Drabbles
A drabble is a bit of writing, usually fiction (but I prefer non-fic), which comprises of exactly 100 words. There are all sorts of rules about punctuation etc but for my purposes I rely on Word's Wordcount. Here are my drabbles.
Prestonpans
"The Pans" lies 9 miles east of Edinburgh, nestling between Musselburgh and Cockenzie on the beautiful East Lothian coast. With its quick road connections to the A1 and 14 minute railway journey from Edinburgh, this historic burgh is currently a property “hotspot”.
Famous for the 1745 battle and its industrial past, today’s attractions include Prestongrange Museum, Preston Tower, the Mural trail and the Mercat Cross.
Lesser known is that it was a retreat of Sir Walter Scott; had the oldest recorded lodge in the world and was the birthplace of Sir William Fergusson; John Horsburgh; John Abercrombie & James Howden.
Last Day of Term
At the babies & toddlers party the young guests were scared of the bouncy castle but played happily with the usual toys. Each child received a toy. Lucy got a giggling doll, which she adores and Georgie's gift was a musical snail… which Lucy adores.
There was an excited buzz in the playground as we waited for Emily. Mums swapped shopping-for-presents stories. Young siblings wore Santa hats. The teachers looked happy.
When we got home, Georgie was still asleep in her pram. Emily sat beside me showing me her Christmas artwork. Lucy danced to Boogie Beebies unaware we were watching.
Cow
When I was about 5 and playing in the school playground, a girl said that her mum allowed her to eat grass. I said I didn't believe her and she insisted it was true. I said something like "well, go on then, eat some grass now". She did.
She then began running around on all fours "moo-ing". She only stopped when she bumped into a tree and started bawling loudly.
An adult (I'm not sure whether it was a teacher or playground supervisor)
came over to investigate and the assembled crowd told her that I made
the girl eat grass.
Looking a million dollars
When my great-aunt and uncle won the lottery, they shared their good fortune with their family. That is the kind of people they are.
My aunt comes from a large family which includes my nana. My nana shared her windfall with her five children, one of whom is my mother. My mum divvied up her share with her four children with the instruction to "spend it on yourself".
Always one to do what my mum tells me I took myself off to the hairdressers
and had myself a 'do'. Thank you Mum and Nana and Auntie Ann & Uncle Bill.
Buddy Lists
I have friends I haven't ever met. Our paths have crossed online through shared interests or serendipity. They are friends - of a sort - but I could no more number them than I could tell you their eye colour.
Someone has befriended me. Or rather, they've added me to a list of "friends" hoping I will reciprocate thus increasing their number of "friends".
These contrived friends, buddies, or fans, whatever they are called, are
like loyalty points. You are not really sure how you got them, where you get
them or what you are going to do with them.
Time
Almost daily, someone points at the three girls, or at the double buggy laden with groceries, and says "you've got your hands full". If I had a pound for every time this has happened I would, alas, not have enough to employ an au pair, but maybe enough to hire a French maid's outfit.
People often ask how we manage to keep our website updated or find the time four our projects. I wonder how other people manage to keep their houses tidy, apply make-up and still find time to do ironing. I suspect the two questions are somehow related…
Misunderstanding
An aquaintance had given me the details of an accountant she recommended. When I finally got round to getting our finances in order, I couldn't find the information.
Nigel suggested I ask her again. "I can't do that, she'll think I'm fishing for a freebie" I said.
Nonplussed, Nigel asked what I meant. "Well, her husband's an accountant isn't he? I can't ask her again." I explained.
"An accountant? Are you sure?" Nigel mused. "It
was you that told me!" I said disbelievingly.
"Me?" says Nigel. "I said he sold books".
"Oh, I thought you said he was a bookkeeper".
Reduction
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle - that's what Friends of the Earth want us to do. I try. I really do.
Recycling is the easy part thanks to kerbside collections.
Reusing stuff takes a bit of getting used to but is not too hard.
Reducing, is, for the most part, out of my hands.
It drives me mad to see unnecessary packaging so I was quite irked when Nigel bought a shrinkwrapped butternut squash in a polystyrene tray.
It transpired that there were several 'au naturale' squashes but this one
had been reduced to clear. Presumably this isn't what greenies mean by 'reducing'.