in Lower canyon. In the summer months these beams occur most often, as the sun is high in the sky. Winter colors tend to be a little more muted. Lower Antelope Canyon is more difficult to visit. Before metal stairways where installed visiting the canyon meant that you had to climb along pre-installed ladders in certain areas. Even after the stairways were installed, it is more difficult to access Upper Antelope as it is longer, narrower in places, and footing is not available in all areas. Not for the faint-hearted or your granny! Also to leave the canyon, the climb out requires several flights of stairs. So for those who enjoy climbing this sounds the one to visit! Despite this Lower Antelope Canyon is still a challenge that many photographers can’t resist, and no wonder as the views are breath-taking. Photography within the canyons is no easy feat due to the wide exposure range (often 10 EV or more) made by light reflecting off the canyon walls. Antelope Canyon is a true photographers dream. Many are attracted to come see this wonder of the world. It has been a source of tourism for the Navajo Nation. Since 1997 it has been possible to access the canyons by tour. The Navajo tribe must be so proud of its status now as the Navajo Tribal Park. Well, I’m so glad that I found Antelope Canyon and made it my Friday image. It really makes you realise how wonderful the world is. What a lovely thought to start the weekend with! Have a fabulous weekend.
If you want to see more I’ve posted a wonderful video of Antelope canyon to my Tumblr, here’s the link to my blog where you can see Jason Ward’s stunning video: http://kyrosmagica.tumblr.com/
Welcome to Writing Through the Soul to Heal the Soul. Where you will learn everything you need to know to heal your soul through writing! Thanks for stopping by.
M J Mallon YA Author and Poet 