The Solution

Although I suuspect that nobody will really have any trouble solving yesterday's crossword puzzle, it is comme il faut to bring the solution.

Thursday's Wordle 1.461 4/6
⬜🟩⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜🟨🟨⬜
🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Today’s average difficulty is 5 guesses out of 6, or moderately challenging. Another strange word, and me better than average - yay!

Words for Wednesday June 18

Word for Wednesday is a challenge that was started a long time ago. Now it has turned into a movable event with Elephant's Child as our coordinator; and the Words provided by a number of people.

The general idea of this challenge is to make us write. Poems, stories, subtitles, tales, jokes, haiku, crosswords, puns, ... you're the boss.
Use all Words, some Words, one Word, or even none of them if that makes your creative juices flow. Anything goes, only please nothing rude or vulgar.

In June, Hilary Melton-Butcher will supply us with prompts, but they'll appear at  Elephant's Child.

 It is also a challenge, where the old saying "The more the merrier" holds true.

So Please, remember to follow the links, go back and read other peoples' stories. And please leave a comment after reading. Challenges like this one thrives on interaction, feedback and encouragement. And we ALL need encouragement.

- - A - - B - - C - - 

This Wednesday's prompts was turned into a crossword puzzle - thank you River! - it's not very difficult, but I had fun creating it. Clicking the imabe will make it expand - embiggen it as Elephant's Child says.

Today's Wordle 1.460 6/6
⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜⬜🟩⬜
🟨⬜⬜⬜🟨
⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Today’s average difficulty is 3.3 guesses out of 6, or easy breezy. Well, not that easy for me. Too many choices ;)

I Quit! ~ Jeg giver op!

     Den 4. maj skrev jeg om at jeg havde fundet nummer 014 hos naboen og set nummer 015 - hele to gange faktisk. Lige siden har jeg ledt efter 016 uden held - altså over en måned.
     I fredags så jeg 017, 018, 019 og 020 i den rækkefølge! Så er det nok!
     Og måske ser jeg nu den bil senere i dag, så ombestemmer jeg mig nok.

-- 🚙 --

In May, May 4th actually, I wrote about seeing car 014 at a neighbour and the 015 twice. Ever since I have of course been on the lookout for 016 over a mont now, and I haven't seen it.

This Friday I went shopping and I saw 017, 018, 019 and 020 in this order! That's it. I quit!

And just maybe later today I'll see this car and re-make my mind.

Words for Wednesday June 11.

I intended to write. I intended to use the words. but I felt empty, the words were uninspiring ... this is how far I have made it in the past week. Tomorrow new words will go online. So metter post whatr I have:

The words, which I did not use, were:
Tennis  
Turkish
Delight    
Melon   
Brook
    And/or
 Officers
Steps    
Conclusion     
Earliest  
Pan     
Asparagus

Trausti offered to bring Susan home. "But I'm not going home," Susan protested, "I'm going to the Unicorn Farm. After dinner today there's a talk on familiars ... I want to hear it."
"I know," Trausti said. "Who do you think will be giving that talk?"
"I thought Thora, but now you ask ... you will?" Susan said hesitating a bit.
Trausti nodded. "Yup. I will. Now let's get going. I guess you're mostly OK by now."
"Oh, I am," Susan said. "I'll have to change before dinner, but else I feel fine. Thanks a load, Mona, once again." Susan said to the woman sitting bewtween Trausti and ther husband, Jonas.
"Any time," Mona smiled, "now you know the way."

I hope to have my muse return - I want to write!!!

Tuesday's Wordle 1.459 4/6
⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜⬜⬜🟩
⬜🟨🟩🟨🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Today’s average difficulty is 4.4 guesses out of 6, or moderately challenging. I did well!

Poetry Monday :: Possible

Mandagsdigtet er en blogleg, som Mimi fra og jeg har overtaget - midlertidigt håber vi fra Diane, der slapper af og rejser verden rundt med sin mand. Vi håber hun er parat til at tage over igen, når hun kommer hjem.

Dagens tema er: Muligt

Mange af de ting, vi gør, er det muliges kunst, og for at fortsætte denne blogleg uden at overanstrenge os selv – vi vil skrive digte og fjolle lidt rundt, ikke rive os i håret over at have glemt at finde nye på stikord. Af denne grund har Mimi og jeg besluttet at vi hægter os på gruppen  365 Days of Drawing Prompts and other Arts. Det er en Facebook-gruppe, der udgiver et stikord til hver dag i året. Vi starter den første mandag i august – og bare rolig, stikordene vil stadig være at finde både her og på Mimis blog.
Jeg har i et stykke tid brugt deres stikord til en haiku om dagen. Så for at gøre det nemt for mig i dag – redigering og havearbejde tager det meste af min tid – vil jeg udgive nogle af mine skøre haiku.

- A - - B - - C -

Mimi of Messymimi's Meanderings and I have taken over the hosting duties, mostly the supplying of the prompts - only temporarily we hope - while Diane at On the Border is taking a break for health and relaxation, travelling the world with her husband as far as we can tell.
 
We just hope she's going to take back over once she returns home.

  I have something to ask of you: If you read this and the poetry of others via the links, would you please leave a comment.
  Half - if not more - the fun of these challenges is receiving the responses of others.

Possible

Many thing we do is the art of the possible, and in order to to continue this challenge and not overexert ourselves - we want to write poems and goof around a bit, not spend time pulling out our hairs over forgetting to find new prompts. For this reason Mimi and I have decided to latch onto the 365 Days of Drawing Prompts and other Arts group. This is a Facebook group that gives a prompt for each day of the year. We'll do this, beginning on the first Monday of August - and no worries, the prompts will still be here and at Mimi's blog as well.

I have for some time been using their prompts for a Haiku a day. So to make it easy on me today - editing and gardening take up most of my time - I'll present some of my crazy haiku:

11. maj 2025. Face in the Water
Face in the water                                 Marskens vand er fyldt
strange lights between the far trees.    Med sære ansigter
Wanderer beware!                               Lygtemænd lokker.

12. maj 2025. Land Pirates
En tørlagt pirat.                        Hydrophobic Pirate
Kornmark i stedet for hav        Cornfield for the seven seas
bølger i vinden.                        Still there are waves.

13. maj 2025. Dew on grass
Dew on grass, wet feet            Dugvådt græs kilder
Hungry chicken awaiting        Sultne høner venter mig
Happily I run.                         Klukkende af fryd.            

20 maj 2025. Jail
Iron-bars and keys                    Tremmer og nøgler
lock me in, but my thoughts    og vold holder mig fanget,
are my own, and free.              men tanken er fri.

21. maj 2025. Water Witch
The witch of today                
is busy casting her spells
W - A -T - E - R

30. maj 3025. Children's faces. - A not-haiku
Children's faces in the rain
will they ever smile again?
Children's faces in the sun
We are having loads of fun!

June 6, 2025. Textures of a Summer day
Sunrays through green leaves            Solstråler på blade
Coffee break in the garden                kaffepause i haven
Smiles, cakes ... and rain.                  smil, kager ... og regn.

June 8, 2025. An Eye for an Eye
An eye for an eye
And a tooth for a tooth
Look in the mirror.

June 9, 2025. Skewed Ideas
A skewed idea                        En tosset idé
A tickle shooter, to make        en kildepistol der får
Your enemies laugh.                 fjenden til at le.

- - - - - -
Every Monday we'll meet and write poetry once again:
June 16 Possible (Today)
June 23 Uniform
June 30 Scram
July 7 Park
July 14 Salt
July 21 Quince
July 28 Building

Today's Wordle 1.458 5/6
⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜
⬜⬜⬜🟩🟩
⬜🟩⬜🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Today’s average difficulty is 4.8 guesses out of 6, or moderately challenging. Moderately challenging, OK.

Søndagsbilleder/Sunday Selection & Wordles.

Det har været en uge med mange dyr, som jeg ikke har fået taget billeder af. Vi har set en rød glente adskillige gange svævende i luften over os, den er godt nok stor. Jeg har set en hejre der sad i et træ lige foran mig, den lettede mens jeg fandt kameraet frem. Vi har set snoge, vipstjerter, en bøgehjort og en grøn guldbasse. Den sidste fandt vi en til af i dag - og fik endelig taget et billede.

It's been a week with a lot of animals that I haven't managed to take pictures of. We have seen a red kite several times hovering in the air above us, it's really big. I've seen a heron sitting in a tree right in front of me, it took off while I got the camera out. We've seen garter snakes, wagtails, a lesser stag beetle and a rose chafer. Of this last one we found another one today - and finally got a photo.

Så har jeg endelig fået syet en ny tehætte. Vi kalder den Edvard Frø

And at long last I made a new tea cosy. We call it Edward Frog.

Jeg lavede også kamillesæbe, og fik taget billeder af en snoresæbe.

I made a soap with chamomille tea, and got a photo of a soap-on-a-rope.

Mon nogen kan huske, at jeg fortalte om det overlevende birketræ på Hillerød station og digtede historier om venlige togmænd, der delte deres vand med træet. Det var vist desværre ikke kun historier, den flinke togmand er gået på pension, og træet visner. Jeg håber, aftenens regn har genoplivet det.

I wonder if anyone remembers me talking about the surviving birch tree at Hillerød station and making up tales about friendly railwaymen sharing their water with the tree. I think unfortunately it was  not just tales, the kind railwayman has retired and the tree is withering. I hope tonight's rain has revived it.

.

Sunday's Wordle 1.457 6/6
⬜🟨⬜🟨⬜
🟨🟨🟨⬜⬜
🟨⬜⬜🟨🟩
⬜⬜🟩🟩🟩
⬜⬜🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Today’s average difficulty is 4.3 guesses out of 6, or moderately challenging. Oof, I found this word hard!

Saturday's Wordle 1.456 4/6
🟨🟨⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜🟩🟨🟨
🟨🟩🟩⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Today’s average difficulty is 3.8 guesses out of 6, or easy breezy.

Friday's Wordle 1.455 4/6
⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜
⬜🟨⬜🟨⬜
🟨🟩🟨🟨⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Today’s average difficulty is 4.8 guesses out of 6, or moderately challenging. Today again I say Yay me! for knowing this word.

Thursday's Wordle 1.454 5/6
⬜⬜⬜🟨🟨
🟨🟨🟨⬜⬜
⬜🟩🟨🟩⬜
⬜🟩🟨🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Today’s average difficulty is 5.6 guesses out of 6, or very challenging. I knew this word. Yay me!

Wednesday's Wordle 1.453 6/6
⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜
🟨⬜🟨🟨⬜
🟨🟨⬜🟨⬜
⬜🟩🟩🟩⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Today’s average difficulty is 4.2 guesses out of 6, or moderately challenging. I'm happy it continues wih the words: "Your own rating may be different." For sure it was!


Tuesday's Wordle 1.452 6/6
⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜
⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜⬜🟨🟩
⬜⬜🟨⬜🟩
🟩🟩⬜⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Today’s average difficulty is 5 guesses out of 6, or moderately challenging.

Poetry Monday :: Sting

Poetry Monday ~ Mandagsdigt er en engelsk blog-leg. Det er ikke altid, at dagens emne duer på dansk - eller at jeg er smart nok til at finde på noget. Dagens stikord  Sting - Stikke, fik en børnesang til at dukke op i mit arme hoved. Så må jeg jo se, hvordan det går med at lave den på engelsk. Først originalen:

Den lille bi, den store sol.
Af Christian Richardt

Den lille bi, den store sol,
de kan stikke.
Og bøgen og den blå viol?
De kan nikke.

Og busken her og båden hist?
De kan gynge.
Og bølgen og hver fugl på kvist?
De kan synge.

Og dårligt vejr og dårlig vej?
De kan drille.
Og hvad kan både du og jeg?
Tie stille.

- A - - B - - C -

Mimi of Messymimi's Meanderings and I have taken over the hosting duties, mostly the supplying of the prompts - only temporarily we hope - while Diane at On the Border is taking a break for health and relaxation, travelling the world with her husband as far as we can tell.
 
We just hope she's going to take back over once she returns home.

  I have something to ask of you: If you read this and the poetry of others via the links, would you please leave a comment.
  Half - if not more - the fun of these challenges is receiving the responses of others.

Sting made me think of a half forgotten Danish children's riddle song. I never heard it sung, but I could recite it by heart. My memory is a strange fellow. I tried to re-create it in English. It's not the same, but close.

Riddles for the very small
The little bee, the big, big sun?
They can sting
And what can every man and child?
They can sing

The branches and the violets?
They can nod.
The horses and the dogs and cats?
They can trot.

And weather bad and fortune good?
They can shift.
And boats on lakes and clouds above?
They can drift.

And mice as well as elephants?
They can pee.*)
And what can you as well as I?
Quiet be.

 - - - - -

*) IgNobel research shows that all mammals big or small empties their bladder in an average of 21 seconds, so this is quite literally true.

 - - - - -

Every Monday we'll meet and write poetry once again:
June 9 Sting (Today)
June 16 Possible
June 23 Uniform
June 30 Scram
July 7 Park
July 14 Salt
July 21 Quince
July 28 Building

Wordle 1.451 3/6
⬜⬜🟨🟩🟩
⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Fun one today. Today’s average difficulty is 4.5 guesses out of 6, or moderately challenging.

Sunday Selection :: Søndagsbilleder

Sunday Selections this day - photos from my garden and surroundings.

Søndagens billeder - fotografier fra min have og omegn.

Klematis Johannes Paul II - den eneste plante, jeg kender 'navnet' på.
Clematis John Paul II - the only flower in my garden, I know the 'name' of.

Fingerbøl - vi har både lyserøde og hvide i varierende antal.
Foxgloves - we have pink and/or white ones in varying numbers.

Fiskespringvandet i Hillerød. Der står på pladen i jorden, at det er renoveret i 2016.
The 'Fish Fountain' in Hillerød. The plaque (just visible bottom left) tells about it being restored in 2016.

Den 3.juni var Frøsøen næsten fuld af vand, og andemaden groede lystigt.
June 3rd our Frogpond was almost filled with water, and the duckweed grew.

Den 4, juni transporterede jeg en vandslange hjem. Den var på tilbud, og jeg havde naturligvis kun den lille cykeltaske med, for jeg skulle jo næsten ikke have noget. Hehe, så mit håndklæde-tørklæde måtte også lege sikkerhedssele.
June 4th I brought home a garden hose. It was marked down, and of course I only had my small saddle bag - I was only going to get a couple of items - never say never - my hankie-scarf had to play tie up as well.

Næste dag fyldte den Lille Ædelsten og jeg Frøsøen helt op ved hjælp af haveslangen. Og så groede andenmaden ellers. Billedet her er taget den 5.
Next day The little Gem and I topped off the Frogpond using the hose, and the duckweed grew. Photo taken June 5th.

Have-brøndsel - er den ikke bare flot - her med en honningbi på besøg.
Fern-leaved beggarticks - isn't it pretty - here with a honeybee visiting.

Og den flinke håndværker lod brombærrankerne stå!
And our nice builder let the brambles survive!

Tidselfugl i domen. Den har travlt med radiseblomsterne.
Painted lady in the dome. It is busy drinking from the radish flowers

Man skal ikke kaste med sten, hvis man bor venter i et glashus!
People who live wait in glass houses shouldn't throw stones!

Wordle 1.450 4/6
⬜⬜⬜🟩⬜
🟨🟨⬜⬜⬜
⬜🟨🟩⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Today’s average difficulty is 4.8 guesses out of 6, or moderately challenging. With 4 guesses I feel fine.

Wordling

Saturday
Wordle 1.449 4/6
🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜🟨🟨⬜⬜
⬜⬜⬜⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Today’s average difficulty is 4.5 guesses out of 6, or moderately challenging. Better today.

Friday:
Wordle 1.448 5/6
⬜⬜🟩⬜🟨
⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜
🟨🟨🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Today’s average difficulty is 6 guesses out of 6, or very challenging. I did not think it was that tough, and using my normal starter words, I would have done better  ... I am trying to use a new one every day just for fun.

Thursday:
I forgot to copy the results, but I solved it in 5 tries; and as the Wordle review said: Today’s average difficulty is 4.8 guesses out of 6, or moderately challenging, I did not feel all off.

Words for Wednesday 4 juni & IWSG

Word for Wednesday is a challenge that was started a long time ago. Now it has turned into a movable event with Elephant's Child as our coordinator; and the Words provided by a number of people.

The general idea of this challenge is to make us write. Poems, stories, subtitles, tales, jokes, haiku, crosswords, puns, ... you're the boss.
Use all Words, some Words, one Word, or even none of them if that makes your creative juices flow. Anything goes, only please nothing rude or vulgar.

In June, Hilary Melton-Butcher will supply us with prompts, but they'll appear at  Elephant's Child.

 It is also a challenge, where the old saying "The more the merrier" holds true.

So Please, remember to follow the links, go back and read other peoples' stories. And please leave a comment after reading. Challenges like this one thrives on interaction, feedback and encouragement. And we ALL need encouragement.

- - A - - B - - C - - 

This Wednesday's prompts:

Almanac
Vegetables    
Smoke    
Rocky   
Pursuit
     And/or
 Tides        
Data          
Pearly        
Block      
Hedge
 
The dog and all the other animals seemed peaceful, well fed and used to living there. Susan got up and hurried along the road. She wanted to have a little time to herself before dinner. Suddenly her leg was pulled away from under her, and she fell head first into the ditch. "Ouch," she said, and put a hand to her nose, it came away smeared with blood. Oh no, she thought. Now I hit my nose again! I'll keep on bleeding for ever, I just hope it's not broken. She pulled out her handkerchief and held it to her nose, and tried to get out of the ditch one-handed. It hurt, and she began crying.
She was too old for crying, her dad always told her, but when it hurt, or when she got angry, she always began crying. It did not help. If only someone would help me, she thought. But I'm all alone, nobody knows where I am.
Then all hell broke loose, out from the blue house came all the animal inhabitants of the house. The dog bayed, the owl hooted, the cats hissed and meowed and a parrot squawked: "Take care, oh do take care." Two men came after them, Susan could not prevent herself from laughing through her tears. The parrot was too funny. "Oh dear," she said, "I think it's too late!" Only the words came out bubbling and strangely distorted. The younger man picked Susan up from the ditch, while the older one shooed, carried and hauled all the animals inside again.
"Come on in," the man said. "We'd better get you cleaned off before you can go home." Susan nodded, and supported by the man's strong arm, she entered the house.
In the kitchen he sat her on a chair gave her a wet towel and helped her rinse off her face and hands. A woman, about the same age hovered in the background and did some thing in behind a cupboard.
"Now, please tell me what happened and where you live," the man said. "I'm Jonas, the lady over there is my wife, Mona, and the other man is Trausti."
Susan sobbed, and tried to stop crying. She draw a couple of steadying breaths and said: "I'm Susan. I was out for a walk before dinner. I had a stone in my shoe," she looked down, "and I forgot to tie the laces. They tripped me." 
"And where do you live?" Jonas asked, "I think we better phone your parents, to tell them what happened. Can they come and get you? Or else I'll see you home."
"I'm staying with my aunt and uncle in their summerhouse, but they have gone shopping on the main land and won't be home for some time yet. Mom and Dad are at home, in Elsinore, please don't phone them, They can't do a thing and will only worry."
"Have a glass of lemonade to take the taste of blood," the lady said and placed a glass on the able in front of Susan. 
Susan's caution and sense of drama surfaced: "And it's safe to drink? You're not putting me asleep or anything. I should have told that I lived nearby, and my uncle was a wrestler and would come looking for me shortly."
"I think you've read too many mystery books," the lady said smiling. She drank up the glass and filled a new one from the jug and handed it to Susan. "Take this instead then."
Susan took the glass and drank deeply. The taste was just right, neither too sweet nor too tart.
"Let me feel your nose, the lady said. I'm Mona, by the way. I hope your nose is not broken.
I don't think so. Susan said. "When I hit my nose, it always bleed a lot. It hurts, but not that much ... more on the outside like."
"Yes you have lost some skin there, too," Mona said, and gently touched Susan's nose. "No, I don't think broken either. No need to take you to the hospital."
"Oh, no, please don't" Susan said, still woozy after the rapport with the animals and cold with the after-effects of the fall. "Just let me get back, then Thora will put it right." She shut up abruptly. Telling of the Unicorn Farm to strangers was not a good idea. Not even nice strangers.
But before Mona or Jonas could ask her anything Trausti, the other man, came into the kitchen. "OK, girl," he said gruffly. "All the animals answered to your call for help, even the lizards. Are you one of us?"
"One of us, whaadayou mean?"
"A witch, obviously," he said. "If you are, you know my son, Josh."
Susan looked around at the three persons staring back at her. She nodded, then she felt her head starting to swim, and everything go black.
Mona put her head down between her legs, and then laid her on the kitchen bench.
"Sorry," Trausti said. "I forgot how tiring animal talk is, here, have some of this cake."

Still lying down she gingerly ate some of the cake and emptied another glass of Mona's excellent lemonade. Then she asked: "Why, I mean, How ... What are you doing here, and all these animals?"

Trausti smiled. "That's a long story. It is my story, and Josh's story, and Jonas, Mona and Jan's story too."
"Jan?" Susan asked. More confused then ever.
"Yes," Trausti continued, "Mona and Jonas are Jan's parents, They and I moved here when the Unicorn Farm was founded. You might know that Jonas is a vet. A vet with magic is a strong thing indeed, and Jonas is the very best. I'm telling you a lot now, because I feel you can be trusted. Please don't go around blabbering."
"I don't - normally - mentioning Thora before was a slip. Only because I was so woozy still."
Trausti nodded, "We of course know Thora. It was her suggesting we came here. All those animals needed a home. Have you ever wondered what happens to familiars when they grow old, or when their witch or wizard dies?"
Susan sat up and shook her head: "Ow, it does not hurt much any more. She gingerly touched her nose. "It feels not very sore any longer either!"
Mona smirked: "I put some Knitbone elixir in that lemonade, you should be all good in an hour."
"Wow, thanks," Susan said and propped herself up on one elbow. Lying flat while being talked to felt intimidating.
Mona and Jonas sat down, and after a short pause Trausti did too. The dog came into the kitchen put it's muzzle into Susan's free hand and made happy sounds "It's OK. Everything will be fine," it thought at her. Susan smiled and caressed its stubbly-haired head.
Trausti continued telling: "We have a hospital, a retreat home for familiars here. That dog belonged to a man in the nearby town. He did not know he was a wizard, but the dog knew, and when the man died, it followed the whiff of magic in the air and came here. We travel a lot, we use the Portals at the Farm, we fly broomsticks, we teleport as well, and even go by car, train, bike and buses to look for old or left familiars all over Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Norway. Trausti has a place in Iceland as well, but mostly he's here. And we have a lady, Nicklas and Sanne's aunt actually taking care of the Faroese ones for us.

That owl here is Thora's old owl, Brúnleit III. Even if the lifespan of familiars are enhanced by the magic, they seldom live more than 15 years, and they cannot keep up with a busy witch or wizard for the last of those. We train replacement familiars and take care of the old ones. It is a worthy task for us.

   ...  To be continued

If you looked for any of the Words for Wednesday in vain you're right. I did not use even one of them. Hoping to continue, because, no it does not end here.

And last but not least a heartfelt THANK you to Anne E.G. Nydam, whose A-Z post is the direct inspiration for these chapters.

Today’s average difficulty is 4.5 guesses out of 6, or moderately challenging.
Wordle 1.446 5/6
🟨⬜⬜⬜🟩
⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜
🟨⬜🟩⬜🟩
🟨⬜🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

- - A - - B - - C - - 

  The monthly question from the Insecure Writers' Support Group is due today, June 4th.
  I'd like to thank the crew for their never ceasing inspiration and quirky questions.

June 4 question - What were some books that impacted you as a child or young adult?

My answer - A number of books impacted me deeply. Here's a list of some of the books, and what they taught me:
The Little House books: Family life, keeping togetherness, toughing it out during adversity ... and making everything from scratch! I so wanted to move in next to Laura and her family.
Gone Away Lake, The Four Storey Mistake, and the other books in those two series: Adventure and friendship is awaiting just around the corner.
The Secret by Dorothy Clewes: Small people can work great things.
And a load of books on running from home, having high adventures (a series on four boys at sea in Danish The "Kurs"-series), some with magic (Krabat, The little Broomstick) and many like it: Magic exists, and it is not always good.

Poetry Monday :: Captain

Poetry Monday ~ Mandagsdigt er en engelsk blog-leg. Det er ikke altid, at dagens emne duer på dansk - eller at jeg er smart nok til at finde på noget. Dagens stikord Captain, fik ikke nogen danske digte til at poppe op i min arme hjerne.  Heller ikke andre engelske end "Oh, no John":

My father was a Spanish captain
Went to sea a month ago
First he kissed me then he left me
Bid me always answer no
Oh, no John, no John, no John, no

Derfor gentager jeg mig selv fra for et par år siden, da Poetry Monday faldt på den 19. september og altså var Tal som en pirat-dag.

- A - - B - - C -

Mimi of Messymimi's Meanderings and I have taken over the hosting duties, mostly the supplying of the prompts - only temporarily we hope - while Diane at On the Border is taking a break for health and relaxation, travelling the world with her husband as far as we can tell.
 
We just hope she's going to take back over once she returns home.

  I have something to ask of you: If you read this and the poetry of others via the links, would you please leave a comment.
  Half - if not more - the fun of these challenges is receiving the responses of others.

Ay, ay sir, Today is Poetry Monday, and rhyming we must go. But Captain ... It was strangely missing in my list of prompts, and it is one of those words. I do not know why, but some words immediately make a song run around in my brain like a do chasing its own tail. Captain is one of these, having me listen to "Oh, no John" on repeat.
This is counterproductive for any poeming, so all I have to give today is a repost from September 19th, 2022 - Pirate day, where Dread Captain DeMeza organises the fun.

September 19th we celebrate Talk like a Pirate Day! Which happens to be a day celebrated in the online game World of Warcraft too.

In that other world where oft I go
For rest and relaxation
It's Pirates day today. YAHOO!
We have some recreation

A mug of rum, or maybe two
To end our deprivation,
Forget the fights with friend and foe
Now I'm a pirate too!

Ol' Chumbucket then spoke to me
A word of truth and wisdom.
Dress like a pirate halfway be
To talk like one - perfection!





So 'hoy there, matey! it'll be
Instead of "Hello darling".
And should I like a cup of tea
Yarrr! Tea! you'll hear me snarling!



 - - - - -

Next Monday again we'll meet and write poetry once again:
June 9 Sting
June 16 Possible
June 23 Uniform
June 30 Scram

Today’s average difficulty is 4.5 guesses out of 6, or moderately challenging. 5 is OK then.
Wordle 1.444 5/6
⬜🟩⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨
⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜🟩🟩🟨⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Sunday Selections ~ Søndagsbilleder

I dag var jeg på en cykeltur. Jeg kom forbi en forholdsvis nyanlagt sø med maser af fugleliv ... nøj hvor er det svært at tage pæne billeder i solskinsvejr, når man ikke kan se skærmen på kameraet Her er en stribe mislykkede billeder - og så et par morsomme. Månedens farve er

 - - - - 💛 - - - -

Today I went for a bike ride, and saw a new lake with lots of interesting bids. Bugger it's hard to snap a nice photo when the sun is shining into the tiny monitor on my camera. Here's some of my best fails.
The colour of the month is

Svaner er åbenbart voldsomt generte - 💛 - Swans are obviously shy birds. Who knew ...

De her rendte ingen steder - 💛 -These ones did not run away

En blishøne. For dagens smil følg linket til en blishønes fødder
- 💛 -
A coot. For today's smile follow this link to Coot's feet.

Jeg fotograferede en and og blev fotobombet af en hjort.
- 💛 -
I snapped a photo of a duck, the deer decided to photobomb me.

Og endelig en smule biodiversitet 😉 Hvis man har en benved - og det har jeg og er lykkelig over at den har overlevet - så må man finde sig i benvedspindemøl. De har heldigvis kun en generation, så træet skyder igen.

- 💛 -

And finally some biodiversity 😉 if you have a common spindle tree in your garden - I have, and I'm happy it survived - you have to put up with the Spindle ermine and their larvae.

Words for Wednesday ~ Finally writing again!

Word for Wednesday is a challenge that was started a long time ago. Now it has turned into a movable event with Elephant's Child as our coordinator; and the Words provided by a number of people.

The general idea of this challenge is to make us write. Poems, stories, subtitles, tales, jokes, haiku, crosswords, puns, ... you're the boss.
Use all Words, some Words, one Word, or even none of them if that makes your creative juices flow. Anything goes, only please nothing rude or vulgar.

In May, David M Gascoigne will supply us with prompts, but they'll appear at  Elephant's Child.

 It is also a challenge, where the old saying "The more the merrier" holds true.

So Please, remember to follow the links, go back and read other peoples' stories. And please leave a comment after reading. Challenges like this one thrives on interaction, feedback and encouragement. And we ALL need encouragement.

- - A - - B - - C - - 

This Wednesday's prompts:
Villian
Visit
Bone
Stork
Memory  
And/or
 
Imprinted
Human
Kink
Spring
Faithful

As I said some time ago, I have a story to tell, and I fear this might turn into one of my marathon-tales running over weeks and weeks before reaching its end. But I am writing again. I am happy!

Here we go. This is happening in the 3rd year on Unicorn Farm, in the short Shrove holidays - this was a thing in Denmark before the winter holiday in February was a thing, we had several single holidays spread over the year, the King and Queen's birthdays, Shrove Monday, Constitution day, and a bit more days in the Christmas holidays. 

Susan knew a villain when she saw one, and Tristan certainly was one. Ever since Christmas holidays she, Heidi, Tage and Lis had been sure he was a bad one. Helge and the Flower power girls were almost convinced, as were the Swedish bunch. Now he once again had decided to visit Unicorn Farm over the short Fastelavns (Shrovetide) holidays. Susan wanted to get away. She had met a stray dog when arriving - she had needed some fresh air after a long day at school and at home with smoking family visiting, and then the dizzying portal, and had went for a stroll before joining the other apprentices at the Farm.
    She sneaked a bone from the lunch and left. The bleak February sunshine was not exactly warm, rather with a promise of warmth to come, She walked along the dirt road engrossed in her own thoughts. Suddenly a big bird flew up. Was that a stork? Susan thought. No, no way, It's far too early. The storks only arrive in April. It must have been a heron or a crane ... bugger I always mix them up, the straight necked one. A crane Susan decided. Or maybe a swan. Swans, black swans ... they existed only two places in Denmark, she was told. In the moat around Castle Kronborg in Elsinore, she has seen these several times when crossing the castle grounds on her way to the beach. She still cherished the memory of one of the swans chasing off a fox one early morning. It had probably seen the cygnets as a quick breakfast, but it had not taken an angry mother swan into consideration. I had been one of the white ones, though. Black swans did not breed in Denmark.

She arrived at the small clump of trees where she had seen the stray yesterday. It had been OK, Susan had made sure of that using her animal skills, just wanting to be left alone. Susan though that it might be more sociable and hungry, today. She called for the dog, first with words, and then with her mind, but no dog came running towards her. Wondering Susan walked into the thicket. She found the place where the dog had slept, a shallow indentation,where the downtrodden grass still formed a nest-like structure, but it was quite cold. It had been dry for weeks and there was almost no chance of tracks, but Susan looked anyway. And yes, in the grass leading away from her she found what could me a path. She slowly walked along it, careful to keep to the undisturbed grass, looking at the ground. Her patience was rewarded with an imprint of a dog's paws where the thicket gave way to fields. Clear and sharp prints, not old. From here it was easy, the plowed fields was like an open book. She saw the dog chase, but never catch rabbits, looping back towards the thicket, remaking its mind, instead walking slowly - seen by the closer together paw prints - towards the short row of houses lining the road away from the water. Maybe they had been cooking something nice. Then she saw something she had not expected. Human footprints. Coming from the houses, standing still, meeting with the paw-prints, and then both set of prints walking away together, direction houses. This did not tally with the impression, Susan had gotten from the dog yesterday. "Leave me alone," it had told her. "I am weary, old and sad. I need time, time alone. Leave me, please."
A kink in the straight line of tracks, made Susan return to the barren fields. The sun, never high in the sky, was now nearing the horizon. At six she had to be back at the Farm. Three quarters of an hour left, her wristwatch told her. No time for dawdling.  She followed the traces onwards, now making a beeline for the small blue house placed a little distance from the others at the end of the row.
She walked onto the road, the field was cloggy, tiring to walk in, and she had seen what she needed to know where the dog was. Had the man kidnapped the dog? She had to know. It had seemed so listless, so sad yesterday. It should not end it's day as someone's plaything, or even worse one one of the places, Susan had heard of where they tested make up, drugs and medicine on animals. Susan was not sure the latter was true, she suspected her classmates once again were trying to pull her leg, but nonetheless, dogs were kidnapped now and then.
Walking on the road soon gave her steps back their spring, and she made good time getting to the blue house.

Behind the blue house, a small shed could be seen. This would be the perfect place to hide a dog. Susan passed the house and walked a bit further along before she sat down on a stone pulling off one shoe, as if to get rid of a stone. She cast about for traces of the dog. As she opened up her animal sense, she was almost knocked silly. The blue house had several animal inhabitants - and the dog was in there. In the house proper, not in the shed, along with cats, at least one owl, some amphibians, and rodents.
Susan suddenly knew the house, or at least she knew of the house. She had been here before. Years ago she bought a miniature grandfather clock for her doll's house. The wonder was that it was a real watch, faithfully keeping time ever since. She wondered if the clockmaker still lived there or what had happened.

... to be continued.

Wordle

 ⚠ Warning! This post contains the answer to today's Wordle ⚠
⚠ Proceed at your own risk ⚠

The last couple of days I have had trouble with Wordle.

Starting with Thursday's Wordle; Today’s average difficulty is 6 guesses out of 6, or very challenging. Sure ;) I did not even know the solution.

How many of you know this word:

Today’s word is QUASH, a verb. According to Webster’s New World College Dictionary, it means “to annul or set aside (an indictment). (From NYT Wordle Review).

Wordle 1.440 X/6
🟨⬜🟩⬜⬜
🟨🟨🟩⬜⬜
⬜⬜🟩🟩🟩
⬜⬜🟩🟩🟩
⬜⬜🟩⬜⬜
⬜⬜🟩🟩🟩

 -  A  -  B  -  C  -

Yesterday/Friday I messed up and instead of painlessly having guessed IDIOM - a word, I know and love - I had ZOOID as the only possible an impossible - explanation, because I placed O as middle letter on my paper instead of  I. Today’s average difficulty is 3.8 guesses out of 6, or easy breezy.
My guesses were:

I even resorted to Merriam-Websters' "Give me a word with ... " page, and lastly to Wordle Solver. I do not normally use those, as I think it is cheating, but I used both intensely in April for the A-Z Challenge.
They both agreed that ZOOID was the only possible word! But with O not going second, it simply was not right,

Then I realized my error and solved it with IDIOM - luckily  T  had been ruled out, else I had typed in IDIOT as that's how I felt.

 -  A  -  B  -  C  -

Today I fooled around - just for fun to see if just putting in words with different letters did help.
I put in BROCK - did not even know it was a word ;)  AGILE and DUSTY. Then I had B A I T as "yellow" letters.

Then I had to play and put in TABIS - my beloved ninja-boots event though I knew they were not the solution with S not being in today.

HABIT was the solution.

Today’s average difficulty is 5 guesses out of 6, or moderately challenging.
Wordle 1.442 5/6
🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜
🟨⬜🟨⬜⬜
⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜
🟨🟩🟩🟩⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Colour of the Month JuneMånedens farve juni

Til ære for mine overlevende gule iris i frøsøen er juni måneds farve "Overlevende irisgul"

-- 💛 --

In honour of my yellow irises survivng the drought in my Frog pond, the colour of June is "Surviving Iris Yellow"

I challenge you to find something containing this colour, photograph it, and post the photo on your blog one of the Sundays in June.

If you want to incorporate the colour into another challenge - for instance the Words for Wednesday - this is also fine.

If you have other ideas for the use, this is fine as well - and as usual with these challenges, most anything goes, only nothing rude or vulgar, please.

-- 💛 --

Egentlig går udfordringen ud på at finde og fotografere en eller flere ting med månedens farve og så lægge billederne op på sin blog, men efterhånden har det udviklet sig, så man må gøre stort set som man lyster, så længe det hverken er uforskammet eller vulgært.

Today's Wordle ... I messed up. I put the correct middle letter in the second place in my paper, and only found one existing word, that could not be it. With one last guess left, I resorted to the "Find me a word" function in Merrriam-Webster, and only ever found the same one. Then I noticed my blooper - I wold have solved it way before, had I realized earlier ... Sigh. But I got it!

Wordle 1.441 6/6 - Today’s average difficulty is 3.8 guesses out of 6, or easy breezy. Sure - if you do not mess up!

⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜
⬜⬜🟩⬜⬜
🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜
⬜🟨🟩🟨⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

-- 🩷 --

Nye skrifftyper? - Blogger - New Font? --UPDATED

Now the comments should be the same size as the blog text proper. I found help on the Blogger help site and tiserted this small piece of code in my blog's HTML at the end of the #comments-variables (for me its at line 462) ... And the percentage can of course be made larger for even bigger comment texts ;) 

#comments {
 font-size: 110%;
}

I hope this helps.

 - - - - - - -

River tells me: "I read your poem but had to use a magnifying glass, the letters here are so small now. Blogger has made changes and on my own blog I now have to increase the size too when I type anything."

I then suggest to use Ctrl and + to enlarge. This works, but also enlarges everything else. She says: "It works, but then it is so large I can't see the task bars. I wish Blogger would just leave things alone. When I type in your comment box, it is normal size but after it is published it is tiny."

Is this a River-specific problem, or is anybody else affected too?

I always enlarge blogs (and most anything) using Ctrl +, this enlarges everything, yes, but the text becomes of legible size before everything else disappears.

Please tell how it looks for you.

Today's Wordle was a fun one.
Today’s average difficulty is 4.2 guesses out of 6, or very challenging.

Wordle 1.439 5/6
⬜⬜🟨⬜🟨
⬜🟨🟨⬜⬜
🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜
🟨🟨🟨⬜🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Tuesday ~ Tirsdag

Vi fik lidt mere regn, og jeg tømte den blå tønde ned i Frøsøen igen - 140 liter mere ... kan det ses? Der er altså stadig plads til mere.

--  💧  --

We had a little bit more rain. I emptied the blue barrel into the Frog pond once again - 140 litres more ... can you see it? There's still room for more.

Sunday it looked like this  --  💧  --   Fra i søndags til sammenligning.

Today’s average difficulty is 3.6 guesses out of 6, or easy breezy.
3.6 is most like 4, so Average Owl once again.
Wordle 1.438 4/6
⬜⬜🟨🟨⬜
⬜⬜🟩⬜⬜
🟩🟨🟩🟩⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Poetry Monday :: Lead

Poetry Monday ~ Mandagsdigt er en engelsk blog-leg. Det er ikke altid, at dagens emne duer på dansk - eller at jeg er smart nok til at finde på noget. Dagens stikord Lead, der betyder enten 'bly' eller 'lede/ledt', fik ikke nogen danske digte til at poppe op i min arme hjerne. Knap nok et engelsk uden krykker og hjælp.

Every Monday is Poetry Monday.

Mimi of Messymimi's Meanderings and I have taken over the hosting duties, mostly the supplying of the prompts - only temporarily we hope - while Diane at On the Border is taking a break for health and relaxation, travelling the world with her husband as far as we can tell.
 
We just hope she's going to take back over once she returns home.

  I have something to ask of you: If you read this and the poetry of others via the links, would you please leave a comment.
  Half - if not more - the fun of these challenges is receiving the responses of others.

  -- 🔍  --  🔎 --

Today's prompt is Lead.
Whichever way I turn it, it's a heavy subject.
I can't eat it, so no epulaeryu.
I did what I sometimes do. I looked up lead at RhymeZone, and made a - not a  nonsense verse directly - but maybe disjointed verses would be a better description. Because all the rhymed pairs are good and even mostly true. We do need a new shed ... but the connections between the couplets? Maybe it's all just In my head.

In My Head - with Lead
I'm heavy as lead,
let me stay in my bed.
The words have all fled
no fun in my head.
We need a new shed
All the messes have spread.

But soon I'll sow seed
And follow the lead
of wisdom's good deed.
My hens I will feed
with every weed
and gather with greed
every egg in with speed.

The lead takes the lead
and writes of the deed
The big and the small
It tells of it all.

 - - - - - 
May 26: Lead (today)
June 9 Sting
June 16 Possible
June 23 Uniform
June 30 Scram

Today’s average difficulty is 3.5 guesses out of 6, or easy breezy.

Wordle 1.437 4/6
⬜🟨⬜🟩⬜
🟩⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜🟩⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Well 3.5 is either three or four, so average owl today.

Sunday Selection: RainSøndagsbilleder: Regn

Det har været ekstremt tørt her det seneste stykke tid. I torsdags så vores frøsø sådan her ud.
We have had dry times here. Thursday our pond looked like this.

Fredag regnede det 19 mm. 💧 Friday we had 19 mm of rain.

Saturday it only rained a little, 3 mm, but we emptied a blue barrel of rainwater into the pond, 120 litres
💧
Lørdag regnede det kun 3 mm. Men vi hældte alt regnvandet fra den blå tønde, 120 liter, ned i frøsøen.

Sunday was the yearly pligrimage - outdoors - and it rained
☔
Søndag var vi på den årlige alfart - udendørs - og det regnede.

Søndag eftermiddag så frøsøen sådan her ud 💧Sunday late the pond looked like this.
Der må godt komme lidt mere regn 💧We still need a bit more water

Et billede fra vores regnvåde valfart 💧 A photo from our rainy pilgrimage

Almost everybody had left. The final procession and blessings were shortened. The four men in black at the statue of Our Lady of Aasebakken is our bishop (in the red cap) two priests and the main altar server. Normally they're dressed for the occasion - it was too wet today. 
☔
Rigtig mange var taget hjem, og den afsluttende andagt blev afkortet. De fire mænd, der står rundt om statuen af Vor Frue af Aasebakken er vores biskop (med rød kalot) to præster og vores overministrant. Normalt har de fint tøj på til andagten, men det var bare for vådt.

Sunday: Today’s average difficulty is 4.3 guesses out of 6, or moderately challenging. Moderately challenging ... well I did not know the solution-word, and had to seek help in a dictionary to find me a word to fit this pattern: 🟩🟩🟩⬜🟩 after having tried ALL the non-invalid letters, and none made a word I knew.  
Wordle 1.436 6/6
⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
🟨⬜🟩⬜⬜
⬜⬜🟨⬜🟨
⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟨⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Saturday; Today’s average difficulty is 4 guesses out of 6, or easy breezy. I would not call 4 out of 6 easy breezy ;) But I did better. Pure intuition and guesswork, though.
Wordle 1.434 3/6
🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜🟨🟨⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Friday: Today’s average difficulty is 5.6 guesses out of 6, or very challenging.
Wordle 1.435 4/6
⬜⬜⬜⬜🟩
⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
🟨🟩🟨⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩