Sunday Photo Fiction – Sept 23, 2018

This week’s photo is from Anurag Bakhshi
https://wordpress.com/read/feeds/15441533/posts/2006297102

He thought it might help but man, she was annoying.
As if he wasn’t depressed enough, she was going on about her boyfriend and how they’d broken up because he didn’t understand her.
He heard about her estranged family, the constant lack of money, and how she had failed an audition for a part in a movie years before because she was too fat.
Over the next hour, he had the saga of the yoyo weight programmes, the jobs she had and lost in a matter of weeks or days, boyfriends, never once letting him get the occasional word in. He wanted to ditch her, but felt bad about leaving her by the side of the road, even though that was where he’d found her.
‘This stretch of road reminds me of a film’, she said. ‘Of course I would have been perfect for the part, but it was before my time. You may have seen it. You look old enough as it was nearly thirty years ago.’ He snapped.
‘I think I know the film you mean. Who did you want to be? Thelma or Louise?’
and with that he drove off the cliff.

195 words.

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Early morning Beach Walk

This is in response to the Sunday Whirl Words  for 23 Sept
https://wordpress.com/read/feeds/89850/posts/2006390716

Beach Walk

Let the sun shine!
Nine am sees light sliver in a unique design, no two days are the same.
Who could show disdain towards such beauty?
A silver path extends towards the shore line, taking root in the sand.
Later, eyes train out to sea, a chain of sparkling ripples suggest something is afoot.
I feign surprise at the sight of a seal, annoyed and angry at the crime of litter and pollution of its natural habitat.

Photos are mine from earlier posts.

Are you a good egg?

When we had the chickens, I sold my surplus eggs, none of which were ever more than a week old. It takes about 23 hours for a chicken to produce an egg, so with only four birds, I did quite well every week, and the money raised was sufficient to buy their grain, sawdust and straw.

Photo: our lovely Scraggy.

The eggs you buy in the shops have a best before date of about three weeks on them, though most are safe to eat after that. Smell is always a good indicator to a bad one, but as eggs are ‘ready wrapped’ by the chicken, that can be a problem.

You can test for a bad egg by putting it in a bowl of cold water (link)
If it sinks to the bottom and lies flat on its side, it’s very fresh. If a bit older but still good to eat, it will stand on one end at the bottom of the bowl. If it floats to the surface, it’s no good, so sling it. They float because egg shells are porous, so the older they are, the more air gets inside.

Have you ever wondered though what actually happens to eggs that are well past their sell by date?
I found out when we stayed over with MSM for my mammogram earlier this month.

Maggie always has a scrambled egg for her breakfast, so on Thursday morning I looked for one to cook. There were none in the usual place, but I did find a box in the tall pull out larder. The box felt very light, so I thought there was only one or two in there, but it contained six, so I cracked one into a dish for her. Or at least tried to!
The shell broke but nothing came out and I thought maybe they were all hard boiled for MSM’s supper or something. Peeling back the shell, inside was nothing I recognised apart from an orange yolk surrounded by solid jelly!
It didn’t smell, but there was no way I could (or would) cook it, so I picked out another one. This was also light and I thought it might actually be hollow, so I looked at the date on the box. February 6th and here we were the 6th of September!

I threw them all away and nipped across the road to the garage where I bought six free range eggs, then when MSM got up, I told her I’d put some in her cupboard.
She thanked me and said those that were in there were probably a bit old, bless her.

Song Lyric Sunday

Our theme for Song Lyric Sunday this week is sleep.

This is one of my favourite Alison Moyet tracks from the 1984 ‘ALF’ album.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqeHHs5yhGU

Written By Tony Swain, Steve Jolley & Alison Moyet
Lyrics from metrolyrics.com

Where hides sleep
Where hides sleep
Where hides sleep

Where hides sleep is she watching me?
Don’t desert me now
Where hides sleep you’re tormenting me
Don’t forsake me now

Take hold of my soul and pull me into darkness
Cover me over and stifle my anguish

Where hides sleep she’s avoiding me
Don’t evade me now
Where hides sleep please don’t torture me
Don’t forsake me now
I open my lips to your warm ancient potion
I would be still and devoid of emotion

For I would be slumber that I could be rest
Curl in warm embers of such peacefulness
Caressed by oblivion and swallowed by dreams

I want you to hold me and cover my eyes
From the cold distant daylight holds no surprise
You could make me forget, you could make me believe
If you’d steal away on us by enemy, by enemy

Where hides sleep is she watching me
Don’t desert me now
Where hides sleep you’re tormenting me
Don’t forsake me now

Take hold of my soul and pull me into darkness
Cover me over and stifle my anguish
I open my lips to your warm ancient potion
I would be still and devoid of emotion

Where hides sleep she’s avoiding me
Don’t evade me now
Where hides sleep please don’t torture me
Don’t forsake me now

Where hides sleep you’re tormenting me
Don’t forsake me now……………………………………….

FOWC with Fandango — Bottle

Some people have enough bottle to follow through on their dreams, no matter what obstacles are put in their way.
I remember a party game called ‘ Spin the bottle’. It was a favourite at our childhood parties, but took on a whole new meaning when the adults played!
Bottle necks are a pain when you’re stuck in traffic and there is no alternative route.
I remember with fondness a song about bottles. There were ten and they were all green. Sadly, none of them survived.
How I wish pharmacies would bring back the little medicine bottles for your pills. I could cope with the childproof caps, but some of these ‘push to release’ blister packs are a swine!
Mustn’t forget the 1/3 pint bottles of milk we had at school and the daily pinta delivered to your door. Somehow cartons don’t have the same panache.
Finally for my contribution, I always wondered how they got the ship in a bottle. All was revealed in the movie ‘The Good Shepherd’ starring Matt Damon which was nothing to do with bottles and ships.

Written for Fandango’s One Word Challenge today.

Today, 23rd September

My FIL would have been 97 today, so we will be lighting a candle in his memory.
Hubby says his Dad liked me, and I like to think so as we had some great debates and differences of opinions, but never to the extent of hostility.
He always loved to hear another point of view, and sometimes deliberately took the opposite corner to make life interesting.

When MIL was 80, he asked me to bake her a cake.
I made a simple sponge, then iced it with sugar paste and had a go at making some roses out of the leftover paste. They didn’t turn out too badly, and MIL seemed pleased. Loving cake as she did, nobody else got a slice.

Four legs and two brown eyes

She looks at me, and starts to whine,
‘Come on Mum, you know it’s tea time!’
Stares up from her cushion here on the floor
Branding my soul, til I can stand it no more.
‘OK, I’ll get something to shove in your face,
Then you’ll get fat,  wobble all over the place,
But I just can’t seem to ignore you scrounge!’
As I try to relax in our now comfortable lounge.
The tail starts to wag, do I detect a smile?
She knows she wins paws down by a mile,
Whatever we’re having, she has to taste,
Can’t have anything going to waste.
Chicken or turkey, ham, egg or cheese,
She’s happy to sample any of these.
It’s all our own doing, started as a pup
Gave her something to eat to just shut her up,
But those brown eyes twinkle with love and content,
Did you see where that last sausage roll went?
She’s sneaky and clever, and ever so quick,
You can’t fool her, she doesn’t miss a trick.
A creature of habit, just like you and me,
She might not be hungry, and just needs a pee.
So I get off my backside, go open the door,
And what does she do? Stays there on the floor!
Oh well, I’m up now, I’ll put the kettle on,
Make myself a snack, the nose starts its twitcherthon,
She’s there in a flash, knows there’s something to eat,
She’s the best dog around and deserves every treat.
The fridge door is opened, she gazes inside
The strength of her sniffer cannot be denied,
I’m a sucker and know it, those huge brown puppy eyes,
Hypnotic and pleading, why am I not surprised!

Photos: April 2015