New Writing Prompt

Remember the writing blog I talked about here? Well, another prompt has come in and I thought I'd give it another go.

Just to refresh your memory: The author of the blog, Stephanie Morrill, gives the first sentence of a story. You come up with the next 100 words of the story. It's not a whole story, just the next 100 words.

So without further ado:

No one wanted to be there. And yet here we all were under the old oak tree.

The field stretched out to the end of the earth. I looked up and drank in the deep blue sky and wild cotton clouds. The sound of the wind blocked out the words that were being read. I breathed in the fresh mowed grass. The scent of the hothouse flowers invaded the clean, cool air.

Suddenly, the pastor's words dragged me back from my desperate escape.

"Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust."

As my father's shoulders slumped, I held my little sister as she started toward our mother's casket.



And there you have it. I can't wait for the next prompt!

Tiffany

So Big!

Just in case you were wondering how that Cutest Little of Nephew of mine is growing, I've decided to show you some comparison photos.

This picture was taken just after Cutest Little Nephew was born:
The size in the onesie read Newborn, but it reached from his chin to his toes.


Now:
It was actually too small to put on him while Mom was there a couple of weeks ago.

So.....How big is Cutest Little Nephew?

SO BIG!

Baby Conversations

My mom went back to America and was able to visit friends and family. She brought back pictures as evidence of the many conversations babies have. Here are a few examples:

"I know the secret button is here somewhere. Then I will reveal the secret stash."

"Wait! You told her!"

"I can't believe you surprised me like that. Who are you?!"

"Oh, Mumsy! It's you!"

"Okay, fine, you guys can have the spotlight now. But just wait...."

"I know how to steal the show!"

"Oh, you want a look, huh. Well, here's a look."

"Oh, you wanted the 'cool dude' look."

"Hey, that was pretty good."

"But I'm good-er."

We interrupt these conversations to let you know that we don't think you can start too early teaching your children that Pavlova is the best dessert (or that it was invented in New Zealand).

It's easy. After you've used a container of Pavlova Magic, take the empty container and put something hard in it. It closes securely, so there is no worry of the object coming out. Then you give it to your baby as often as possible. The Pavolva energy will be absorbed by the baby and they will grow up loving Pavlova. (You don't have to worry about telling them that Kiwis invented Pavlova....everyone knows that.)

"Tag Rags are the greatest! Thanks, Mumsy!"

"You're pretty funny too, Mumsy!"

"Yeah, we're pretty cool together!"

*blows raspberry*

"What? What was so funny?"

"You really thought it was that funny, huh?"

"Yeah, I guess it was!"

Hope you enjoyed the little visit into the world of baby conversations. They are pretty smart little cookies aren't they? ;)

By the way, here is a close up picture of the tag rag Mom made while she was with Shann and her family:

Wilowbank

In the first week we arrived in Christchurch, a wonderful new friend invited me to go with her to a nearby nature reserve: Willowbank. We had a great time! I got to see the illusive Kiwi bird! That made my day for weeks. (I know that sentence makes sense. I just have to find which planet.) Anyhow, I thought I'd give you all an abbreviated tour.*

The main entrance:

You could feed the eels. They would literally slither out of the water onto the dock to get the food offered to them. It was both reviling and riveting.

A very obliging deer. As you can see, he is very photogenic....just ask him.

There was a specific area where many wallabies lived peaceful lives, but this little guy is definitely a rebel. He was wandering around the park and visited the guests. He was the self appointed host....just let him know if you see any of the park staff coming close.

These are his many friends that he had deserted for the nomadic life.

No matter where you go, there are always those who monkey around, even in New Zealand. Fortunately these guys were fun to watch and VERY energetic.

This handsome bird has a dance routine prepared for us. I wish my camera could take video, because it was quite the performance! I was laughing....I mean encouraging him....very hard!

This friendly otter was also very active.....until he suddenly decided he'd had enough and lay down in the middle of the path where his two buddies continued to race around him.

"All right. I'm ready for my close up!"

"Right, like there aren't a thousand other creature you could take a picture of. You had to interrupt my dinner."

Well, there's no story here. Just a beautiful, although small, waterfall.

We saw Kiwis, but they are noturnal and the area where they are kept it kept in "moonlight" so they will come out to feed. But there was a wonderful little display about them before you went in.

I'm not known for choosing normal pets. (I mean, how many people do you know who have a hedgehog for a baby?) After seeing the Kiwis, I've decided I want one of them too. They are just so CUTE! So this is a baby Kiwi:

And all the white eggs in front are Kiwi eggs. The off-white coloured on in the back is an ostrich egg. And the middle one is an emu egg. And the last one is a chicken egg.

This is an adult Kiwi with its egg. They show an x-ray of the egg inside the female and it took up the whole abdominal cavity.

There is amazing wildlife here! You don't even have to go to Willowbank to see it.*

Tiffany

*But if you come to visit, I will take you to Willowbank and you can see all these things and much more!

A School With a View

I have been very blessed to have the most funnest job I can think of. I get to help out teachers in exactly the way I wish someone had been available to help me when I was teaching. I get to work with some AMAZING teachers. I get to see the New Zealand school system up close. I get to work with a little boy and see the visible results of my efforts.

And I get to see this every morning:

The school has two campuses that are separated by the road. I work on both campuses and sometimes, as I'm walking, I literally have to stop and catch my breath from the beauty of these hills. The sun plays on them, the clouds hug them, and the rain hides them. And each weather brings another view of beauty.

No wonder it's called Hillview Christian School.
Tiffany

Oops, I did it again.....

And from across the world this time. Today was Mom's birthday! (Happy Birthday, Mum!) I kept trying to get her to come up with something she wanted to do for her birthday. But all she wanted to do was surprised me with something. (I think the hobbit-air here is getting to her. ;) ) So she did! A bookarama!


The local Rotary club is having their annual book sale. So we went. I bought. I now have books that did not come over of the ship. However, I did constrain myself. But I found some books, that I literally couldn't pass up!

Here they are!

I found a sweet little Winnie-the-Pooh trivia book that I'll post a snippet from in a minute.

I was also ecstatic to find a copy of Emma from 1932! I've never seen one that early in my budget!

After being in The Miracle Worker last summer, I've been very curious to learn more about Annie and Helen. I think the 782 pages in this book might quench that thirst.....or possibly drown me.

I am very happy to report that Enid Blyton books are available here. Well, there are now two less because I picked these up today.

But my most treasured book today is:

There is a story that explains my enthusiasm for this gaudily painted cover. When we lived in England, I frequently found books to buy in the charity shops. And I found a book that I loved. It had a story about Bonnie Prince Charming that I read over and over. Much to my chagrin, it went missing. I can't remember if I got rid of it accidently or it was just misplaced during a move. The point being, I didn't have it anymore. And I wanted it. I really wanted it. However, I had always known exactly where it was on my bookshelf and had never bothered to remember the title. So while I performed numerous searches online, I could NOT find the book. If you concentrate all your imaginative powers, you might be able to slightly understand my resounding shock that literally left me shaking when I found this book on the table today. When I first saw it I wasn't sure that was the book because mine had looked like this:

But with the lettering mostly rubbed off. So I opening the cover to read the stories, and every single story I read confirmed that my nearly 16 year search was at an end.

Did I mention this was a good day? :D

So, how better to end a happy post on an exciting day (Happy Birthday, Mum!) than with a trivia question from Winnie-ther-Pooh (You know what "ther" is for, right?).

"When Pooh, Christopher Robin, an the others go on the Expotition, what are they looking for?"

How well do you know your Milne? ;)

Tiffany

And Now for Something.......A Little Different

I've been following a wonderful Writing Blog for a while now. The author is Stephanie Morril. She's written a few teen girls' novels. I haven't actually read them, so I'm not recommending them. But her blog is focusing on talking about how to write a novel. It has been great! If you've got a story in your head that needs to come out, be sure to check out her blog!

One of the things she's doing to encourage young writers is a writing competition. She gives the first sentence of a story. The contestants fill in the next 100 words. Sadly I'm too old (which seems so wrong) to participate in the contest. However, I thought it would be fun to do it on my own anyway. Then I thought it might be fun to put them on here every once it a while.

So here it goes:

It had been 4 years, but the memories still lingered.

"Hello."

David! I looked up at him, praying he couldn't hear my heart beating.

"Hello.


"You're Kate?"

"Yes."

He remembered me!

"You rode Providential in the dressage competition."

Correction: he remembered my horse.

"Yeah, that was me."

Oh boy, was that me! It was my first competition with Providential. She was ready, but I wasn't.

Seeing my nerves, David had stopped and assured me that the butterflies would eventually start flying in formation and actually help. As I listened, he grew to hero stature.

And here he was. Again finding me as I was calming my nerves before a show.

And there you have it!

Tiffany