Tag: dailyprompt

Sometimes

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Do you trust your instincts?

I’m rather wary of instincts, I have been known to trust people even when it has not been earned. Or distrust people who turned out to be the nicest and kindest people that I’d ever met before. But it’s not a regular problem, mostly my instincts aren’t too bad. And sometimes I know instinctively what’s going to happen. I don’t claim to have premonitions, but maybe I observe more subconsciously than I realise. So when something happens I feel vindicated.

But there was the one very odd incident. I dreamt of meeting old friends I hadn’t seen for years in the middle of a thunderstorm. Then a few days later we were cycling out to our friends when we met them and our old friends cycling the other way. That was strange enough, but the clouds were building up and the thunderstorm arrived! We had to take cover in a bus shelter. My dream actually came true! So maybe my instincts should be trusted. X

May blossom

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What’s your favorite month of the year? Why?

My favourite month is May, when blossom opens on trees, the sky turns a beautiful cerulean blue, and suddenly bees and insects wake up. Then I watch the blossom unfurl, tight buds become satin skirts and whirl outwards. Scent fills the air. Beware storms, thundering through the sky, their gusty winds can strip the flowers before they are pollenated, or frosts can burn their delicate petals. Their safety ensures a good crop of cherries or pears. Apples too can sink or swim depending on the weather.

May brings beauty in other forms, buds and leaves follow the blossom, the leaves stretch as water floods into their veins, brilliant greens or pinky mauves fill in the gaps between the twigs. Warm sun is absorbed as the leaves feed on the light. Photosynthesis is a miracle of nature. Clean air circulates, breezes stir, hedgerows grow and light up with May blossom.

Yes May is my favourite month, the warmth of the sun starts to return, days are longer, brilliant and lovely, if we are lucky we can enjoy the seasonal spectacle.

Outside into the countryside

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What is your favorite place to go in your city?

My city stands on its own, not really part of a conurbation. It is between Birmingham and Manchester and there are small satellite towns dotted around it.

When I first came to live here, what always struck me, was how close the countryside is. South and East are Staffordshire farmland, West is Shropshires rolling hills and also Cheshire with it’s flat plain and salt mines, North East is Derbyshire with the pennines hilly beginnings and also the Staffordshire moorlands with old industrial buildings hidden in its valleys.

The area is crisscrossed by canals, rivers, train tracks and roads. Alton Towers is a few miles to the North east, further north is the old silk mill towns of Leek and closer to Manchester is Macclesfield.

The Trent and Mersey canal runs through the mile long Harecastle tunnel at Kidsgrove, where the water runs orange (from old iron mine workings?).

There are forests, fields, caves, lakes, walking and cycling routes. Bakewell is reasonably close, home of the Bakewell tart (pastry with raspberry jam and an almond paste topping?). Also famous for food is Market Drayton to our west. I think they make Gingerbread there.

There are National trust properties like Little Moreton Hall and Biddulph Grange. Big garden centres and antique centres. Not forgetting the gem that is the Dorothy Clive garden.

The city is not without its merits, Gladstone and Moorcroft, Middleport and Emma Bridgwater potteries and the potteries museum and art gallery all tell the history of the city.

But I like to get away from the hustle and bustle into quiet surroundings. Not forgetting the coast which is about 80 miles away in Wales.

Stoke on Trent is full of industrial heritage, a lot of it needs rescuing. But I love the place.

Pleasant

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What’s the first impression you want to give people?

On a few occasions now I’ve been described as an honest and pleasant lady. I’ve also been told I look ten years younger than I am, but that’s a matter of opinion.

I was raised to be polite, and to treat people in the way I would like to be treated. I’m beginning to think I’d make a good Miss Marple though, I’d like to be a sleuth. Finding out about things, basically because I notice things. I have a good visual memory.

So I guess my personality is one of pleasantness and curiosity, with a side order of creativity. Is that OK?

The Stars like dust

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What book are you reading right now?

I’m reading an old Issac Asimov book. The stars like dust. It’s one I had in the 70s and haven’t read it since.

Asimov mainly wrote books about robots and formulated the three laws of robotics. But this book is about galactic intrigue and the attempts of a young man called Biron Farill, who is the main character of the book, to escape the Tyrrani who rule the Galaxy and are trying to assassinate him.

I have completely forgotten the story, it feels old fashioned but has intrigue. I can imagine watching an old film, some of the settings, seem clunky. But it’s worth reading, and I’m enjoying it.

Wales

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If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?

I think I would move closer to the sea. Up a hill, away from flightpaths, with a lovely view. A small town nearby.

Wales is close enough so that I can still visit family and friends. I would ideally like a slightly bigger house so that people can stay.

Why a Wales retreat? I know the country to some extent. I have Welsh ancestors, I have family there. I am used to the weather and I think its slightly less polluted than England.

Recently I’ve thought about moving. It’s not in the forefront of my mind, but if I ever have the money I would like to spend my declining years visiting Welsh tearooms and eating bara brith cake, painting Welsh scenery and joining choirs!

A camera!

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What’s the coolest thing you’ve ever found (and kept)?

We were cycling home on our tandem one summer evening, when suddenly we turned round in the road. I had no idea what was going on, it was a narrow country road and it surprised me.

We pulled up and my hubby started looking on the grass verge. There was a camera just lying there! We didn’t know what to do, so we took it home (we were in the middle of the countryside), with the idea of seeing if there was a film inside and getting it developed if there was. We would try and get it back to its owners somehow? This was about 30 or so years ago before we had the Internet, so there wasn’t much hope of finding its owners.

We sent the film off, but it came back blank, it must have been lost when someone put a new film in, maybe put it on top of a car and forgot to move it when they drove off.

I have to say I had forgotten all about it until I saw this prompt, and now I feel guilty for not reuniting it with it’s owners.

Dawn French

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Who is the most famous or infamous person you have ever met?

I met the lovely Dawn French once, for about five seconds, she was giving out chocolate coins with her face embellished on them to graduates at the University she is the Chancellor of, and I was one of the hundreds of students that met her that day.

She is a comedian, actor, writer, appears on TV as a the Vicar of Dibley and is one half of French and Saunders the comedy double act.

My fleeting meeting was just a smile and a handshake and me trying to say thank you very much and I love you without garbling it up too much.

I’d travelled a few hundred miles to be at the graduation ceremony, but after being given a very hot nylon gown and mortar board to wear on a blistering hot summers day it was all I could do to stay upright. I’d got family and friends with me in the audience, and it was a very proud moment, but my main thought as I got off the stage was “ice-cream” or “cold drink”!

A painting

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Name the most expensive personal item you’ve ever purchased (not your home or car).

Not these

I don’t think my insurance company would appreciate me giving out details of what I bought and how much it cost. This post may be fun, but it’s encouraging people to share information that might just be tempting enough to cause a theft.

Yes I know I might be overreacting, but my Jetpack account gets shared to other social media sites. People here might not know where I live, but others do.

I’d like to know who writes these prompts? I try to answer most of them, then I wonder if I’m being foolish? Yes it’s more content for my page, and it saves me having to think about a topic sometimes. But am I letting my guard down too much! I can chose my own topics and be circumspect, but answering others questions can be too enlightening for your own good. Beware…