Find Familiars 7 ~ Trying to use up the Words

I still have these words left over from Wednesday's words:
Party
Note
Faucet
Jelly
Leather
Books

and then the infamous Bellowcat from last Wednesday. Let me see if I can end the story with these words.

I continue my story from previous chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.

Back to Trausti and his talk on Familiars:

"Also," Trausti continued, "not all Familiars are nice." He whistled another tune, and a very big bat flew in through the window and landed on the table and rubbed it's big, gargoyle-like head on Trausti's gloved hand. It was almost a third of Trausti's size, and so ugly that it was almost cute. Most of the apprentices could not help laughing.
"This male hammer headed bat comes from Africa," he said. "How it ended up here, I have no idea. I fetched it in a big banana crate in a supermarket, where it scared the man opening up the crate. A logical place for it to hide, as it's a fruit eater, living mainly from figs, mangoes and bananas." He looked at the apprentices, who were most of them studying the creature with interest. "The downsides? I can see you think. Apart from the size and the claws to fit this size, they are nocturnal and extremely noisy during their active period. And here we have another uncouth specimen. A giant cat-like creature approached Trausti, rubbing its head against his trousered leg. Suddenly the cat began breathing rapidly, panting like a bellows and expanding. Then it opened its maw, a gigantic, pink abyss. It raised its head, and Trausti quickly drew his wand, pointed it at the now enormously swollen cat and screamed: "haltu kjafti!*
Thora looked at him in disgust: "That's not a nice spell to use in front of the apprentices! Was that really necessary?"
Trausti looked squarely at her: "That was a Bellowcat. A few seconds more and we would all have been deaf. I thought she was a Sweller, she has never bellowed before." Trausti bent and examined the flaccid cat. He blanched, stood up and continued: "Any questions?"

There were a few, mostly variations of Will we ever get a Familiar, and What are Bellowcats and Swellers.
After listening to their questions, Trausti answered:
"Will you ever get a Familiar? Only time will tell. Once you're a true witch or wizard, you can begin looking for one. Or more possible the Familiar will find you. I think this is one of the subjects Gylfi has in mind for next year's curriculum." He looked at Gylfi, who nodded.
"Then to Swellers and Bellowcats. Bellowcats are an under-species of Swellers, at least that's what I have found out from studies. Swellers are cats that can increase their size by inhaling air, then they can soar by letting out the air slowly. They kind of fly, like a balloon where you let out the air. They are fun, and it can be a great help for the cat to get somewhere they cannot climb. They are able to steer, partly using their tail, partly by controlling the outlet of air. It takes training for a Sweller to become good at it. It is not a practical thing inside a house, notwithstanding any cat's natural ability to not break or turn over any object, and always land on their paws, flying cats are not a thing to bring into your living room. Bellowcats are a subspecies. They breath in the air rhythmically, like bellows, like what you saw earlier, instead of the steadier intake of Swellers. And instead of using the airflow for flying, they let out the air in one, big MEOW, loud enough to make anybody at close quarters deaf, break the window panes and any other glass nearby, and sometimes even killing the bellowcat himself. Normally Bellowcats are male and Swellers female, although male Swellers are sometimes found. They can interbreed with normal cats of any species, fortunately they generally limit themselves to housecats - fortunately for the world at large. Just imagine a lion-sized, or even a panther sized Bellowcat.

The apprentices left, discussing Familiars and strange cats in small groups. Susan went out in the dark evening with Heidi, Lis and Tage, it was crisp and cold, with a hint of snow in the air. "I forgot my notebook," Susan said, "wait for me please, it'll only be a second." She ran back into the Barn, and overheard Gylfi's, "... but it's male!" before he fell quiet. Susan excused herself, grasped the notebook and hurried back to her friends.

Curiouser and curiouser ... maybe to be continued.
You might say I used Note and Book
else I only got rid of Bellowcat
let's see what happens tomorrow.
 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
* This means shut up, but its very rude, more like shut the bloody F... up!

Poetry Monday :: Quince

Dear readers ... MotherOwl's new, old computer still needs some working out. It's tough times upgrading from Windows 7 to Windows 11. In a few days more I seriously hope I'm done strongarming it into doing what I want it to do -  instead of me doing what it wants me to do.

Reading of blogs, commenting and hopefully writing will resume soon - I hope.

- A - - B - - C -

Kære læsere, Uglemors  nye, brugte computer volder stadig knuder - det er tough times at gå fra Windows 7 til Windows 11. Derfor vil det nok vare et par dage mere, før hun er færdig med at kæmpe med installationer og få computeren til at gøre so hun ønsker og ikke den anden vej rundt.
Blogging, læsning af blogs og kommentarer vil komme i gang igen snart!

Mandagsdigtet er en blogleg, som Mimi fra Messymimi's Meanderings 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: Kvæder og jeg havde fået en god idé på dansk også, men så skulle jeg lige vande mine nyplantede krydderurter, og ideen forduftede sammen med vandet.

For at kunne 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 - 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.
     Dette er så det sidste af vores stikord, men bare rolig, stikordene vil stadig være at finde både her og på Mimis blog.

- 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.

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 - Mimi and I have decided to latch onto the 365 Days of Drawing Prompts and other Arts group. This is a Facebook group with a prompt for each day of the year.

This is the last prompt by Mimi or me, but no worries, the prompts will still be here and at Mimi's blog.

  I have something more 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 subject is Quince.

We eat a lot of quince
we've done so ever since
I got my English jam-book.
So every fall
I pick them all
And cook my jam
I follow Pam*
and more quince cheese I cook.

 ____________________________________________________________________

*Pam: The jam book is Pam the Jam's excellent Book of Preserves:

- - - - - - - - - -

Up and coming subjects:
July 21 Quince (Today) - the last one coming from Mimi and me.
Aug 4 Lonely  - The first one from he 365 Days of Drawing Prompts and other Arts.
Aug 11 Biscuits
Aug 18 Don’t be afraid
Aug 25 Wonderful

 --  A  --  B  --  C  --

And the Wordle 1.493 6/6
⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜
⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜
⬜⬜⬜⬜🟩
⬜🟩⬜⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Today’s average difficulty is 5.4 guesses out of 6, or very challenging. I find this average difficulty by clicking the bulb, which takes me to today's Wordle Review page where we can find (clickable) hints and the solution.

I don't go here until I have solved the Wordle - or not.

Lowermost on this page - before ads for themselves, games and news, is Further reading  I love this statement: See the archive for past and future posts.
If I click the link, I see only past posts 😁

Sunday Selection :: Writing Pleasure Purple

I am still wrangling my new PC - Getting the pictures from my camera in there is tough. There's no slot for the memorycard from the camera any longer, and all sorts of strange pop-ups are trying to take over my transfer when I finally get the PC and camera to interact.

But here's a few of the photos from this week that suceeded in being taken, looking somewhat OK and finding their way into my folders.

First - this year again we visited the sandsculpture featival in Hundested meeting old aquaintances

- ⏳ -

Jeg kæmper stadig med min nye computer - det er bøvlet at få billederne fra mit kamera ind på den. Der er ikke længere et hul til hukommelseskortet fra kameraet, og når jeg endelig får computer og kamera til at tale sammen, er der alle mulige mærkelige pop op-vinduer der forsøger at overtage det hele.
     Men her er et par af de billeder fra denne uge. Det lykkedes at få dem taget, de ser nogenlunde ud, og de har fundet vej til de rigtige mapper.
     Igen i år besøgte vi sandskulptur-festivalen i Hundested og mødte gamle bekendte. Vi har så vidt jeg ved kun misset den to gange siden den åbnede i 2012, nemlig 2016 og 2024.

I think he's been there from the very start - ⏳ - Jeg tror ham her har været med fra starten.

This one has been here for some years too - ⏳ - Denne her har også nogle år på bagen.

Hvorimod denne her var helt ny - ⏳ - This one was all new
Årets tema er Showtime, alt kan ske  - ⏳ - Theme of the year: Showtime, Anything can Happen.

    - ⏳ -

Then we go home again - ⏳ - Så tager vi hjem igen

Jeg har fået klinte hjem i haven - ⏳ - I've had a corncockle grow in my garden.

Dette er et overskudsprodukt - ⏳ - This is a byproduct

Saltlage, nu kogt ind til salt - ⏳ - brine, now boiled and dried and turned into salt

Det blev brugt til at salte de her slåen, der nu står i eddikelage og trækker. De bliver til slåliven
- ⏳ -
The brine was used for these sloeberries, now in another liquid made of vinegar, sugar and water. This will turn them into slolives, or Nordic olives.

Jeg plukkede også gyldne stikkelsbær, de blev til en gylden stikkelsbærtærte. Det var ikke så godt som det gyldne syltetøj fra sidste år, så ikke flere gyldne tærter.

- ⏳ -

I also picked all the golden gooseberries, they were made into a gooseberrypie. It was nothing special, as opposed to the golden jam from 2024. No more golden gooseberry pies.


And finally scroll down and see today's Wordle solution - it is fun - and Writing Pleasure Purple ;)

- ⏳ -

Og til sidst dagens Wordle, med en sjov - og skriveglædelilla løsning længere nede.


Sunday's Wordle 1.492 4/6
⬜🟩⬜⬜⬜
🟩🟩⬜⬜🟩
🟩🟩⬜🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Another one with green and grey letters only .... this made me want to play
Solution will be revealed, so scroll with care

Endnu en løsning med kun grå og grønne bogstaver ... Jeg fik lyst til at lege
Dagens løsning vil blive afsløret længere nede, så scroll med forsigtighed.

 * * * *

* * *

 * *

 *

The solution as it was - and with the colours inverted, which makes the green letters turn
Writing Pleasure Purple

Løsningen som den ser us - og med farverne inverteret. Det får de grønne bogstaver til at blive Skriveglædelilla

Words for Wednesday ~ July 16

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 July, MotherOwl - yes, that's me will supply us with prompts, but they'll appear at  Elephant's Child's blog. I wrote and sent them back in December last year, so they are as new to me as they are to you. I hope they'll get us all writing.

 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 - - 

I'm shocked writing the date. More than half the year has gone past already, and more than half the summer.

For today we had these words:
Party
Chance
Note
Faucet
Black
Idea
    And/or
Jelly
Leather
Books
Root
Amusement
Pardon
I'm going to be a bit "mad as a hatter" today. I only used the stricken words. 

Beg your pardon, but yesterday I thought out a crazy computer game. I am going to tell of it here for your amusement. It's called the Gooseberry Gardener.

The objective is to pick as many gooseberries as possible from one bush. Problem is, it's entangled in other bushes, other gooseberry bushes as well as redcurrant bushes. Every time you make a berry fall to the ground, be it one of the gooseberries, you're supposed to pick, another colour of gooseberry or some redcurrants, you lose a small amount of berries (d20, below 8 makes you lose 1 % of what you picked). The same happens if you prick your fingers on the gooseberry thorns (d20, below 10 makes you lose 1 % of what you picked).
I think I need to add some sort of saves, eg. every time you reach one whole kg or full berry picking container, go offload and none of these berries can be lost again.

Additional difficulties, DLCs in gamer lingo, can be added. Each DLC giving a level up, increasing the chance of more berries, but also the risks of a fail. Installing one = difficulty level 2, installing both = difficulty level 3:

• Weeds: Adds nettles and bindweeds, one will sting you, one will pull off berries, both making you lose some berries. Again roll d20, below 12 makes you lose 2 % of what you picked. 
• Optimistic Spring Gardener: Adds rebar poles and twine, meant to hold branches off the ground, now just adding to the tangle. And naturally having bindweed climbing the twine if Weeds is installed.

Pro gamers are invited to add: Approaching Thunderstorm. Making this a timed game, finish in time or get drenched.

Of course this game has its roots in real life. I'm sure you can guess what I did yestersday. I did pick all the green gooseberries (more than 10 kgs) - not the black or the red ones, and I initiated a similar game of  Blackcurrant Picker - minus the thorns - but lost to the Approaching Thunderstorm. I will continue playing again today.

Poetry Monday :: Salt

Dear readers ... I am not blogging much right now and for the next couple of days. I just got a new old computer and I have to install everything back in ... and wrestle it until it does what I want it to do -  instead of me doing what it wants me to do.

Reading of blogs, commenting and hopefully writing will resume soon - I hope.

- A - - B - - C -

Kære læsere, da Uglemor fik en nybrugt computer i går, vil det lige vare et par dage, før hun er færdig med at kæmpe med installationer og få computeren til at gøre so hun ønsker og ikke dne anden vej rundt.
Blogging, læsning af blogs og kommentarer vil komme i gang igen snart!

- A - - B - - C -

Mandagsdigtet er en blogleg, som Mimi fra Messymimi's Meanderings 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: Salt, der fik mig til at tænke på drilleverset "Gråskæg Halt" fra "Skyggens lærling" af John Flanagan ... det var bare sådan, at verset med Halt og salt kun findes i den danske udgave - Skyggens lærling - Troldmanden fra nord (tror jeg nok) Så nu har jeg stjålet John Flanagans originaltekst og lavet omkvædet om efter den danske udgave - efter bedste evne og hukommelse. Måske finder jeg bogen - bortført af en eller anden ugleunge - eller måske bare forlagt - vi har MANGE bøger! Så kommer verset på dansk.

For at kunne 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 - 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.

- 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.

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 - Mimi and I have decided to latch onto the 365 Days of Drawing Prompts and other Arts group. This is a Facebook group with a prompt for each day of the year. We'll do this from August 4th, the first Monday of August. But no worries, the prompts will still be here and at Mimi's blog.

  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 subject is Salt. This made a song from John Flanagan's Ranger's Apprentice chase its tail through my brains ... only the "salt" refrain is from the Danish books and does not exist in the English version :)

NOTE:
Only the refrain was remade by me; the verse cited here are the ones most alike to the Danish version and written by John Flanagan in one of the Ranger's Apprentice books, I think it's from The Sorcerer of the North.
LINK to the whole text.

    Greybeard Halt, Greybeard Halt
    Worth his weight in salt.
    Greybeard Halt, Greybeard Halt
    He makes the thieves at fault.

Greybeard Halt, he lost a bet
He lost his winter cloak
When winter comes, Halt stays warm
By sleeping 'mongst the goats.

    Greybeard Halt, Greybeard Halt
    Worth his weight in salt.
    Greybeard Halt, Greybeard Halt
    He makes the thieves at fault.

Greybeard Halt is a fighting man
I’ve heard common talk
That Greybeard Halt, he cuts his hair
With his saxe knife and fork!

    Greybeard Halt, Greybeard Halt
    Worth his weight in salt.
    Greybeard Halt, Greybeard Halt
    He makes the thieves at fault.

Every Monday we'll meet and write poetry once again.

July 14 Salt (Today)
July 21 Quince
Aug 4 Lonely
Aug 11 Biscuits
Aug 18 Don’t be afraid
Aug 25 Wonderful
   

Find Familiars 6

Continuing from yesterday ...

I continue my story from previous chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.

After a short, quiet spell a bird flew in through the open window, an almost totally white buzzard landed on Trausti's outstretched arm. He fed it a small bit of meat, and it folded its wings and settled down.
"This is my familiar, unimaginatively called Haukur." A few of the apprentices laughed, and Susan smiled. 
"Gilvi, who was my coach in all things concerning Familiars, after my wife, Vigdís, died, chided me for my lack of imagination, I feel lucky not to possess overly much of this, as the miserable lives of some of the Familiars I look after, are scary without any imagination."
Trausti looked around on the apprentices, professors and guests, and noticed Tristan and David exchanging glances, but did not quite grasp the undercurrent. Had they ben dogs, he would have thought them imagining some easy to get treats.
He drew a breath and continued: "Now, I know that most of you here would like a Familiar. You imagine how nice it would be to have someone totally loyal, always ready to defend you, or for a cuddle," Haukur rubbed his beak against Trausti's thumb as if proving his words. Susan smiled, thinking of Granny's owls on the clothes line, she would think twice before accepting a rubbing from their lethal beaks.
"But you forget all the problems," Trausti continued, "How many of you have ever had a pet?" A bit less than a third of the apprentices raised their hands.
"Now think of all the trouble you've had, fights, visits to the vet, not being able to go visiting or on a sleepover because of that pet." Susan thought back to the long summer night when Knud - female in spite of the name - decided to have her litter of kittens in Susan's bed; to the many times she and Linda had spent hours catching a sick or injured cat in a box, without getting clawed, and waiting forever - and paying loads of money - at the vet's. Some of these problems would surely be lesser ...
"Some of these problems would probably be lesser," Trausti began, echoing her thoughts, "like getting your Familiar to the vet. But some would be way bigger. Imagine the vet asking from where you have that bat, or owl or what not. Imagine having your best non magic friends visiting, and the Familiar making an appearance, or for those of non magic families imagine your parents' and siblings' reaction to a Familiar." Susan shivered. Linda would not accept an owl in the family, and her parents would not be overjoyed either.

And here again I have to stop. I did not use 'Bellowcat'. I did use Cat, but I actually have an idea for Bellowcat 😕 I hope to find time later on.

- -  A  - -  B  - -  C  - -

Thursday's Wordle 1.482 5/6
⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜🟩⬜⬜🟩
🟨🟩⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
This was a fun one. Today’s average difficulty is 5.4 guesses out of 6, or very challenging.

Words for Wednesday :: Find Familiars 5

Sort
Pollution
Crooked
Learned
Wanting
Industry
    And/or
Education
Colour
Withdraw
Coach
Bellow
Cat
    Yes Bellow and Cat were meant as two words ... I might give Bellowcat a try 😉

I continue my story from previous chapters 1, 2, 3, and 4

Susan got her problems sorted out before dinner. Dressed in a fresh tunic and skirt, she ate with the other Danes, Trausti sat with the Icelanders, enjoying the food and speaking freely with everybody. The only pollution to the good atmosphere was David's crooked friend. Susan had learned by trial and error which subjects to avoid, and so had most of the other apprentices, only the Norwegian Terje, who was a bit wanting in attention, could now and then spark an uncouth discussion over the plates.

When everybody was done eating, Jon rang the bell and asked the apprentices to re-arrange benches and tables so that everyone could sit facing the balcony in the western end of the Barn. Soon the barn was a hive of industry and magic, and chaos reigned for a short while, Then the last of the tables softly landed on its legs in front of the benches, guided by Selma's steady wand.

Gilvi stood up and walked to the free space under the balcony:"Dear fellow wizards, dear apprentices, and dear guests. Tonight Trausti Traustason will continue our education on the subject of familiars. Would everybody please be seated. The apprentices sit up here in front, at the benches behind the tables. Green," he pointed at the two leftmost benches, which turned a pale green, and continued towards the right he said: "Blue, yellow, purple and red." The benches took on the appropriate colour at his words. "Professors in the next row, on the benches with no tables, and finally our guests in the comfy chairs. Apprentices get your notebooks up and note anything you find interesting. There'll be question time afterwards, so don't fall asleep please." He smiled, as he knew that most of the apprentices really wanted a familiar and were going to listen well. "And with this I withdraw and give the stage to Trausti." He swung his wand and a gentle, golden light lit the area under the balcony and shone unto the tables in front of the apprentices.

Trausti stood still in the light. Then he whistled sharply two times. Then he waited.


And now we wait with Trausti, Susan, and everybody else at the Unicorn Farm, because I was so long writing this that bed time overtook me

Poetry Monday :: Park

Mandagsdigtet er en blogleg, som Mimi fra Messymimi's Meanderings 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: Park, der på engelsk også kan betyde parkere.

I dag fik jeg faktisk skrevet noget på dansk. Et elfje. Det er en type vers, det er let at skrive, men forhåbentlig ikke al for kedeligt at læse. Læs mere om Elfje her.

For at kunne 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 - 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.

- 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.

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 - Mimi and I have decided to latch onto the 365 Days of Drawing Prompts and other Arts group. This is a Facebook group with a prompt for each day of the year. We'll do this from August 4th, the first Monday of August. But no worries, the prompts will still be here and at Mimi's blog.

  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.

Park
I made an Elfje. This is a type of verse that's easy to write, and not too boring to read, I hope. The rules are quite simple. Five lines, eleven words, distributed like this:

1. One word. This word symbolizes a colour or feature. The word sets the atmosphere.
2. Two words. expanding on or describing line 1.
3. Three words. Giving more information about the person or the object. You describe where the person or the object is, who the person or what the object is, or what the person or object is doing. This sentence usually starts with the word ‘he’, ‘she’ or ‘it.’
4.   Four words. Something about yourself in relation to the person or the object. This sentence is your conclusion.
5.   One word. This word is called the ‘Bomb.’ It is the essence of the poem.

Read more about Elfjes here.

Trees
some flowers
and a lake
A place to relax.
Park.

And in Danish ~ Og så på dansk

Træer,
en sø
og nogle ænder.
Her slapper vi af
Park!

- - - - - -

Every Monday we'll meet and write poetry once again.

July 7 Park (Today)
July 14 Salt
July 21 Quince
Aug 4 Lonely
Aug 11 Biscuits
Aug 18 Don’t be afraid
Aug 25 Wonderful

Sunday Selection ~ Søndagsbilleder & Crazy Wordle

Today I took all the 5-letter words in Words for Wednesday and entered them in today's Wordle:
Ferry, First, Avoid, and Paste.
Not necessarily in that order.
It looked like this.

Wordle 1.478 5/6
⬜⬜🟩⬜⬜
⬜🟨⬜🟨⬜
⬜🟨🟩⬜🟨
🟩⬜⬜🟩⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Again the solution is a word, I did not know, but could guess at. The solution with letters are down below.
Wordle tells me that Today’s average difficulty is 5.3 guesses out of 6, or very challenging. typing in random words for the first four and then combining seems to be just as great a solving strategy.

--  A  --  B  --  C  --

Billeder fra den forgangne uge:
Now some photos from this past week:

While hunting for wild strawberries I found this guest ~ Fine gæster. Jeg ledte egentlig efter skovjordbær

Cikorieblomster - jeg elsker blå!  ~  Chicory - I love blue!

Klinte, et bibelsk ukrudt, men smukt ~ Corncockle, a pretty. biblical weed.

Redcurrants after the doves and blackbirds took their share
~
Vores ribs efter at duer og solsorte havde været der.

Brunelle, den er ikke ret stor, men fin ~ Prunella, small but pretty

Skovjordbær ~ Wild strawberries

En aggressiv blishøne - den tror den er meget farlig ~ An aggressive coot, it thinks that it's very scary

Vores udhus bliver bygget ~ the start of our shed, a black box

Og endelig et ikke-mislykket billede af de to svaner ~ And finally not a photo fail of the two swans

And the Wordle


* * * *

* * *

* *

*

Trying to use the Words for Wednesday ~ Part 2

Ferry
Determined
Box
Convey
Paste
First
    And/or
Family
Astonish
Obtain
Avoid
Magnificent

Even if those are my own words, I do not feel inspired by them.
I had some small, crazy stories from the last week or so to tell, and I did fit some of the words in.

But ater my crazy stories, I was still missing Ferry, Paste and Obtain.

The bike ride to and fro town did not give me any new ideas how to use these three words, but reminded me of a crazy bike ride some years ago.

The Dangers of the Woods
It was a Friday in December, or maybe January some years ago. I had an appointment in the bigger city about 20 km from home. I biked to the station in my normal small town, took my bike with me in the train and once arrived biked to my appointment.
  Everything went fine, but I had forgotten two things. My bike lamp, and the short winter days. Coming out from the appointment, dusk was already settling. Now what? I walked to the station, walking by bike, pondering my possibilities. I could leave my bike on my station, not a good idea on a Friday night, it would almost certainly be stolen or broken during the night. I could take the bike with me home by bus, then an expensive and burdensome endeavour, as buses were not easy to get into and some bus drivers said plain no to having a bike on board. Still pondering I passed the Danish equivalent of a Dollar store. I hurried in there and obtained a flash light, a very cheap, big one, using those big C-type batteries.
  All the way during the train ride back I debated with my inner self. Mildly put I did not look forward to the ride through the dark forest. I was afraid. On the other hand there was nothing to be afraid of. I knew from my many rides in new snow and daylight that almost nobody ever entered that wood. One person at each entry point, walking a dog, turning around not far in and leaving the way they had come was what I normally saw. And I had seen the very same thing biking through the woods on my way to the station.
  One look at the bus and its driver made up my mind for me. He was of the no-saying variety - and the bus an old model with three steps up in the middle. I mounted my bike and headed for the woods. The lamp was nothing special, actually quite bad, but I could find my way, and see that the morning's person walking the dog had been there again, one more set of paw-prints and footprints entered the wood and came put again. They had made it a bit farther in than in the morning.
   I had no problems following the paths, and even enjoyed the long descent to the small brook. I had just crossed the brook and begun the climb on thee other side, when I heard the most blood curling scream slightly in front of me and to the left. It sounded as if someone was being killed. I stopped, turned off the torch and froze. I thought to myself: "If there's a killer on the lose he did not hear me arriving over those screams. I am below him, no mater from where he'll arrive, I'll see him silhouetted against the sky before he can see me. I have a torch. I can blind him with it and get the hell out of here on my bike before he catches up with me. I can get out of the woods faster on my bike then he can run, and there's houses just outside at either end."
  I hefted the torch, it was heavy and could serve as a weapon if needs arose. I strained my eyes to penetrate the darkness. I listened. Everything was quiet. Then the scream returned. From the left, in front of me ... and from the highest of treetops.
   Rationality set in. Whatever was screaming was sitting high up in a treetop. It was in no way big and heavy enough to hurt me. Some bird, maybe. Maybe its prey screaming out its last in its claws. The biggest birds in these woods are buzzards - maybe a heron or a crane, but none of these are known to attack humans, and even then, if one attacked me, they would be able to peck and scratch me, but surely not harm me seriously - I was dressed in thick winter clothing, with a muffler round my neck. I also wore my biking helmet. I waited a bit longer. The scream, still murderous and very loud was heard again from the very same place. Now I was sure it was nothing dangerous. I lit the torch and biked home.
   I have heard this screaming several more times since then biking through the woods. Always in the same place, always in the tallest treetops.

--  A  --  B  --  C  --

And today's Wordle. I did not know the word, but had no problem figuring out what it was ;)
Wordle 1.477 4/6
⬜🟨🟨⬜⬜
🟨🟩⬜⬜🟨
🟩🟨⬜⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Today’s average difficulty is 5 guesses out of 6, or moderately challenging

Words for Wednesday ~Trying to use them

Ferry
Determined
Box
Convey
Paste
First
    And/or
Family
Astonish
Obtain
Avoid
Magnificent

Even if those are my own words, I do not feel inspired by them.
I have some small, crazy stories from the last week or so to tell, Maybe some of the words can fit into these.

Biking again
I am determined to get in better shape. Since having my gall bladder removed in January '24, all sorts of family related things happened, including, but not limited to the death of the Walrus (Granddad) and GrannyOwl (Grandma). The OwlBody was flabby and swollen, and running to the bus stop - 200 metres - left me panting for breath. My pants were too tight, bothering legs and tummy, my shoes and socks left deep marks when I took them off. Eww.
My weapon of choice is -- as long time readers might know -- my bike. Since May 30 I've been on my bike every day except three, spending hours biking around my little village, to and from shopping, and other appointments. And yesterday, for the first time my toes again felt like separate entities, I could hurry home - and avoid being drenched from the rain showers once again chasing my tail-feathers. This seems to be a recurring theme to my July biking.

A strange Dog
Some days ago, July 2, it was hot, 30 degrees.
Today it's half that and rain. Between these extremes we've had sunshine, clouds, showers and wind, always wind. The days since I began biking with winds in the daytime blowing less than 5m/s can be counted on one hand. This leads to me choosing my route after the direction of the wind to avoid headwinds going home - except for appointments where I cannot choose of course.
On that hot day, I was on my way to town with a strong wind against, I held my head a bit turned away from the wind, but not more so than I was still able to see the road. One of the dangers in the nearby woods are dogs. Dogs on long retractable leashes with deaf owners, or owners with earbuds.
That day, still on the tarmac road, I noticed a big, brown dog snuffing the leaves in the ditch. I could not see the owner, but the path through the woods was less than a fully unrolled leash away. I slowed down, ready to stop. As I came closer, I thought that it was a strange dog, and still no owner to be seen. Then with a start the "dog" leapt from the ditch where it had been drinking and into the woods, not a dog at all, but a doe, either a fallow deer, or more probable a roe deer. We have both in the woods, together with the magnificent red deer.

An Unexpected Thunderstorm
Before I left home, I had consulted the precipitation warning. No precipitation foreseen until thunder and violent showers in the evening. It was around eleven o'clock. But as I came out from the first supermarket, black clouds were gathering already filling up a bit of the sky. The forecast had told of no rain so I debated with myself if the clouds were just passing by. But when I came out from the second, of three, supermarkets almost the whole sky was covered in clouds. Astonished over the lack of precision in the forecast, I hurried into and out of the third place, and hurriedly biked home. All the while the thunder rolled and just a few minutes after I had arrived, and carried inside all the groceries - partly in paper bags, the rain came pouring down. Not for long, but I would have been drenched, and my groceries as well, had I been just a little slower.

Building
We had a big garage on our lot. It had been used by the previous owner for two lorries, but it was a rather useless building. It was big, like 56 square metres, unheated, draughty, with a roof made from coorugated  fibre cement sheets containing asbestos. After January 1st, 2025 it would become very expensive to get rid of this roof, so all of December we worked on and off on getting the sheets off and conveyed to the local recycling centre. Now local  builders are slowly building a smaller, more weather worthy construction. So far it looks more like a black box than a shed for bikes and things, but that'll change in weeks to come. 

Still missing Ferry, Paste and Obtain, but my bike is waiting to take me shopping before the rain gets any worse. I might find a story to suit, even if ferry is a far cry in our landlocked town. 

Happy 4th of July

Today is the 4th of July. Independence day. In 2022 this was a Monday, and for Poetry Monday that year I wrote the following. I think it could do with a repost.

I feel attached to this day in special ways. One paternal great aunt went to America, and often came visiting, so we celebrated July 4th. This day is also celebrated in Denmark in Rebild Bakker - the largest celebration of July 4th outside of America.

For me this day also commemorate the value of human rights.
  Even if I'm not American, these sentences from the  Declaration of Independence make me go misty-eyed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
  I'm appalled at how many are ready to only let some, select individuals have these Rights. They should be for everyone; refugees, sickly, unborn, disabled ... And I feel chafed and hurt by the discrepancy between picnics,  fireworks and buntings on on side, and digital dehumanizing, shootings, abortions, neglected sufferings of refugees and elderly ... on the other

---  🟥🟥◻◻🟦🟦◻◻🟥🟥◻◻🟦🟦◻◻🟥🟥🟥 ---

---  🟥🟥◻◻🟦🟦◻🟥◻🟦🟦◻◻🟥🟥 ---
---  🟥🟥◻◻🟦🟦◻◻🟦🟦◻◻🟥🟥 ---
---  🟥🟥◻◻🟦🟦🟦◻◻🟥🟥 ---
---  🟥🟥◻◻◻◻🟥🟥 ---
---  🟥🟥🟥🟥🟥 ---

I am going to publish my verse, for keeping silent is just cowardly.

The 4th of July is a day of fun
We picnic, we celebrate, drowse in the sun.
But we should be re-thinking it all
Our freedom for old ones, for young and for small
The freedom to live and to play
The freedom to eat every day.

The 4th of July is a day of rest,
a day of putting our beliefs to the test.
Do we believe in justice for all
For old ones, for young ones, for even the small?
In freedom to do and to don't
In liberty also to 'won't'.

The 4th of July is a day of joy
But so far not a day to be complacent or coy.
Do we really believe that ALL folks are free
And not only those created as we?
The freedom is not ours to give
The freedom to be and to live!

Uncle Sam tells Lady Peace: "It's all right. There's no fighting. The noise you hear is just my family celebrating!" (1902 Puck cartoon - source: Wikipedia)

WordPress ~ krigen fortsætterWordPress ~ the Cold War continues

Recently, like the last five days or so, when trying to ceomment on a WordPress blog, the system asks me to log in to my WP account.

I do not have a WP account, but I had - like 10 years ago or more - on the same e-mail address I'm still using. I deleted this account for two reasons.
1) I could not wrap my head around blogging in WP.
2) it tried to take over all my commenting.
It is such a long time ago that I communicated with a real, live human being to close my account down.

Since then I have had no big problems with WP-blogs. That is, until now.

WP-help is now an AI, requiring you to log in to your account - which I do not have - or to have a paid WP account, and I'm not going to pay in order to re-close an already closed account.

Ergo to all owners of WP blogs, you'll see me commenting with an alternative e-mail address. I'm not scamming, I've not been hacked. It's only WPs latest antics.

  --  ⛈  --  💣  --  🗡  --  🔥 --

I den seneste tid, de sidste fem dage eller deromkring, har jeg mødt et sært problem, når jeg forsøger at kommentere på en WordPress-blog. Systemet beder mig om at logge ind på min WP-konto.

Jeg har ikke en WP-konto, men jeg havde en for 10 år siden eller mere på den samme e-mailadresse, som jeg stadig bruger. Jeg slettede denne konto af to grunde.
1) Jeg kunne overhocedet ikke forstå, hvordan man blogger i WP.
2) Det forsøgte at overtage alle mine kommentarer.
Det er så længe siden, at jeg kommunikerede med et rigtigt, levende menneske for at lukke min konto.
 
Siden da har jeg ikke haft de store problemer med WP-blogs. Det vil sige, indtil nu.

WPs hjælpefunktion er nu en AI, der kræver, at man logger ind på sin konto - som jeg ikke har - eller har en betalt WP-konto, og jeg har ikke tænkt mig at betale for at lukke en allerede lukket konto igen.

Ergo til alle ejere af WP-blogs: I vil se mig kommentere med en alternativ e-mailadresse. Jeg er ikke ude på numre, jeg er ikke blevet hacket. Det skyldes bare WPs seneste sære påfund.

Words for Wednesday ~ Only the Words & 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 July, MotherOwl - yes, that's me will supply us with prompts, but they'll appear at  Elephant's Child's blog. I wrote and sent them back in December last year, so they are as new to me as they are to you. I hope they'll get us all writing.

 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:
Ferry
Determined
Box
Convey
Paste
First
    And/or
Family
Astonish
Obtain
Avoid
Magnificent

And I intended to return and write a story, or at least publish the Words if no writing happened ... Then I got busy, and it was hot (30 degress Celcius) the plants needed water as the automatic watering in my greenhouse had broken down ... I forgot, and only found out now, Thursday morning. I hope writing will happen today.

- - A - - B - - C - - 

Wednesday's Wordle 1.474 5/6
⬜⬜🟨🟨⬜
⬜🟨🟩⬜⬜
⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜
🟨⬜⬜⬜🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Difficuly 4.8 - nailed it.

- - A - - B - - C - - 

July 2 question - Is there a genre you haven't tried writing in yet that you really want to try? If so, do you plan on trying it?

My answer - I do not know, I only think in genres when I do not like them. Ergo I know that I won't ever try romance, horror, or "adult" contents.
All other I think I could imagine writing, and I write what fits my idea for a plot, without ever considering the genre at all. As I like writing and get lots of ideas, I suppose that I will eventually write in most genres.

A Question and a Service Announcement

A Question:
- Is anybody ever using the colour codes for the colour of the month?


A service announcement:
- Due to strange happenings in the interweb, my comments on most blogs, including my own, seem to disappear in thin air between my pressing Enter and their publishing.
I try to copy/paste before pressing Enter, mostly it looks fine in my end, but when I return - hours or even days later - the comment plain is not there any more.
This is a major P.I.T.A, not least because it makes me seem discourteous, not commenting on any of your blogs.

And I looked. Nothing in the spam-comment place either.