Life in progress


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#SoCS & #JusJoJan 4/20 – Snow

We had our first snowfall of the year today. Until I moved to this town eight? nine? years ago, I’d seen one green Christmas in my entire life. I’ve lost count of how many we’ve had here. This last one passed without notice.

But now it’s all nice and white and fluffy. I went for a long walk with Alex this morning and am about to go on another one–it’s such a beautiful day out there!

There seems to be no end in sight for the snow now that it’s started. I hope Alex goes back to school on Monday, sans snow days. It’s been a loooong two weeks with no break from the caregiving job.

Here are some pictures and a video from today.

It’s amazing how much fluffy snow can accumulate on a tiny twig of a branch. There was no wind, so it stayed until it was too heavy and fell off.

I love my neighbourhood. Here’s a quiet garden surrounded by a wrought-iron fence and huge old red-brick houses. It’s closed off this time of year, probably to protect the roses. The steel benches would be too cold to sit on anyway!

A short video of the snow falling in the trees. I thought about how quiet it was until Alex started talking to his computer in the background. I was standing outside in my slippers with the door open when I took the video. Sorry about the size of the video. There doesn’t seem to be any way to make it smaller.

What’s the weather like where you are? So horrific what’s going on in Australia … I hope all of my readers from there are safe and not too hot.

This chilly post is brought to you by Just Jot it January,

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

… and Stream of Consciousness Saturday! Click the following link to find all the other participants’ links in the comment section and see how you, too, can join in. It’s fun! https://lindaghill.com/2020/01/03/the-friday-reminder-for-socs-jusjojan-2020-daily-prompt-jan-4th/

 

Love quickens beneath the moonlight …

Get your free copy of The Magician’s Sire: A Paranormal Romance → Click here


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Prompt Me Part 1 – #JusJoJan 2020

Week of January 5 – 10, 2020

I’m looking for prompt words for Just Jot it January! This is your chance to inspire other people and have your blog linked to the Daily Prompt post.

I’ve decided to do this weekly this year. I only need 5 prompt words today–if you miss getting your word in on this post, you’ll have another chance on Saturday, January 11th. I’ll schedule these posts at different times of the day so people all over the world get a chance to see it first.

Read the rules carefully! I need 5 single words to use in the Just Jot It January challenge, for January 5th through to the 10th. This is how you can be included:

  • The first 5 comments on this post that include a single word will be the prompts for the first full week of January. These prompts will go up on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. I’ll take care of One-Liner Wednesday and Stream of Consciousness Saturday myself.  If you write more than one word in your comment, for example, “My word is antidisestablishmentarianism,” I’ll ignore it. Same thing if you try to slip in two, even in two different comments–I’ll only accept the first. If I get the same word twice, I’ll only accept the first person who got to it. If you’re the second, feel free to try again. And please, remember this is a relatively G-rated blog, so nothing too risque.
  • I’ll link back to the blog of whomever gives me a prompt on the day I use it.
  • Make sure you get your comment in early. You don’t want to miss out!
  • Please don’t bother entering a prompt if your blog is inactive or if it exists only to sell things. If you haven’t posted in over a month and you’re only looking for clicks, your prompt word will be rejected. If, on the other hand, you’re planning to use JusJoJan to inspire you to get back into the swing of things, let me know immediately in a second comment — NOT the one you give your prompt word in. Remember, that’s ONE word only. If I can’t find a reasonable number of posts written in the last month that aren’t trying to sell a product, your prompt word will be rejected.
  • I observed a few years ago that many of our prompt words were negative in nature. I found they didn’t do as well as the more positive words. I don’t want to limit you, but please keep in mind that if your word is on the sadder or angrier side, your prompt may not get as much participation.
  • If you provide a prompt, I encourage you to join in as much as possible throughout the month.
  • Only one prompt per person for the month. If you get in this week, don’t try again next week.
  • NOTE: Please count the number of correct (one word only) comments ahead of yours. If there are already 5, save yours for January next week!

Please see the “Rules” post for a complete list of the prompt words. I’ll populate it as the words come in. Here’s the link in case you missed it: https://lindaghill.com/2019/12/31/just-jot-it-january-2020-the-rules/

Okay. Are you ready? Aaaaand… prompt! One word!

Edit: We have our five words for the week, so I shut the comments down. Sorry about the mix-up this morning with them being closed when the post went live. I’ll do better next week. I’ll add the new prompts to the Rules post. Thanks to the five bloggers who donated their prompts!


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#JusJoJan 3/20 – Nosehair is a Cannibal

“Poke” is the word of the day today. I had no idea what I was going to write for the prompt until I went out for a walk with Alex earlier. The answer to my conundrum was Nosehair.

If you’ve been around for forever, you might remember a tree I dubbed “Nosehair” for the branch it had growing out of its face. Yes, the tree has a face. I’m sure the only person who won’t be able to see it is Guy Thair.

Nosehair had a few posts dedicated to him–here’s one, and here’s another. You should check them out. They’re quite amusing if I do say so myself.

Today, though, getting back to my post, I found that someone had poked Nosehair with stick, sticking it in his mouth.

Do you see the face? He’s facing to the right, with a Roman nose and a dark spot for a mouth below.

You really have to zoom in to see the stick in his mouth (close to the blue car) in the picture above, but here’s a closeup:

Does this mean Nosehair is eating himself? Has he been turned into some sort of Ouroboros?

Something to ponder …

This slightly totally crazy post is brought to you by Just Jot it January! Click the following link and join in! It’s fun! https://lindaghill.com/2020/01/03/daily-prompt-jusjojan-the-3rd-2020/


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The Friday Reminder for #SoCS & #JusJoJan 2020 Daily Prompt – Jan. 4th

Welcome to the duel Daily 2020 Just Jot it January Prompt and the Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt for SATURDAY, JANUARY 4TH! For those of you joining SoCS for the first time, it’s a little different than the other prompts in that it’s not always a whole word. Much may be left up to your discretion: this week is no exception. Having said that, if you’re joining in from JusJoJan, don’t want to write stream of consciousness style, no worries. It’s up to you! If you do want to try it, please check out the rules below. It’s fun! Here’s your Saturday prompt:

Your prompt for #JusJoJan and Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “ow.” Find a word that contains “ow” or use it as a word in your post. Have fun!

After you’ve written your Saturday post tomorrow, please link it here at 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 post. Anyone can join in!

To make your post more visible, use our 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/

You can also use the Just Jot it January badge! To find the rules for Just Jot it January, click here.

Here are the rules for SoCS:

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. There will be a prompt every week. I will post the prompt here on my blog on 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 simply a single word to get your 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 everyone’s! 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 right 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!


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Daily Prompt – JusJoJan the 3rd, 2020

Welcome to the prompt for the 3rd day of Just Jot it January 2020! I hope the first two days of the prompt went smoothly. Of course, I have no idea because I’m writing this December 29th (last year! It’s like time travel!) in case of a power outage.

If you’d like to see the “Rules” post for what I have so far on your prompt list, you can find it HERE (I hope).

Your prompt for JusJoJan January 3rd, 2020, is “poke.” Find a word with “poke” in it or use the word “poke” any way you’d like. Enjoy!

Here are the rules:

1. Please be sure to link back to THIS POST for January 3rd, 2020.

2. Just Jot It January starts January 1st, but it’s never too late to join in! Here, we run on the honour system; the “jot it” part of JusJoJan means that anything you jot down, anywhere (it doesn’t have to be a post, it can even be a grocery list), counts as a “jot.” If it makes it to your blog that day, great! If it waits a week to get from a sticky note to your screen, no problem!

3. I’ll post prompts at 2am my time (GMT -5). You don’t have to follow the prompt every day, but that will be where you leave your link for others to see. You’ll get a prompt for every day except Wednesday, when the prompt is simply my One-Liner Wednesday and on Saturday, when your prompt will be the Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS, which will appear at about 9:30am Friday. Each prompt post will include the rules.

4. Please ping back or link to the daily prompt. To ping back, just copy the URL from the daily prompt post, and paste it anywhere in your post. Check to make sure your link shows up where you want it to, and go back occasionally to see other bloggers’ entries – the more you visit others, the more they’ll visit you! Note: A) The newest pingbacks will be at the top of the comments section. B) Ping backs only work if you’re blogging on WordPress. Everyone else must paste a link manually.

5. Tag your post JusJoJan and/or #JusJoJan.

6. Write anything! Any length will do! It can even be a photo or a drawing – you’re going to title it, right? There’s your jot!

7. The prompts will appear every day that’s neither a Wednesday nor a Saturday–Saturday’s JusJoJan prompt will be Stream of Consciousness Saturday. You’ll find the list of prompts below as they come in, which means I’ll be updating this post. Remember, you don’t have to use the prompts. Please write whatever inspires you. NOTE: If your post is NSFW, do not ping back. Please leave your link in the comments with a warning.

8. If you’d like to, use the JusJoJan badge so that others can find your post more easily.

9. Have fun!


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#JusJoJan 2/20 – UFO

It’s not the first time I’ve seen strange lights in the sky. I had a stationary light, too bright to be a star but too far away to be anything but celestial, shining in my bedroom window for weeks.

But this is the first time I’ve actually managed to get a picture of one.

Click and expand to get a better look.

It’s about 11 o’clock from the moon, which is right in the middle of the photo. To describe what it looked like with the naked eye, it was like a giant bird with two halves that looked like wings, and it was just as bright as the moon.

It didn’t move from its position in relation to the moon, even when I drove. I watched it for a good five minutes.

Did anyone else see it? Has anyone else seen such a thing?

Or are they just watching me …? (Heehee.)

This weird post is part of Just Jot it January 2020! Today’s prompt was “a picture you’ve taken in the last week.” If you’d like to join in, just click the following link to see how. It’s fun! https://lindaghill.com/2020/01/02/daily-prompt-jusjojan-the-2nd-2020/

 


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Daily Prompt – JusJoJan the 2nd, 2020

Hi there! You’ve arrived at the first regular day of Just Jot it January 2020! I’m looking forward to blogging every day this month–hopefully you’ll see more from me than just the prompts.

If you’d like to see the “Rules” post for what I have so far on your prompt list, you can find it HERE (I hope).

Your prompt for JusJoJan January 2nd, 2020, is “a picture you’ve taken in the last week.” If you don’t want to share the photo itself, talk about it. If you haven’t taken any photos, talk about a moment you wish you had. Have fun!

Here are the rules:

1. Please be sure to link back to THIS POST for January 2nd, 2020.

2. Just Jot It January starts January 1st, but it’s never too late to join in! Here, we run on the honour system; the “jot it” part of JusJoJan means that anything you jot down, anywhere (it doesn’t have to be a post, it can even be a grocery list), counts as a “jot.” If it makes it to your blog that day, great! If it waits a week to get from a sticky note to your screen, no problem!

3. I’ll post prompts at 2am my time (GMT -5). You don’t have to follow the prompt every day, but that will be where you leave your link for others to see. You’ll get a prompt for every day except Wednesday, when the prompt is simply my One-Liner Wednesday and on Saturday, when your prompt will be the Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS, which will appear at about 9:30am Friday. Each prompt post will include the rules.

4. Please ping back or link to the daily prompt. To ping back, just copy the URL from the daily prompt post, and paste it anywhere in your post. Check to make sure your link shows up where you want it to, and go back occasionally to see other bloggers’ entries – the more you visit others, the more they’ll visit you! Note: A) The newest pingbacks will be at the top of the comments section. B) Ping backs only work if you’re blogging on WordPress. Everyone else must paste a link manually.

5. Tag your post JusJoJan and/or #JusJoJan.

6. Write anything! Any length will do! It can even be a photo or a drawing – you’re going to title it, right? There’s your jot!

7. The prompts will appear every day that’s neither a Wednesday nor a Saturday–Saturday’s JusJoJan prompt will be Stream of Consciousness Saturday. You’ll find the list of prompts below as they come in, which means I’ll be updating this post. Remember, you don’t have to use the prompts. Please write whatever inspires you. NOTE: If your post is NSFW, do not ping back. Please leave your link in the comments with a warning.

8. If you’d like to, use the JusJoJan badge so that others can find your post more easily.

9. Have fun!


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The Escapist Coloring Club Prompt – January 1, 2020

Happy New Year! It’s January 1st and time for 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 January to link back here.

Here’s the before picture of my December calendar page:

Knowing I would have a busy month, I decided to colour the entire picture in marker. I think this is the first one I haven’t used any pencil in at all! Here’s the closeup bits: (Click for a closer look.)

And here’s the whole thing.

 

I look forward to seeing all of your colourful 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!


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One-Liner Wednesday/JusJoJan the 1st, 2020 – Bad to the Bone

You might remember my mention that the retirement home where my mother lives is penalizing the residents $100 when they get caught smoking too close to the building. Here’s what the feisty octogenarian residents think.

Photo: A sign that reads “ONTARIO BY-LAW: No smoking within 9 meters of building entrances. FACILITY POLICY: No smoking on property. Use designated smoking area only. Violators will be fined $100 penalty.” The sign is surrounded by cigarette butts.

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.

Here are the simple JusJoJan Rules:

1. Just Jot It January starts January 1st, but it’s never too late to join in! Here, we run on the honour system; the “jot it” part of JusJoJan means that anything you jot down, anywhere (it doesn’t have to be a post, it can even be a grocery list), counts as a “jot.” If it makes it to your blog that day, great! If it waits a week to get from a sticky note to your screen, no problem!

2. I’ll post prompts at 2am my time (GMT -5). You don’t have to follow the prompt every day, but that will be where you leave your link for others to see. You’ll get a prompt for every day except Wednesday, when the prompt is simply my One-Liner Wednesday and on Saturday, when your prompt will be the Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS, which will appear at about 9:30am Friday. Each prompt post will include the rules.

2 a) 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

3. Please ping back or link to the daily prompt. To ping back, just copy the URL from the daily prompt post, and paste it anywhere in your post. Check to make sure your link shows up where you want it to, and go back occasionally to see other bloggers’ entries – the more you visit others, the more they’ll visit you! Note: A) The newest pingbacks will be at the top of the comments section. B) Ping backs only work if you’re blogging on WordPress. Everyone else must paste a link manually.

4. Tag your post JusJoJan and/or #JusJoJan.

5. Write anything! Any length will do! It can even be a photo or a drawing – you’re going to title it, right? There’s your jot!

6. The prompts will appear every day that’s neither a Wednesday nor a Saturday–Saturday’s JusJoJan prompt will be Stream of Consciousness Saturday. You’ll find the list of prompts below as they come in, which means I’ll be updating this post. Remember, you don’t have to use the prompts. Please write whatever inspires you. NOTE: If your post is NSFW, do not ping back. Please leave your link in the comments with a warning.

7. If you’d like to, use the JusJoJan badge so that others can find your post more easily.

8. Have fun!


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Just Jot it January 2020 – The Rules!

Can you believe this is the seventh annual Just Jot it January challenge? Time flies when you’re blogging!

Just Jot it January, AKA JusJoJan, is a challenge to write a post every day of the month of January. To start the year off with a a blogging bang, and to meet others in the blogging community. We’ve grown from a handful of participants in 2014 to close to fifty for the past couple of years. Why? Because it’s fun!

Here are the simple JusJoJan Rules:

1. Just Jot It January starts January 1st, but it’s never too late to join in! Here, we run on the honour system; the “jot it” part of JusJoJan means that anything you jot down, anywhere (it doesn’t have to be a post, it can even be a grocery list), counts as a “jot.” If it makes it to your blog that day, great! If it waits a week to get from a sticky note to your screen, no problem!

2. I’ll post prompts at 2am my time (GMT -5). You don’t have to follow the prompt every day, but that will be where you leave your link for others to see. You’ll get a prompt for every day except Wednesday, when the prompt is simply my One-Liner Wednesday and on Saturday, when your prompt will be the Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS, which will appear at about 9:30am Friday. Each prompt post will include the rules.

3. Please ping back or link to the daily prompt. To ping back, just copy the URL from the daily prompt post, and paste it anywhere in your post. Check to make sure your link shows up where you want it to, and go back occasionally to see other bloggers’ entries – the more you visit others, the more they’ll visit you! Note: A) The newest pingbacks will be at the top of the comments section. B) Ping backs only work if you’re blogging on WordPress. Everyone else must paste a link manually.

4. Tag your post JusJoJan and/or #JusJoJan.

5. Write anything! Any length will do! It can even be a photo or a drawing – you’re going to title it, right? There’s your jot!

6. The prompts will appear every day that’s neither a Wednesday nor a Saturday–Saturday’s JusJoJan prompt will be Stream of Consciousness Saturday. You’ll find the list of prompts below as they come in, which means I’ll be updating this post. Remember, you don’t have to use the prompts. Please write whatever inspires you. NOTE: If your post is NSFW, do not ping back. Please leave your link in the comments with a warning.

7. If you’d like to, use the JusJoJan badge so that others can find your post more easily.

8. Have fun!

I’ll fill in the prompts as I have them, along with a link to the blog of the person who supplied the prompt if it wasn’t me:

January 1 – One-Liner Wednesday
January 2 – a photo
January 3 – poke
January 4 – SoCS – “ow”
January 5 – Intention – Faye at Faye’s Mystical Musings
January 6 – Possibility – Jill at J-Dubs Grin and Bear It
January 7 – Mix – John at Sound of One Hand Typing
January 8 – One-Liner Wednesday
January 9 – Scrumptious – Maggie at From Cave Walls
January 10 – Dogs – Di at pensitivity101
January 11 – SoCS – start your post with the first three words from a random page in a book
January 12 – Gravity – Zhenzhen at Hinuha
January 13 – Subscribe – Willow at Willowdot21
January 14 – Publish – Ritu at But I Smile Anyway
January 15 – One-Liner Wednesday
January 16 – Experience – Dan at No Facilities
January 17 – Jade – MB at Words Less Spoken
January 18 – SoCS – movie title
January 19 – Gobbledygook – Jim at Hoping to make the world more beautiful
January 20 – Humor – Sadje at Keep it Alive
January 21 – Scraggly – Cheryl at The Bag Lady
January 22 – One-Liner Wednesday
January 23 – Drive – Janet at Janet’s Smiles
January 24 – Change – Wendy at Wendy’s Waffle
January 25 – SoCS – last call
January 26 – Busy – Saumya at Randomness Inked
January 27 – Dazzle – Debbie at Debbie Gravett
January 28 – Television – Barbara at Teleportingweena
January 29 – One-Liner Wednesday
January 30 – Finished – Lauren at LSS Attitude of Gratitude
January 31 – Chaos