A Bird Needs Tweetment

Okay, so that’s got to be the worst title there is, but at least I know it is one I have not used before.

The first image, the Jackdaw, is in a tree near the town hall in our town.

The next two are moorhens in different areas. One on a river thankfully. Hopefully it means the pollution is going.

Then there is a blackbird in a tree that I see from my balcony.

Then there is a House Sparrow attached to the side of a building. I tried to see if there was any babies inside but it was too high.

Jackdaw

Moorhen

Moorhen

Blackbird

Blackbird

Blackbird

House Sparrow

House Sparrow

House Sparrow

Friday Finds: April 18 2014

FRIDAY FINDS showcases the books you ‘found’ and added to your To Be Read (TBR) list… whether you found them online, or in a bookstore, or in the library — wherever! (they aren’t necessarily books you purchased).

So, come on — share with us your FRIDAY FINDS! (Hosted by Should Be Reading)

These books I know are ones that a lot of people know about, but they have only just arrived in my library.

Love In The Time Of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez

In their youth, Florentino Ariza and Fermina Daza fall passionately in love. When Fermina eventually chooses to marry a wealthy, well-born doctor, Florentino is devastated, but he is a romantic. As he rises in his business career he whiles away the years in 622 affairs–yet he reserves his heart for Fermina. Her husband dies at last, and Florentino purposefully attends the funeral. Fifty years, nine months, and four days after he first declared his love for Fermina, he will do so again

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

No one ever rightly knew who Gatsby was. Some said that he had been a German spy, others that he was related to one of Europe’s royal families. Despite this nearly everyone took advantage of his fabulous hospitality. And it really was fabulous. On his superb Long Island home he gave the most amazing parties, and not the least remarkable thing about them was the fact that few people could recognize their host. He seemed to be a person without background, without history, without a home. Yet the irony of this bright and brittle facade was that he had created it not to impress the world and his wife, but to impress just one person – a girl he had loved and had had to leave, a girl who had loved him but was now married to a rich good-for-nothing, a girl whom he had dreamed about for over four years. This dream had long ceased to have any substance or any connection with reality – and for that reason he could not wake from it. He had doped himself with his own illusion. And only death could dispel that dream.

Jeremy’s Challenge: April 18th 2014

Every day, Jeremy challenges us to write something of fiction (100-200 words) or prose (14-20 lines) using either music or lines of poetry as a prompt. Today’s prompts which can be found here are:

The sentences today are:

• A mind at peace, a mind centered and not focused on harming others, is stronger than any physical force in the universe – Wayne Dyer
• Man is the only creature who has a nasty mind – Mark Twain
• The more liberty you give away the more you will have – Robert Green Ingersoll

This is (as most of my fiction is) part of an ongoing story called “Mama Knows Best” which is about two boys telling their Mama that a load of boys have been taken by aliens, and she knows who they are, having fought them before. The last time left her close to death. You can find the complete story here.

Part Four

Joseph still could not comprehend what Mama was saying. Confusion written across his face, but he shrugged and took Jedra’s hand to lead him and their Mama back to where the boys were last seen. Waiting outside the door as commanded, the boys stood for ten minutes before Mama finally exited the building, closing and locking the door behind her. She had a huge red bag slung across her left shoulder, and it looked very heavy as it caused her to lean to the right in an attempt to keep an even balance. The boys took an involuntary step back, and Mama just smiled at them and waved them ahead.

Joseph led the way, but Mama could see his fear growing as the neared the site of the abductions. Upon reaching the location, Mama knew immediately her fears were correct and she slipped the bag from her shoulder which landed on the floor with a loud clatter, startling Joseph and Jedra. They watched as Mama dropped to her knees and closed her eyes. She started speaking a mantra: A mind at peace, a mind centred and not focused on harming others, is stronger than any physical force in the universe…

A Night’s Tail

Nothing to do with the Chaucer story or the Heath Ledger film, or even Fievel the mouse. These are some photos that I took last night and tonight. The two with dates, the last two, were ones I took with a different camera. These were with a bridge camera. I was told that if I used the “sunset” mode it would give me a perfect shot of the moon. The last photo is the result of that, but I like the way it looked.

Photos 2-6 are ones I took on a 30 second shutter speed of different directions from my balcony.