sand, sea, sky, sun
simple
∞
Get down to the basics in the entries of
Where’s my backpack?’s Travel Theme: Simplify.
Tag: iphoneography
Weekly Photo Challenge: Zigzag
suspicions were
that lost mail
floated away
to some dun-coloured bin
in the far recesses
of an alternate universe
post office
now we know
it zigzags
straight
to the alleys
to become bright
decoration
for marauders
of all kinds
⋛
Go up and down the entries in the Weekly Photo Challenge: Zigzag.
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Earth or the Harvest Season
something wonderful to season the broth
⧻
Dig up the entries in Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Earth or the Harvest Season.
Fiction in 50: The Path to Enlightenment
Look at them poring over their dusty books.. Philosophy, history, bits of Code on scraps of paper – who was working while they scribbled? If he expects me to serve a dainty tea when they all start solving the problems of the world, well, I’ll show them the path to enlightenment…
The Bookshelf Gargoyle curates a Fiction in 50 mini-narrative challenge – this month’s prompt is The Path to Enlightenment! Take a deep breath, look inwards for the muse but don’t take too long – write a piece of short, short fiction, send it in and then go have a peek at the other entries – GargoyleBruce writes wonderful reviews on all sorts of kid lit (big and small) with a cheeky tone guaranteed to make you laugh out loud. Wander through the stacks, you are sure to find something you’ll like.
Click on the icon in the sidebar for previous entries…
Two Cents Tuesday Challenge: Blooms
lucky are the bees
We swore blind that we wouldn’t do any more gardening the frosty day the realtor hammered the for-sale sign into a snowbank on our lawn. Those of you who have been following the saga of where we wind up next will know that we are none too happy going forward knowing that we have prettied up our rental landscape and won’t be able to enjoy it for too much longer. All those plants nurtured over time, the Asian lilies, the unexpected daisies, the delicate mauve blossoms on the hostas – all these we will dig up in the fall or spring before they begin to flower again in earnest and whisk off to some more deserving garden.
In the meantime, Nature is playing the temptress and flashing her charms at us from every available venue, calling out for us to weed so that passersby may also enjoy the view and asking us to prop her up with a bit of twine so she doesn’t droop in all the wrong places. Our neighbour is concerned that we are not engaging quite as enthusiastically with the small plot where the veggies usually grow and has leaned over the fence with pots of “just a little something” to plant to ensure that we have something really fresh to add to our salad a month down the line. The Two Cents Tuesday Challenge is reminded every time we put out the recycling that hollyhocks, like tomatoes, can indeed be transplanted and grow to incredible heights whether we like it or not. The rain and the sporadic sprinkler system, the bugs and the bees are all doing their part (even if we are not) to make sure we are surprised by the most magnificent – Blooms.
“Tell us about your blooms?” – are they flowers or fruit, a vegetable patch, clover in the field or a roof of thatch, babies and puppies, a store full of hats, a sky full of parasols or basket of cats.
We would love to see your vision..
For all those who are new readers to Across the Bored, here are some guidelines for the challenge: HOW DOES THIS WORK?
- I will post some commentary on a random topic that pops into my head (such as the above) and then ask you to respond on the same.
- Your point of view on the current week’s challenge can take any form: a quote, a motto or saying, an essay, poem or opinion of yours or attributed to someone else, a piece of music, a song, a video, a work of art, photograph, graffiti, drawing or scribble – but it has to be about the topic!
- Please, don’t just link to an old post… challenge yourself.
- The Challenge will be open for 14 days (there will be a reminder post at the 7 day mark) after which I will post another.
- ENJOY, have FUN and TELL your friends and fellow bloggers.
SO – Create your Two Cents Tuesday Challenge post
- Then add a link to your blog in my comment box.
- To make it easy for others to check out your post, title your blog post “Two Cents Tuesday Challenge” and add the same as a tag.
- If you would like your reader to see what others are presenting for the same challenge, add a link to the “Two Cents Tuesday” challenge on your own blog.
- Feel free to pick up your badge on the Two Cents Tuesday Challenge page
- Remember to Follow My Blog to get your weekly (hopefully) reminders.
Travel Theme: Meeting Places
north, south, east, west
coming from
or going to
we are usually on our way
to meet someone
do something
be somewhere
sometime
⨒
Make contact in the entries of Where’s my backpack?’s Travel Theme: Meeting Places.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Summer Lovin’
for want of a better place
forged iron kisses green in the heat
and sleeps under a blanket of snow
♡
Embrace the entries in the Weekly Photo Challenge: Summer Lovin’.
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Fire or Season of Summer
it must have seemed a good idea at the time:
keep the jollity flowing well into the new year
until crisp as tinder
where but a breath
sends needles spiralling to the floor
like lost good will
fanning the flames of disaster
the task at hand is well nigh
forsooth, ’tis christmas in july
♨︎
Heat things up with the entries of
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Fire or Season of Summer.
Travel Theme: Purple
clematis dream of dark midnight
where stars hushed voyage
is the only sound
to climb towards
‽
Put on a mauve mood with the entries of
Where’s my backpack?’s Travel Theme: Purple.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Containers
Before plastic and paper
stone and steel
there was a grand design
ubiquitous in its ingenuity
an elegant simplicity
in that which comes
from the earth
to the earth
returns
⊞
Unwrap the entries of the Weekly Photo Challenge: Containers.
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Wood / Spring
how many springs,
sunrise and sunset
how many full flower moons
are counted
in ring and bark
branch and leaf
☾
Get back to nature with the entries of Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Wood / Spring.
Two Cents Tuesday Challenge: It’s up to you, again…
well, that went quickly…
Hard to believe that another year has whizzed right by and we find ourselves in the middle of another summer: a summer that crawls in after a too-short spring, gains momentum and then leaps from one week to the next like some housebound feline that has found the catnip growing wild in the garden. At any moment we expect it to just roll over exhausted and suddenly it will be autumn.
We are, sadly, stuck in town for a while longer, our usual jaunt to the West Coast for some badly needed battery recharging delayed for the moment. It is the first time in over a decade that we haven’t found ourselves lazing on the beach under a broiling July sun so we have been busy pounding the pavement like a good tourist in our own city, taking photos of street art, buildings sans snow and other tourists. The Two Cents Tuesday Challenge needs to put its feet up for the afternoon so a retrospective is just the thing, scroll through the archives by clicking on this link or on one of the topics below and pick something, anything – It’s up to You.
Heat Surprise Silly Expectations Lost Abstract Grateful Bliss T-shirts Shoes Loyalty Painting Cook Wishes Paths Writing Birthday Wonder Harvest Size Words Routine Calm Curious It’s up to You Toys Clean Bold Random Heritage Special Happy Gifts Graffiti Brilliant Funny Habit Resolution Relax Sweet Illumination Decoration Morning Style Home Pressure Temptation Manipulation Compromise Procrastination
We would love to see your vision..
For all those who are new readers to Across the Bored, here are some guidelines for the challenge: HOW DOES THIS WORK?
- I will post some commentary on a random topic that pops into my head (such as the above) and then ask you to respond on the same.
- Your point of view on the current week’s challenge can take any form: a quote, a motto or saying, an essay, poem or opinion of yours or attributed to someone else, a piece of music, a song, a video, a work of art, photograph, graffiti, drawing or scribble – but it has to be about the topic!
- Please, don’t just link to an old post… challenge yourself.
- The Challenge will be open for 14 days (there will be a reminder post at the 7 day mark) after which I will post another.
- ENJOY, have FUN and TELL your friends and fellow bloggers.
SO – Create your Two Cents Tuesday Challenge post
- Then add a link to your blog in my comment box.
- To make it easy for others to check out your post, title your blog post “Two Cents Tuesday Challenge” and add the same as a tag.
- If you would like your reader to see what others are presenting for the same challenge, add a link to the “Two Cents Tuesday” challenge on your own blog.
- Feel free to pick up your badge on the Two Cents Tuesday Challenge page
- Remember to Follow My Blog to get your weekly (hopefully) reminders.
Travel Theme: Decoration
last christmas santa’s elves took label embellishment to a whole new level:
you don’t even want to know how they trimmed our tree…
✯✯✯
Get fancy with the entries of
Where’s my backpack?’s Travel Theme: Decoration.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Relic
poor george has seen better days
≏
Remember what has gone before in the entries of the Weekly Photo Challenge: Relic.
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Circles and Curves
i tawt i taw a puddy tat:
sufferin’ succotash!
⦿
Cruise around the entries of
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Circles and Curves.
tagged “Y”
Y is for Yes
all that Youth brings
the sweet smell of Yielding
on feather-soft wings
Yowl and Yearn
Yellow irises sway
from Years sleep woken
by Yawning day
⨚
Yell about the entries in Frizztext’s A-Z Challenge: tagged “Y”.
Travel Theme: Twist
silica twist in a soda ash dance
⩋
Get all caught up in the entries of
Where’s my backpack?’s Travel Theme: Twist.
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Squares, Triangles and Angles
we are all on the same stairway to heaven
⟗
Find some geometry in the entries of
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Squares, Triangles and Angles.
Two Cents Tuesday Challenge: Heat
paled by bright sun
Sultry summer has definitely softened Across the Bored’s usually manic drive to be productive. After being housebound for the infamous longest winter ever there is nothing better than parking it in a chair outside, breathing air that isn’t cold enough to freeze lungs on impact and staring at the sky. Though not the spa, it certainly does one a world of good and serves to recharge those batteries drained by keeping our motor running during the icier months.
Our routine has been hijacked by good weather and oddly, we don’t mind. Rather we are going to take as much advantage of it as possible because this bounteous gift of Nature may quickly be followed by forty days of rain. The Two Cents Tuesday Challenge has been made lazy by the – Heat – but it is the one time of year when things can arguably be put aside for more basic pleasures. “How do you see heat?” – The sun on your face, a favourite beach place, curry in a pot, flames fanning hot, a tight situation or artistic creation..
We would love to see your vision..
For all those who are new readers to Across the Bored, here are some guidelines for the challenge: HOW DOES THIS WORK?
- I will post some commentary on a random topic that pops into my head (such as the above) and then ask you to respond on the same.
- Your point of view on the current week’s challenge can take any form: a quote, a motto or saying, an essay, poem or opinion of yours or attributed to someone else, a piece of music, a song, a video, a work of art, photograph, graffiti, drawing or scribble – but it has to be about the topic!
- Please, don’t just link to an old post… challenge yourself.
- The Challenge will be open for 14 days (there will be a reminder post at the 7 day mark) after which I will post another.
- ENJOY, have FUN and TELL your friends and fellow bloggers.
SO – Create your Two Cents Tuesday Challenge post
- Then add a link to your blog in my comment box.
- To make it easy for others to check out your post, title your blog post “Two Cents Tuesday Challenge” and add the same as a tag.
- If you would like your reader to see what others are presenting for the same challenge, add a link to the “Two Cents Tuesday” challenge on your own blog.
- Feel free to pick up your badge on the Two Cents Tuesday Challenge page
- Remember to Follow My Blog to get your weekly (hopefully) reminders.
Fiction in 50: The Upper Hand
I can see them out there scampering around, laughing – yes, I can – furry beggars digging things up, making a mess of the marigolds and never taking the blame… I’d like to wring their little necks – one good shake and that would be it but She always has the upper hand…
The Bookshelf Gargoyle curates a Fiction in 50 mini-narrative challenge – this month’s prompt is The Upper Hand! Don’t let the summer heat get to you: pour a long, tall cold one and write a piece of short, short fiction: send it in and then go have a peek at the other entries – GargoyleBruce writes wonderful reviews on all sorts of kid lit (big and small) with a cheeky tone guaranteed to make you laugh out loud. Wander through the stacks, you are sure to find something you’ll like.
Click on the icon in the sidebar for previous entries…
Weekly Photo Challenge: Contrast
the city screams
for distinction
while bentleys and bicycles
battle for supremacy
high-priced whores and hipsters
haggle over who will win
the race, the game
the housing crunch
in a soulless search
to leave their stamp
on the door
in a town
where everyone is an artist
≑
Make disparate parts whole in the entries of the Weekly Photo Challenge: Contrast.
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Straight Lines
new sign, expanded market space, underground parking
a little make-over can be a good thing
⩎
Proceed directly to the entries in
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Straight Lines.
Travel Theme: Shine
so glad we don’t have to clean this one
❊
Reflect on the entries in
Where’s my backpack?’s Travel Theme: Shine.
tagged “X”
X marks the spot
where once
treasure enough
for the generations
lay safe
now
like small Xenops
fluttering
very life eXhales
cold stake
driven blindly
through heart
⋇
eXamine the entries in Frizztext’s A-Z Challenge: tagged “X”.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Between
in the flood
Between
old and new
past and present
happy and sad
memory
like love
knows no bounds
≑
See both sides in the entries of the Weekly Photo Challenge: Between.
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Crooked and Squiggly Lines
Not stylistically harmonious but still serviceable
～
Wrap yourself around the entries of
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Crooked and Squiggly Lines.
Travel Theme: Fresh
vegetarian sushi – way better when made by the pros
*
Be enticed by the entries in
Where’s my backpack?’s Travel Theme: Fresh.
Two Cents Tuesday Challenge: Surprise
almost uprooted:
good thing we believe in the procrastination method of weeding…
Across the Bored can’t remember which year it was that Miss Z insisted daisies would be the perfect potted plant swaying in the breeze beside our door but we do distinctly remember pulling out the dried brown husks of their summer daintiness once upon a frosty day in late October and pitching them into the front flower bed. They had been surprisingly high maintenance despite their hardiness, much like Miss Z, requiring much hydration, daily rotation, some artful pruning and a watchful eye to make sure they didn’t go off in all directions.
We can’t say they were spectacular nor did they deliver as many blooms as we had hoped to make little rustic bouquets from and that was pretty much the end of that. Until this very late spring when we espied some new previously unidentified growth next to the rather large seeding dandelion plant and the oriental lilies pushing their way through the soil. Our first thought was to pull it all out by the roots but then we got distracted by something more pressing and walked off. A week later the Two Cents Tuesday Challenge was hauling the recycling bin out to the curb when – Surprise – the weeds had bloomed overnight into quite the pretty little floral display…
“How does surprise look to you?” – Awkward or elated, with a bang or for the bin, elegant or understated, sweet and delicious, with a side of sin… We would love to see your vision.
For all those who are new readers to Across the Bored, here are some guidelines for the challenge: HOW DOES THIS WORK?
- I will post some commentary on a random topic that pops into my head (such as the above) and then ask you to respond on the same.
- Your point of view on the current week’s challenge can take any form: a quote, a motto or saying, an essay, poem or opinion of yours or attributed to someone else, a piece of music, a song, a video, a work of art, photograph, graffiti, drawing or scribble – but it has to be about the topic!
- Please, don’t just link to an old post… challenge yourself.
- The Challenge will be open for 14 days (there will be a reminder post at the 7 day mark) after which I will post another.
- ENJOY, have FUN and TELL your friends and fellow bloggers.
SO – Create your Two Cents Tuesday Challenge post
- Then add a link to your blog in my comment box.
- To make it easy for others to check out your post, title your blog post “Two Cents Tuesday Challenge” and add the same as a tag.
- If you would like your reader to see what others are presenting for the same challenge, add a link to the “Two Cents Tuesday” challenge on your own blog.
- Feel free to pick up your badge on the Two Cents Tuesday Challenge page
- Remember to Follow My Blog to get your weekly (hopefully) reminders.
tagged “W”
Wee lion
Would you Were
always at my side
small White mop
that Waits
tail Wagging
by the door
When I Wake
you Want
to Walk
in Wild Wide meadows
Wholeheartedly
you Waive
all Willfulness
Wash away Wrath
and Weave Wishes
into my Wavering
Wanderlust
⨈
Wander through the entries in Frizztext’s A-Z Challenge: tagged “W”.
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Things with Edges
someone got the deluxe set of drafting triangles for christmas
⊠
Go to the limit in the entries of
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Things with Edges.
ACROSS THE BORED 