Life in progress

Category Archives: Blogging


by 9 Comments

#SoCS – Collars up

After what I believe might have been the hottest summer since I’ve lived in this part of Ontario–on record? maybe not–it’s cooled down enough that I have to pull my collar up if I go out at night. It’s winter-coat time if you spend too much time out there.

Crazy weather.

But (touch wood) at least we’re not on fire. It’s supposed to rain tomorrow here. I’ll blow as much as I can southwestward.

On my mind of late has been the fact that things are open. More things than I’ve gone to in the past six months. Six months today, and I’ve only been to the grocery store for as many weeks as that is … 26 times? I’m tempted to go to the mall just to get my Christmas shopping done before everything is closed down again. I dread shopping online, but you know what I dread even more? Going out in public.

The virus has put a not-entirely-unwelcome collar around my neck and kept me chained to my home.

But my shoes have holes and I can’t buy shoes without trying them on because my size varies with brand. And no, I can’t just buy the same ones I already have because they came from Payless … Yeah, that’s how long it’s been since I bought shoes.

And Alex needs new clothes but he’s grown, so I really need to look at them to see if they’ll fit. Unless I can find actual measurements online.

Nope, I’m going to have to brave the retail, I’m afraid. Damn the torpedoes. Mask up and have off.

Yeah. I’m going shopping. Wish me luck.

 

 

2019-2020 SoCS Badge by Shelley! https://www.quaintrevival.com/

This post was brought to you by Stream of Consciousness Saturday. Find the prompt here and join in! https://lindaghill.com/2020/09/11/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-sept-12-2020/


by 47 Comments

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS Sept. 12/2020

Hey! Friday’s here! And so is your Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt. The leaves are late to change here in my part of Ontario. Are they red where you are? Or is the sky…? Thinking of all those who are affected by wildfires. My heart goes out to you. Stay safe! Here’s your SoCS prompt for this week:

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “collar.” Use it as a verb, a noun, or metaphorically. Bonus points for using it in all three ways! Enjoy!

After you’ve written your Saturday post tomorrow, please link it here to this week’s prompt page and check to make sure it’s here in the comments so others can find it and see your awesome Stream of Consciousness post. Anyone can join in!

To make your post more visible, use our beautiful SoCS badge! Just paste it in your Saturday post so people browsing the reader will immediately know your post is stream of consciousness and/or pin it as a widget to your site to show you’re a participant. Wear it with pride!!

2019-2020 SoCS Badge by Shelley! https://www.quaintrevival.com/

Here are the rules:

1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing (typos can be fixed), and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.

2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.

3. I will post the prompt here on my blog every Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” “Begin with the word ‘The,’” or will simply be a single word to get you started.

4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people can come and read your post! For example, in your post you can write “This post is part of SoCS:” and then copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into yours.  Your link will show up in my comments for everyone to see. The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top. NOTE: Pingbacks only work from WordPress sites. If you’re self-hosted or are participating from another host, such as Blogger, please leave a link to your post in the comments below.

5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read all of them! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later or go to the previous week by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find below the “Like” button on my post.

6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!

7. As a suggestion, tag your post “SoCS” and/or “#SoCS” for more exposure and more views.

8. Have fun!


by 48 Comments

One-Liner Wednesday – Comparing Dogs to Cats

Photo: A dog panting, almost smiling, and a cat looking grumpy. Caption reads: “If animals could speak, the dog would be a blundering outspoken fellow; but the cat would have the rare grace of never saying a word too much.”― Mark Twain

If you would like to participate in this prompt, feel free to use the “One-Liner Wednesday” title in your post, and if you do, you can ping back here to help your blog get more exposure. To execute a pingback, just copy the URL in the address bar on this post, and paste it somewhere in the body of your post. Your link will show up in the comments below. Please ensure that the One-Liner Wednesday you’re pinging back to is this week’s! Otherwise, no one will likely see it but me.

NOTE: Pingbacks only work from WordPress sites. If you’re self-hosted or are participating from another host, like Blogger, please leave a link to your post in the comments below.

As with Stream of Consciousness Saturday (SoCS), if you see a pingback from someone else in my comment section, click and have a read. It’s bound to be short and sweet.

Unlike SoCS, this is not a prompt so there’s no need to stick to the same “theme.”

The rules that I’ve made for myself (but don’t always follow) for “One-Liner Wednesday” are:

1. Make it one sentence.

2. Try to make it either funny or inspirational.

3. Use our unique tag #1linerWeds.

4. Add our lovely badge to your post for extra exposure!

5. Have fun!

Badge by Laura @ riddlefromthemiddle.com


by 14 Comments

#SoCS – Sharpening my resolve

I’m having to sharpen my resolve to stay off Facebook and all the other time-wasters that take up my days if I let them. I have a busy couple of months ahead of me, and I can’t afford to dally anywhere.

I’m happy that my break time today consisted not of online pursuits but of walking around the block with Alex. It was a gorgeous day–not too hot, not too cold, and not humid at all–so it was a great day to get some exercise.

I wish I had somewhere to put a treadmill, so we could exercise when we’re unable to go outside. The cooler days remind me that we’ll be under feet of snow soon. At least I won’t have to worry about snow days… School is online until January at least anyway. The only reason not to go to school will be a power outage.

Imagine that.

Walking uphill both ways to get to the computer. In a snow storm.

Kids have got it tough these days, I tell ya.

 

 

2019-2020 SoCS Badge by Shelley! https://www.quaintrevival.com/

This rambling post was brought to you by Stream of Consciousness Saturday. Find the prompt here and join in! https://lindaghill.com/2020/09/04/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-sept-5-2020/


by 54 Comments

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS Sept. 5/2020

Today is Friday, or so I’m told, so I’m here with your Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt. The weather is finally cooling down, and we’re looking forward to a few days of perfect weather. Time for longer walks! Here’s your SoCS prompt for this week:

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “sharp.” Use it in any or all of its definitions. Have fun!

After you’ve written your Saturday post tomorrow, please link it here to this week’s prompt page and check to make sure it’s here in the comments so others can find it and see your awesome Stream of Consciousness post. Anyone can join in!

To make your post more visible, use our beautiful SoCS badge! Just paste it in your Saturday post so people browsing the reader will immediately know your post is stream of consciousness and/or pin it as a widget to your site to show you’re a participant. Wear it with pride!!

2019-2020 SoCS Badge by Shelley! https://www.quaintrevival.com/

Here are the rules:

1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing (typos can be fixed), and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.

2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.

3. I will post the prompt here on my blog every Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” “Begin with the word ‘The,’” or will simply be a single word to get you started.

4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people can come and read your post! For example, in your post you can write “This post is part of SoCS:” and then copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into yours.  Your link will show up in my comments for everyone to see. The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top. NOTE: Pingbacks only work from WordPress sites. If you’re self-hosted or are participating from another host, such as Blogger, please leave a link to your post in the comments below.

5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read all of them! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later or go to the previous week by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find below the “Like” button on my post.

6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!

7. As a suggestion, tag your post “SoCS” and/or “#SoCS” for more exposure and more views.

8. Have fun!


by 60 Comments

One-Liner Wednesday – Always makes me laugh

Photo: Winston, my beagle/Basset hound cross with an expression that says “Seriously?” with the caption, “Outside of a dog, a book is a man’s best friend. Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read.” ~ Groucho Marx

If you would like to participate in this prompt, feel free to use the “One-Liner Wednesday” title in your post, and if you do, you can ping back here to help your blog get more exposure. To execute a pingback, just copy the URL in the address bar on this post, and paste it somewhere in the body of your post. Your link will show up in the comments below. Please ensure that the One-Liner Wednesday you’re pinging back to is this week’s! Otherwise, no one will likely see it but me.

NOTE: Pingbacks only work from WordPress sites. If you’re self-hosted or are participating from another host, like Blogger, please leave a link to your post in the comments below.

As with Stream of Consciousness Saturday (SoCS), if you see a pingback from someone else in my comment section, click and have a read. It’s bound to be short and sweet.

Unlike SoCS, this is not a prompt so there’s no need to stick to the same “theme.”

The rules that I’ve made for myself (but don’t always follow) for “One-Liner Wednesday” are:

1. Make it one sentence.

2. Try to make it either funny or inspirational.

3. Use our unique tag #1linerWeds.

4. Add our lovely badge to your post for extra exposure!

5. Have fun!

Badge by Laura @ riddlefromthemiddle.com


by 19 Comments

The Escapist Coloring Club Prompt – September 1, 2020

Wow! It’s September 1st! It seems only five years ago that it was the beginning of summer, doesn’t it? Anyway, I’m here with your Escapist Coloring Club prompt. If you’d like to join the club, all you have to do is post pictures of your own colouring, your kids’ colouring, or that of anyone you know and have permission to share. This is a month-long prompt, which means you have all of September to link back here.

I finished my colouring my calendar page, early this month. Go me! Here’s how it started with no colour:

And here are closeups of the parts of the finished product: (Click for a closer look.)

And here’s the whole thing:

I decided to do all of it in marker, which is probably why I got it all finished. Marker is so much easier than anything else, in my experience at least. My September calendar page that I’ll post here in October is all going to be in coloured pencil. Wish me luck!

Thank you so much to everyone who participated in August! Here are all the projects from last month, in case you missed any:

Margret at Margret’s Life Journey

Jenna at revivedwriter

Colline at Colline’s Blog

Barbara at Teleportingweena

Janet at Janet’s Smiles

Beth at Pilgrimage Studio

I look forward to seeing your new projects throughout the coming month!

Please find the “rules” below.

1. This prompt is designed for relaxation. As such, I encourage you to take your time to link your own post here, BUT, when you comment, please click the “Notify me of new comments via email” button. That way you’ll receive a notification when someone else links their project and you won’t miss anything. As with all the prompts, the more you visit others, the more your community of like-minded people grows.

2. Ping back! It’s important so that I and other people can come and read your post. To execute a pingback, just copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into the body of your post. Your link will show up in my comments for everyone to see. The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top. NOTE: Pingbacks only work from WordPress sites. If you’re self-hosted or are participating from another host, such as Blogger, please leave a link to your post in the comments below.

3. There will be a prompt on the first of every month. I will try to post the prompt here on my blog at 9:30am -5 GMT. The prompt will simply be photos of my own colouring project. If you would like to host this prompt on your blog on another week during the month, either once, occasionally, or on a regular basis, please e-mail me at hilllindagmaru at gmail dot com and we’ll get you set up. All I ask is that you have an active blog and that you regularly reply to comments and visit other blogs.

4. Feel free to use The Escapist Coloring Club badge in your post.

5. Have fun!


by 20 Comments

#SoCS – Rice Krispies

I buy those mini ten-packs of cereal every couple of weeks for us to munch on if we run out of food before my once-a-week shopping trip. My son Chris usually eats them, all but the Rice Krispies, so I have about 8 boxes of them in the cupboard. I suppose they’re not sweet enough for him. He loves his Rice Krispie Squares, though.

Why do they call them squares? They’re rectangular.

I loved the little boxes of cereal when I was a kid. I used to open them along the tear lines and open the waxed paper inside and pour milk in and eat the cereal right out of the box. Do they still have the lines in the boxes to do that?

I’ll go check. Be right back.

I’m back. And no, you can’t cut the box open along the lines anymore. I suppose you could still do it yourself, but who knows if the package inside is milk-proof?

I’d have to try it to find out. But I’m not hungry right now.

I’m counting down the number of spoonsful of green tea ice cream I have to eat before I can open the chocolate peanut butter one. I’d say I have maybe a dozen spoonsful left. That’s some major self-control right there.

Proud of me? I am. Almost as proud as I would be if I hadn’t bought it at all. But there you go. Pobody’s nerfect.

So now I’m wondering how old I have to be to remember eating cereal and milk right out of the box.

Probably ancient.

 

 

2019-2020 SoCS Badge by Shelley! https://www.quaintrevival.com/

This aging-myself, on-time-for-once post was brought to you by Stream of Consciousness Saturday. Find the prompt here and join in! https://lindaghill.com/2020/08/28/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-aug-29-2020/


by 51 Comments

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS Aug. 29/2020

Friday’s here and so is your Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt. Having a hard time getting Alex out of bed for his walks lately. He’s finally turning into a teenager! Here’s your SoCS prompt for this week:

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “more than a hundred.” Write your post inspired by something you have more than a hundred of in your home right now. Enjoy!

After you’ve written your Saturday post tomorrow, please link it here to this week’s prompt page and check to make sure it’s here in the comments so others can find it and see your awesome Stream of Consciousness post. Anyone can join in!

To make your post more visible, use our beautiful SoCS badge! Just paste it in your Saturday post so people browsing the reader will immediately know your post is stream of consciousness and/or pin it as a widget to your site to show you’re a participant. Wear it with pride!!

2019-2020 SoCS Badge by Shelley! https://www.quaintrevival.com/

Here are the rules:

1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing (typos can be fixed), and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.

2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.

3. I will post the prompt here on my blog every Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” “Begin with the word ‘The,’” or will simply be a single word to get you started.

4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people can come and read your post! For example, in your post you can write “This post is part of SoCS:” and then copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into yours.  Your link will show up in my comments for everyone to see. The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top. NOTE: Pingbacks only work from WordPress sites. If you’re self-hosted or are participating from another host, such as Blogger, please leave a link to your post in the comments below.

5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read all of them! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later or go to the previous week by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find below the “Like” button on my post.

6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!

7. As a suggestion, tag your post “SoCS” and/or “#SoCS” for more exposure and more views.

8. Have fun!


by 45 Comments

What Day is it Anyway? Thursday, August 27th, 2020

My day today so far–11:53am

I have failed. I have failed in my resolve and thus, as a human being.

Okay, maybe it’s not quite that dire.

Let me back up a bit.

Thursday (that’s today, right?) is shopping day. Despite best-laid plans to get up and be at the grocery store when they opened at 8:00 I didn’t wake up until my son screamed at me that it was time to go shopping now, Mom, at 9:00.

So I quickly dressed and jumped in the car.

Here’s my excuse: I’m in the ice cream aisle, it’s, like 9:40, and I haven’t had coffee yet. AN UNCAFFEINATED BRAIN CANNOT FUNCTION IN THE ICE CREAM AISLE!

So I did it. Even though I still have half a container of green tea Haagen-Dasz in the freezer at home, I bought a container of the chocolate and peanut butter one.

I have failed.

And damn it, I refuse to be sorry.
Photo: The lid of the most heavenly, most addictive ice cream on the planet: Haagen-Dasz Chocolate Peanut Butter.

Why I’m writing this post:

Because if you’re like me and stuck at home already, or if you’re going to be like me soon, the days of the week are hell to keep track of. We have a wonderful community here on WordPress and all over the Internet as well, and I’m sure many people are feeling nervous and/or isolated. I want to make sure every one of us has somewhere to congregate and someone to talk to.

I want everyone to know that you can start discussions with each other in the comments, and if you’d like to write your own “What Day is it Anyway?” post, you can link to this one. Hashtag #WDIIA.