Succinctly yours: thwart

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Succinctly Yours
Wherein Grandma, at her Grandma's Goulash blog, posts a photo, and her daughter Calico suggests a word without seeing the photo. Take the two together and come up with a short story of 140 words, or a short-short story of 140 characters including spaces and punctuation — that's the challenge at the Succinctly Yours meme on Mondays.

Above is the prompt photo. This week's word is "thwart"

and here is my submission of 120 characters.

The dinosaurs were athwart the main road and coming closer. Could Mayberry's three-man police force thwart their attack?

Our World Tuesday: a blooming shame

I published a photo of my flowering Nanking Cherry already but I just want to explain a little bit about our world...
look at the blossoms...

Photo by Richard Schear, April 2012

Beautiful, aren't they?
But a few days later...see my car in the background?...a few days after my husband took this photo of the Nanking Cherry, my car was covered in snow. For a couple of days I couldn't even look at the back yard to see if the blossoms survived. I looked today, and I see they did weather the storm.
Whether there's weather, or whether there's not, this is our world, southeastern Alberta, Canada, where snow is possible any time of year, even in the middle of one of our scorching hot summers.

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Our World Tuesday
Click HERE to see other worlds on this same planet.

For Real Toads: Open Link Monday, limerick

deviantart.com

A wolf had a notable knack

For trying to scratch his own back.

His frantic contortions

Were lupine distortions

Amusing the rest of his pack.

Photo from all-about-wolves.com

Posted for Open Link Monday

at the writers' group

Imaginary Garden with Real Toads

This limerick was also entered in

Madeleine Kane's Limerick-off Monday

For Real Toads: Mama Zen's photos

What fun to have the photos of one of my favorite Real Toads poets featured as this weekend's Sunday Challenge. I enjoyed Mama Zen's blog even before I discovered the writers' group Imaginary Garden with Real Toads. Seeing her name there was like recognizing an old friend in a new crowd.
I chose two of MZ's photos for a couple of little poems. I have been away from Real Toads for a while, making only one contribution in the past few weeks, but trying to do some commenting when I felt up to it.
It's great to have my muse back, and, MZ, you were a big part of the recovery!
K

© Mama Zen Photography

little insect chooses

a most spectacular home—

yellow and orange

green and black

there may be conveniences

it might lack

but

what does an insect care

when it has sunflower flair?

© Mama Zen Photography

moon above,

and child below

amazed to see it

in daytime,

“moon came to see me,

 yes, he did,

 to join me in my play time!”

Lindy for three memes

Look what I caught for Mom. She'll love it!

Richard Schear photo, April 2012

How could she know I love old Mustangs?

Lindy was actually happy to find a shady place to rest during her walk with her daddy to the post office. Sidewalks and roads throw off more heat than the red shale paths in their coulee walks, but it's easier to find shade in town.

Posted for
Camera Critters HERE!
Pet Pride HERE!
Shadow Shot Sunday 2 HERE!

Saturday Photo Hunting: local streets

Our friend Gattina in Belgium, on her Keyhole Pictures blog, hosts Saturday Photo Hunting, and this weekend's theme is local streets.
I didn't get out today, because we had a cold hard rain, followed by mixed rain and snow (yes, after my Nanking Cherry blossomed) but fortunately I had these photos I took last year. My husband was driving and we were trying to beat a summer storm home from Medicine Hat.

Leaving Medicine Hat.

Our town's main thoroughfare, Broadway Avenue.

Turning onto our street.

Lindy is the welcoming committee. Here she is ignoring my camera and watching her daddy.
Kay Davies photos, 2011

Weekend Reflections: more from San Diego

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Weekend Reflections

hosted by James in California.

Thanks, James!

For Real Toads: the art of Alphonse Mucha

Alphonse Mucha mighta been

just another commercial hack,

painting pictures

with which to sell beer

biscuits

bicycles

blueing

chocolate

and soap.

But Sarah Bernhardt

loved the painting

he did for her—

and a style was born.

Art Nouveau was just his thing!

My friend Fireblossom       
over at

Imaginary Garden with

Real Toads

asked us to write a poem based on the art of Alphonse Mucha, born in 1860 and among the first to die in one of Hitler's camps in 1939.

Skywatch Friday: blossoms under blue sky

Our dog Lindy is as oblivious to the beauty of my blossoming Nanking Cherry as she is to our lovely blue sky, or the ugly duct tape trying (not very successfully) to hold up my honeysuckle arch.

Photo by Richard Schear, April, 2012

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SkyWatch Friday

Theme Song Thursday: good old songs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkpUuB37L-I&feature=related

There's...

no bird...

in my

banana tree...

but...

I've got a loverly bunch of coconuts...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nf670orHKcA

Posted for Hootin' Anni's musical meme

Thursday Theme Song

O is for Oyama in BC's Okanagan Valley

Posted for
ABC Wednesday

Kalamalka Lake, left, and Wood Lake, right, are separated by a narrow strip of land, site of the BC community of Oyama, population 1000, named after Japanese Prince Iwao Oyama (1842-1916).
Richard Schear photo

Beautiful mixed flower and vegetable garden at Kenola Farm, Winfield, British Columbia.
C. Krebs photo

Oyama and Winfield, along with Carr's Landing and Okanagan Centre,
make up the area known as Lake Country, in the central Okanagan Valley.

Our World Tuesday: it might as well be spring

Yes, there is still the possibility of snow in our area. I've seen snow on May 5, enough heavy wet snow to break a tree limb in the church parking lot, and others insist there can be snow in any month of the year, but Dick and Lindy saw these signs of spring as they walked last week, so, it might as well be...

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Our World Tuesday

Real Toads Open Link Monday: Mad Limerick

Photo by Richard Schear, San Diego Zoo, March, 2012

A fellow was off on a quest

(He really was trying his best)

He fell off his horse,

Got back on, of course,

But from then on, his quest, it went west.*

* went west 

On Mondays, the funny and talented Madeleine Begun Kane, winner of the Robert Benchley Society Award for Humor, and author of Mad Kane's Humor Blog, challenges other bloggers to write a limerick using her first line. Minor changes are allowed but the last word of the line must remain the same. This is my submission for this week, using Madeleine's first line unchanged.

Succinctly yours: enchant

Posted for Succinctly Yours,

the microfiction meme hosted by Grandma's Goulash. Each week Grandma posts a photo to inspire us to write a short story of 140 words, or a short-short story of 140 characters, including spaces and punctuation.

Before being shown the photo, Grandma's daughter, Calico, provides a Word of the Week, which can be used, or not, at the writer's discretion. This week's word is enchant.

Here is my submission of 140 characters, which more or less uses the word of the week.

Photo prompt courtesy of Pat and Jerry, microfictionists extraordinaire.

The inexperienced actor was enchanted to play a central character in a new movie, but no one told him to report to Wardrobe for his costume.

Pet Pride: slow down, Dad!

Seriously, Daddy, your legs are much longer than mine!

Photos by Richard Schear

Posted for  Pet Pride

hosted by Lindy's friend Bozo and his family at their Pets Forever blog

in Mumbai, India.

Lindy says, "The weather is starting to warm up. It's nice for walking, but not for running! Are you good at running, Bozo?"

Camera Critters: San Diego dog music

Organ recitals aren't particularly uncommon in Balboa Park, San Diego, but with dog-themed music? Sponsored by the local SPCA. Wish I'd been there! Oh well, my intrepid photographer was there and zoomed in on several of the furry critters. He concentrated, of course, on Golden Retrievers because we were already lonely for Lindy the day after we left home, but he found plenty of other cute pups, too. Here they are:

Photos by Richard Schear

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Camera Critters
hosted by Misty Dawn. Thanks, Misty!
To see other critters of other breeds and species,  please click  HERE!

Weekend Reflections: San Diego, California

© Photos by Kay Davies

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Weekend
Reflections
hosted by James in California
Thanks, James!


For other reflections,
please click HERE!