Litter me not!

Time to Ponder yet again.  You know the drill... I post a prompt that has multiple meanings and we get see what you write! Add you post to the linky and wait for the magic!!

(If you want to send me words that you would like us all to ponder - please feel free to do so!)

Today's word is LITTER (you can always grab the prompt early by visiting the Pondering Page

Not being a cat person, kitty litter was never anything I had to worry about....BUT as my daughter and son-in-law prepare for their new lives they will be staying with me and they have a CAT! So...looks like I'm going to get quite familiar with kitty litter.

Now the most interesting thing I fin about this word is that it is both a noun and verb. When one litters - that is a verb; however when the litter is left on the ground that is a noun.

There are also litters in animals that have nothing to do with trash or kitty poo. Who could forget the huge litter of puppies in 101 Dalmations? So we know that cats and dogs have litters, but what if a bird lays multiple eggs? Is that a litter of eggs, or are they only litter when they hit the ground?

Link up and let me know what you think!






Happy Pondering!

Sunday Fiction - Chapter 10

For earlier entries please visit the Fiction Page

Bruce work up with a start; trying to gain his bearings and determine where he was. He heard some sort of bird screeching and he knew he was cold. Sitting up he saw his mother still asleep next to him and the what remained of the fire he had started the night before. It didn't take long for him to remember where he was and what was going on.

The first thing he did was create a large drawing that an airplane could see with the letters H-E-L-P. Doing that he figured if anyone was looking for them it would be spotted. He really had no idea where this island was located; and how far off course their boat had drifted. All he knew is that they had set out from the tip of Florida and had chartered a course for Bermuda.

Not wanting to leave his mother alone he scanned the surrounding area. There was a potion of thick jungle to one side and what appeared to be a rocky beach area in the other direction. Looking from his perspective he could see large cliffs overshadowing the rocky beach. He didn't think that he would find any provisions on the beach so he headed off to the jungle, but only as far as he could see his mother.

Gathering wood and leaves he looked around for any type of wild life. Seeing nothing he decided to go back to their area and see if he could build a shelter out of what he had gathered. That was when he determined that going to the beach area was a better idea as he could use the side of the cliff as a backdrop for their 'home'.

Trying to rouse his mother was useless.  He needed to find food and he needed to build shelter and he was all alone.  It took several hours for the shelter to be passable. He moved his mother inside and went off to find food and water.

Time has no meaning when you are alone. Nicole had not regained consciousness. Bruce was doing his best to get water into her, but he wasn’t sure it was working.  He had found some sort of fruit and mashed it against a rock to see if he could get some sustenance in her mouth. She seemed to accept it.

The days merged together as Bruce would cover the shelter in the mornings and go foraging for provisions. The wood pile had to be stocked, fresh water refilled and fruits and grains gathered. The routine had become easier and easier with each passing day. He had a pattern he followed, with the fresh water being gathered last. The extra time he discovered allowed exploration into new areas of the island.

“Nick?”

Bruce awoke with a start at the sound of his mother’s voice.  Again he heard her call out for his dad. “Mom?” he called out to her and crawled next to her. “Are you awake?”

“What?” She asked, “Where am I?”

The sun had just begun to creep in through the sides of the shelter and Bruce could begin to make out his mom’s shape in the dark. “We are stranded in the middle of nowhere.”

“Where’s Nick? We were supposed to go to the movies tonight. Is he traveling again? I swear that man loves traveling more than he loves his family. I’m sure he’s keeping another family somewhere, do you know who they are?”

Bruce did not even know where to start. Was she delirious? Or was what she said the truth? It was obvious that she had no idea who she was talking to. He decided to try again. “Mom, it’s me, Bruce. How do you feel?”

“Bruce? Where are we?”

“Honestly Mom, I have no idea.” He paused and took a deep breath before continuing. “What is the last thing you remember?”

She turned her head towards him and answered slowly. “I remember planning a trip for our anniversary. Aren’t we leaving soon?”

“You don’t remember anything after that?”

“My head is pounding, why are you asking me so many questions? Where is Nick and where are we Bruce?”

To tire or not....

Time to Ponder yet again.  You know the drill... I post a prompt that has multiple meanings and we get see what you write! Add you post to the linky and wait for the magic!!

(If you want to send me words that you would like us all to ponder - please feel free to do so!)

Today's word is TIRE (you can always grab the prompt early by visiting the Pondering Page

I find that I tire much easier than I did when I was younger. I suppose there is something to be said for the restlessness of youth!

I know you probably thought I was going to talk about the tire of a car, or a bike, or a moped – it is interesting when you go back and look at the history of the wheel – who came up with putting a tire around it? And then why do bicycles have inner tubes within the tire, yet cars do not? I suppose this goes back to our conversation of weeks’ past when we discussed tread!

This post would not be complete without a few pictures of the ever lovable tire swing! And who know is you swing over a pool of water when you tire out you let go and get wet!

Link up and we’ll come over – tired or not!

Happy Pondering!

Drawing in the Sand?

Joining Two Shoes Tuesday - Words today are drawing or card -
I am also continuing progress on the 'novel'
For earlier entries please visit the Fiction Page



Bruce work up with a start; trying to gain his bearings and determine where he was. He heard some sort of bird screeching and he knew he was cold. Sitting up he saw his mother still asleep next to him and the what remained of the fire he had started the night before. It didn't take long for him to remember where he was and what was going on.

The first thing he did was create a large drawing that an airplane could see with the letters H-E-L-P. Doing that he figured that if anyone was looking for them it would be spotted. He really had no idea where this island was located; and how far off course their boat had drifted. All he knew is that they had set out from the tip of Florida and had chartered a course for Bermuda.

Not wanting to leave his mother alone he scanned the surrounding area. There was a potion of thick jungle to one side and what appeared to be a rocky beach area in the other direction. Looking from his perspective he could see large cliffs overshadowing the rocky beach. He didn't think that he would find any provisions on the beach so he headed off to the jungle, but only as far as he could see his mother.

Gathering wood and leaves he looked around for any type of wild life. Seeing nothing he decided to go back to their area and see if he could build a shelter out of what he had gathered. That was when he determined that going to the beach area was a better idea as he could use the side of the cliff as a backdrop for their 'home'.

Trying to rouse his mother was useless.  He needed to find food and he needed to build shelter and he was all alone.

Sunday Fiction - Ch 9

Dear friends and readers. I have been compiling a new novel through memes and posts. Please let me know if you would like this tale to continue. Who knows I might even publish it and you can be my first critics!

First 8 Chapters can be found on the Fiction page

Bruce surveyed the situation from on deck and determined there was no way to get to the land mass without getting in the water. He looked at his mom and said, "Mom, it's water time!"

Nicole smiled up at her son and said, "I remember that day as if it were yesterday. The whole family was together, we were celebrating your birthday and there were so many bodies in the pool!"

Bruce reminisced and agreed, "Yeah that was one of the greatest days ever. But don't worry Mom; we are going to get out of this."

"What about Adriana?"

"We'll have to come back and get her," he answered.

"Okay."

Bruce looked around the wreckage that surrounded to him to see if he could locate any type of flotation device. Everything that had been loose on deck had gone overboard so he headed back into the cabin to see what he could find. He finally decided that the cushions would have to do, but if he could just figure some way to tie them together. He remembered watching some movie when he was younger where a prisoner tore a sheet into strips to make a rope. There were no sheets down there, but there were towels. He quickly set to tearing the towels into strips and tied them together into one long string. Then he wrapped the string around the cushions and attached them all to each other to make a strand of cushions.

While he had been doing that Nicole had been watching, not saying a word.

He went over to her and said, "Mom, we are going to use this to get to that land over there. I need you to hold onto one of these cushions like your life depended on it; which is in fact true."

She nodded and grabbed one. Then he grabbed another one and said, "We are going to jump in together and stick together until we get there."

"Ok Nick," she said, looking directly at Bruce.

It was at that moment that Bruce realized his mother was not fully there.  He had to think quickly in order to get her to shore. Looking straight at her he said, “On the count of three we jump, and then we hold on for dear life. Once we get in the water I will grab you and the two of us will paddle to shore as one.”

They jumped in the icy water and resurfaced gasping for air. Bruce saw that his mom had not let go of the cushion, but she was definitely dazed. He reached an arm out for her and grabbed a hold of her leg and then pulled her closer to him. Once they were side by side he put his arm around her back and then started to paddle with his right arm. He looked over and asked, “Do you think you could try to paddle with your left arm, and then kick your feet as well?

She did what she was asked to do without saying a word. Bruce realized she was very weak and disoriented and thought that if they could reach land before dark things would improve.

They made progress, albeit slow progress, it was still progress.  Bruce could see they were further away from the boat and closer to the land; but he feared they would not make it by nightfall. He decided to try something different. “Mom, I want you to climb on top of my back and I’m going to see if I can swim. Maybe that will make it faster.”

Nicole tried unsuccessfully to climb on top of her sons back and then Bruce decided to dive underneath her. He opened his eyes to a murky darkness while underwater and when he resurfaced his eyes stung. It took several attempts to get directly beneath his mother, but he did manage to get it done. “Hold on tightly to me.”

He began to swim as if his life depended on it; which in fact it did. He kept moving, ignoring the cramping and exhaustion his body was screaming about. Right before dusk he saw land closer than before and giving one might spurt of energy swam with all his might. He felt the sand beneath his hand and gasped. “We did it!”

What he hadn’t realized was that his mother had slipped into unconsciousness during the trip. He went to stand up and his mom just slid right off of him. He turned around and saw her floating in the water and momentarily thought she was dead. He picked her up and felt her heartbeat. Scurrying to the closest tree, had gently placed her on the ground and started gathering anything he could to start a fire. He had watched more shows than he could count where someone struck two stones together to start a fire; he figured it couldn’t be that hard. It was much more difficult than he had anticipated; however he finally got a spark to catch on a dried leaf. He blew with all his might and the flame began to form. He continued to feed the fire, not taking into consideration who or what might be nearby watching.

Slide on in

Time to Ponder yet again.  You know the drill... I post a prompt that has multiple meanings and we get see what you write! Add you post to the linky and wait for the magic!!

(If you want to send me words that you would like us all to ponder - please feel free to do so!)

Today's word is SLIDE (you can always grab the prompt early by visiting the Pondering Page

There are landslides, where the earth genuinely slides down.

There are slides that children love

And then there are the slides that take place in our personal lives which mean we feel like we are going backwards.

I would love to know what you think of this word....please link up an Join us

Family Time

I am again joining Josie at Two Shoes Tuesday as she celebrates her 100th week! Josie posts prompts and then we write about them. In this case she has given us the opportunity to choose our own word and I am going with Family. (It seems appropriate for the ongoing novel that is being presented on Tuesdays and Sundays.

To read the first 8 chapters, please go to the fiction page

Bruce surveyed the sitution from on deck and determined there was no way to get to the land mass without getting in the water. He looked at his mom and said, "Mom, it's water time!"

Nicole smiled up at her son and said, "I remember that day as if it were yesterday. The whole family was together, we were celebrating your birthday and there were so many bodies in the pool!"

Bruce reminisced and agreed, "Yeah, that was one of the greatest days ever. But don't worry Mom, we are going to get out of this."

"What about Adriana?"

"We'll have to come back and get her," he answered.

"Okay."

Bruce looked around the wreckage that surrounded to him to see if he could locate any type of flotation device. Everything that had been loose on deck had gone overboard so he headed back into the cabin to see what he could find. He finally decided that the cushions would have to do, but if he could just figure some way to tie them together. He remembered watching some movie when he was younger where a prisoner tore a sheet into strips to make a rope. There were no sheets down there, but there were towels. He quickly set to tearing the towels into strips and tied them together into one long string. Then he wrapped the string around the cushions and attached them all to each other to make a strand of cushions.

While he had been doing that Nicole had been watching, not saying a word.

He went over to her and said, "Mom, we are going to use this to get to that land over there. I need you to hold onto one of these cushions like your life depended on it; which is in fact true."

She nodded and grabbed one. Then he grabbed another one and said, "We are going to jump in together and stick together until we get there."

"Ok Nick," she said, looking directly at Bruce.

It was at that moment that Bruce realized his mother was not fully there.


to be continued.....

Sunday Fiction - Chapter 8

For previous entries please go to the Fiction Tab

Nicole looked down at her shoes as she stepped out of the car. All four Pattersons had arrived at their destination to celebrate Bruce's 18th birthday. That date just also happened to be their twenty first wedding anniversary and Adriana's 16th birthday. They had booked the largest room at the Italian restaurant downtown: Vittorio's. The decor was reminiscent of Old Italian architecture with grapevines, leaves and actual grapes hanging through the archways.  Each table had a bottle of Chianti and a vase filled with fresh flowers. Vittorio's was best known for their extraordinary menu. The chefs came from Italy and the dishes were divine.

The party consisted of 20 of Bruce's closest friends, Nicole's parents and Adriana's boyfriend.  Bruce sat at the head of the table and Adriana sat at the other end, seated to the left of Greg, her boyfriend of nearly a year. Nicole and Nick on her right.

Nicole looked to the end of the table to see her handsome son smiling and laughing with his friends. He had been a popular person in his class and narrowing the list down to just twenty was difficult. She scanned each classmate and remembered them as children growing up with her children. Now they were all headed off to college. Where had the time gone?

She reached over and squeezed Adriana’s hand who immediately asked, “What was that for?”

“Just because,” Nicole answered. She remembered the day she brought her pink bundle of joy home, the day she started school, screaming that she didn’t want to go and so many more milestones along the way. That very morning she had taken Adriana to get her drivers’ license. In Nicole’s mind that meant the end of childhood and beginning of adulthood.

Tears began to form in the corner of her eyes. Nick asked her what was wrong and she just shrugged. He put his arm around her and whispered in her ear, “I know you better than that, now tell me what’s going on.”

She leaned her head on his shoulder and sadly said, “My babies are all grown up.”

Nick squeezed her affectionately and said, “Just because they’re grown up doesn’t mean they don’t need you. Think about how often you still lean on your own parents. Also, you have all the memories of their childhood and no one can take that away from you.”

She smiled and said, “Yeah like this lovely shoe on my right foot.”

“Exactly,” He returned. “No one will ever be able to make your foot whole again and you can give all the credit to our grown up son.”

She laughed, “I think I would’ve like different reminders, but this will have to do. I am sure he will remember it every time he put the car in reverse to make sure there is not someone standing close enough to get their foot run over.”

“Oh I’m sure he learned his lesson. And I get to thank him for that because you cannot wear high heels anymore so you fit perfectly under my arm.”

“Always the silver lining for you.”

Nick said, “Life is really too short to get stuck in the muck. If you can’t find something good in every situation, you might as well live in a cave.”

Nicole laughed, “Well at least if I lived in a cage I wouldn’t have a bum foot.”

The waitress started bringing out the food, large plates of appetizers including calamari, mozzarella, fresh bread and olive oil, stuffed mushrooms and fried ravioli. The noise level at the table dimmed immediately. Nick took that opportunity to stand up and make a speech.

“Thank you all for coming tonight to share in the momentous occasion of Bruce’s eighteenth birthday and his acceptance into Duke. Today also happens to be our twenty first wedding anniversary. Not only are we proud of our children, we are proud to be their parents. Both Bruce and his sister have brought us many years of joy, memories and ‘ah hah’ moments.”

The room chuckled as he continued. “As Bruce starts off on his journey to adulthood it is my hope that he is always surrounded by people he loves and good friends like you.”

Bruce got up from his seat and came over to Nick and gave him a hug. He then wrapped his arms around Nicole and whispered in her ear, “You are the greatest mom in the world.”

After all the food was devoured and the talking grew louder, Bruce suggested they continue the party back at the house. He shot a querying look towards his parents, who both agreed, and then said, “I also want to thank all of you for coming. This has been a glorious night but I have to admit I would not be the person I am today if it weren’t for my parents. They are the greatest role models to strive to be. Now let’s keep this going and don’t forget to get your swim trunks. It’s time for water!”

Swing with me

Time to Ponder yet again.  You know the drill... I post a prompt that has multiple meanings and we get see what you write! Add you post to the linky and wait for the magic!!
(If you want to send me words that you would like us all to ponder - please feel free to do so!)

Today's word is SWING (you can always grab the prompt early by visiting the Pondering Page

How could this not be the first thing that popped into my mind?

This is Grand Daughter number 1 - and Grand Kid number 2



And then of course there is her little sister:


So that type of swing is ever popular in the grandchild world right now.
Of course there are other meanings -
The Swing Shift meant the shift between morning and graveyard
There is Swing Dance - which I'm sure Judy is writing about :)
There is a swing in your step and and a swinging door---- so maybe the real truth is swing real means back and forth....

What do you think?

Happy Pondering

TST - Special Edition

My very good friend Josie at Josie2shoes.com throws a writing party every Tuesday at two-shoes-tuesday

She is celebrating her 99th and 100th editions with a giveaway.  Loving her as much as I do I cannot think of a better way to honor her than to participate.

The words I have chosen is SHOES and I will be continuing my fictional account of the Patterson family  For early entries please go to the Fiction Tab

Nicole looked down at her shoes as she stepped out of the car. All four Pattersons had arrived at their destination to celebrate Bruce's 18th birthday. That date just also happened to be their twenty first wedding anniversary and Adriana's 16th birthday. They had booked the largest room at the Italian restaurant downtown: Vittorio's. The decor was reminiscent of old Italian architecture with grapevines, leaves and actual grapes hanging through the archways.  Each table had a bottle of Chanti and a vase filled with fresh flowers. Vittorio's was best know for their extraordinary menu. The chefs came from Italy and the dishes were divine.

The party consisted of 20 of Bruce's closest friends, Nicole's parents and Adriana's boyfriend.

to be continued.....

Recess anyone?

Time to Ponder yet again.  You know the drill... I post a prompt that has multiple meanings and we get see what you write! Add you post to the linky and wait for the magic!!
(If you want to send me words that you would like us all to ponder - please feel free to do so!)

Today's word is RECESS (you can always grab the prompt early by visiting the Pondering Page

Today's word came as a suggestion from Judy at Retired not Tired
Please feel free to suggest any words you come up with.

Recess - well Judy came up with it because of school and the recess that kids get...but the first thing I think of with recess is a dip in something..like a valley or a recession!

It is actually an interesting word..Perhaps it is a dip and a break at the same time.... I guess you could do that if you had recess near a pool....or the ocean.

What do you think about for recess?

Link up and Happy Pondering