Roberta Writes – W3, The Flower Hour, and Thursday Doors

Fantasy animal sculptures framing a door into a shop at the Cape Town Waterfront.

W3

This week’s W3 challenge is to write a poem personifying an abstract noun. I have chosen anxiety. You can join in here: https://skepticskaddish.com/2026/11/11/w3-prompt-237-weave-written-weekly/

No Rest

“I’m not letting you rest?” cried Anxiety

Thoughts moving from simmer to boil

Each interaction and conversation slowly unravelling

Triumph gradually beginning to spoil

***

And a stray worry comes to the surface

Leading to a fresh bout of fear

Reaching right down into the stomach

Causing IBS its ugly head to rear

***

No-one can counsel Anxiety

Curb the tide of rampaging reflection

The words of psychologists falling on deaf ears

As Anxiety seeks unattainable perfection

***

But only a handful of prescription tablets

Could help silence the raging voices

Sometimes aided by swigs from a bottle

As anguish undermines all other choices

***

In deep shadows at the back of a closet

Stand desperate measures in a row

Codeine, morphine, and some others

On standby to stop the tumultuous flow

***

Waiting – menacing dressed as entircing

Anxiety hears their siren call

Desperation overcoming all sensibility

Crashing on towards certain downfall

***

Caught in an endless cycle

Anxiety takes a breathe, ratchets up a measure

“I will not be defeated,” it declares

Chest tightening a symptom of displeasure

***

Nothing could detract from Anxiety’s reign

It’s tyranny total and complete

Victim shaking, breathlessly hyperventilating

No conceivable path to defeat

***

Pills and booze but devoted servants

Who pay homage to it’s every whim

Aiding and abetting Anxiety’s treacherous rule

Chances of escape very slim

The Flower Hour

Terri hosts a weekly The Flower Hour challenge which you can join in here: https://secondwindleisure.com/2026/11/10/the-flower-hour-56-fun-with-sunflowers/

Last week I shared orange pincushions from my Cape Town trip. This week I’m sharing the yellow pincushions which we saw growing in abundance along the cliffs as well as at Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens.

Thursday Doors

For Dan’s Thursday Doors I am sharing some doors from The Waterfront in Cape Town. The doors are a side effect of the art but they still count – grin!

Click on the slideshow to view the pictures.

  • Multicoloured rhino sculpture in front of a door in the Cape Town Waterfront
    Multicoloured rhino sculpture in front of a door in the Cape Town Waterfront
  • Fantasy animal sculptures framing a door into a shop at the Cape Town Waterfront.
    Fantasy animal sculptures framing a door into a shop at the Cape Town Waterfront.
  • Ethnic artworks outside a lovely white door in the Cape Town Waterfront
    Ethnic artworks outside a lovely white door in the Cape Town Waterfront
  • Statue of a woman and two children outside the door to the art gallery at the Cape Town Waterfront
    Statue of a woman and two children outside the door to the art gallery at the Cape Town Waterfront
  • Clock Tower at the Waterfront
    Clock Tower at the Waterfront

Famous Books and Authors – Dead Poets Society, a novelization and my review

Novelizations Prior to reading this book I did not know about novelizations. I think it was more a case that I’d never thought about a book being written based on a movie. I’ve always assumed movies are based on books and as I rarely watch movies, preferring to read the book, I wasn’t aware that…

Famous Books and Authors – Dead Poets Society, a novelization and my review

Roberta Writes – New books: Something Fancy, Cakes for All Occasions available for pre-order and The Last Man available as an ebook

After several months of publishing inactivity this year, I am delighted that the second book in my Something Fancy Celebrating with Confectionary series is now available for pre-order on Amazon. Health issues with both my parents and starting a new job in May this year after a rather miserable ending to the previous job meant that I didn’t have either time or inspiration for writing. I didn’t participate in the anthology opportunities I have in the past. Now that it is spring and my parents health is improved and I am six months into the new job and feeling more settled and confident, I have been able to finish my 2026 publishing projects.

The Last Man now available as an ebook

Picture caption: Cover of The Last Man featuring Robbie Cheadle’s acrylic painting of orange aloes against a blue background. Cover design by Colleen Chesebro

Blurb

A collection of ghost and other dark stories and poems set in South Africa.

What is the curse of the Grande Montanha?
How did it affect sailors navigating the Cape of Storms?

If the walls of the Castle of Good Hope could speak, what stories would they tell?
What happened to the last man at the devastating Battle of Isandlwana?

Clasp the hands of some of South Africa’s most famous ghosts and witness their untimely deaths through this collection of poems, flash fiction, and short stories.

The Last Man, South African History, Legends & Poetry came out in October as a paperback available from TSL Publications here: https://tslbooks.uk/product/the-last-man-robbie-cheadle/

I am pleased to let you know that The Last Man is now available as an ebook from Lulu.com here: https://www.lulu.com/shop/robbie-cheadle/the-last-man/ebook/product-w48md92.html?page=1&pageSize=4

Something Fancy, Cakes for All Occasions, Book Two (Something Fancy Celebrating with Confectionary 2)

Picture caption: Cover of Something Fancy, Cakes for all Occasions, Book Two featuring cakes decorated with owls and roses made from fondant. Cakes created by Robbie Cheadle and cover designed by Colleen Chesebro.

Blurb

Robbie’s cake and fondant creations are extraordinary works of art as is demonstrated by her Lion Scream and Sunflowers Field cakes based on paintings by Edvard Munch and Vincent van Gogh respectively. Other unusual cakes include a life sized guitar cake, a water conservation cake featuring a dripping tap in a desert, and a Covid-19 memory cake featuring the young woman who lived in a shoe and home schooled all her children while doing all the cleaning, cooking, and washing.

This book is intended as a celebration of cake in poetry, art and design, as well as flavour and texture, and includes several of Robbie’s delicious recipes suitable for cake construction as well as unusual cake ideas like a meringue cake with fruit and cream and moist honey cake. There are ideas for cakes using fondant, chocolate, and cream to create the perfect cake for any celebration.

Robbie Cheadle is a poet, writer, and artist. Over the past twenty years, she has created art cakes, gingerbread constructions, and fondant figurines for a variety of purposes including as illustrations for the Sir Chocolate children’s book series she wrote with her son, Michael Cheadle.

Amazon pre-order link: https://www.amazon.com/Something-Fancy-Occasions-Celebrating-Confectionary-ebook/dp/B0HPKL5Z1C/

The paperback and ebook will be available on 23 November 2026.

Roberta Writes – W3, Thursday Doors, CFFC, more penguins and a stink bug

W3

This week’s W3 challenge is hosted by Josie who asks poets to write a poem starting with a line borrowed from another poem.

I selected the first line from Emily Dickenson’s poem, A bird, came down the Walk. You can read this poem here: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/56593/a-bird-came-down-the-walk-359

You can join in W3 here: https://skepticskaddish.com/2026/11/04/w3-prompt-236-weave-written-weekly/

A bird, came down the Walk by Robbie Cheadle

A bird, came down the Walk

It came at a waddling run –

Diving into the bright ocean

And frolicking in the African sun

***

Two friends were encouraged

To join in the swimming game

Wobbling down the jetty

Having fun their only aim

***

Ducking, diving, and floating

Enjoying the gentle waves

Such a pleasurable scene

I could only stand and gaze

***

Suitably cooled and water sated

They rocked awkwardly up the slope

A watching mate breyed laughter 1

At the three tuxedoed dopes

***

Assuming statue-like positions

Basking in the morning heat

Swum out for the time being

Now was the time to retreat

***

But my pleasure was not over

As I set out along the boardwalk

I saw penguins huddled under

And I had to stop and gawk

Penguins on the rocky beach at Betty’s Bay
A sleepy penguin near the board walk
Penguins under the boardwalk at Betty’s Bay
Penguins on the jetty at Betty’s Bay
Penguin basking in the sun on the rocks
This penguin is still moulting and has fluffy winter feathers

Thursday Doors

The photographs below were taken in a restaurant in Hermanus, Western Cape. The middle picture is the door to the ladies cloakroom. The last picture is more of the pictures decorating the ladies cloakroom. The decor struck my fancy so I photographed it and the door for Dan Antion’s Thursday Doors challenge. You can join in here: https://nofacilities.com/2026/11/05/indian-room/

The first picture is the late Amy Winehouse. I liked this picture.

CFFC

Dan’s CFFC challenge this week is street views with distractions. You can join in here: https://nofacilities.com/2026/11/02/street-views-distractions-cffc/

Road at the Waterfront in Cape Town with Table Mountain in the background
Road inside Kirstenbosch botanical gardens lined with old trees
Road inside the Waterfront in Cape Town with the clock tower
Picture through the window of the Hilton Hotel in Cape Town of Cape Town Harbour. The highway is running in front.

Stinkbug in the bath

The insect murderer, aka TC, is at a conference in Durban. I sent him these photographs of a stinkbug in the bath and my poem. Had he been home, he would have killed the stinkbug. He wasn’t so who knows where this little fellow is now – perhaps in his bed – haha!

Stinkbug in the bathtub

White ceramic adventure

Insect explorer

Photography – Animals used for war purposes

Hi everyone, it’s Robbie Cheadle here with you today with my November post in the Animal Photography section on LatinosUSA – English Edition. This month I am featuring photographs of Animals used for war purposes. I’ve decided to include the next four weeks of themes in each post so readers have more time to contribute…

Photography – Animals used for war purposes

Roberta Writes – Tanka Tuesday x 2 and The Flower Hour

Tanka Tuesday

I missed posting for Tanka Tuesday last week because TC and I were away in Cape Town for three days and then I presented training for 4 hours in the Cape Town office before flying home. I met my sister and her family on Sunday and we spent Friday with friends so this didn’t leave much time for blogging.

The first poem is a shadorma for Yvette’s ‘masks’ challenge which you can view here: https://tankatuesday.com/2026/10/27/tankatuesday-poetry-challenge-no-88-what-lies-behind-the-mask-10-27-26/

The second is a senryu for Colleen’s challenge which you can join in here: https://tankatuesday.com/2026/11/03/tankatuesday-poetry-challenge-no-89-senryu-11-3-26/

Unmasking

alchol

strips away veneers

exposing

true motives

unbridling thoughts and viewpoints

often quite shocking

***

penguins cavorting

dipping, ducking, and diving

toddlers in the surf

Picture caption: Three penguins leaving the water at Betty’s Bay in the Western Cape
Picture caption: Penguin playing in the water
Picture caption: penguin ducking into the water

The Flower Hour

We met my sister at Kirstenbosch botanical gardens in Cape Town. It is a most extraordinarily beautiful garden. One of the best in the world. The pincushion proteas are in season so I’m sharing a few of the pictures I took.

Picture caption: Orange pincushion proteas in the evening sunshine
Picture caption: several orange pincushion proteas
Picture caption: Close up of two orange pincushion proteas

Roberta Writes – d’Verse: A haunting, Thursday Doors & Sunday Stills

d’Verse – A Haunting

Melissa’s challenge is to write a poem for an artwork prompt. You can join in here: https://dversepoets.com/2026/10/20/a-haunting/

Svetlana Telets, Rain Woman (1996)

Pelting down

in hard, icy bullets

sheets of water

distorting

elongating

shredding fog

transforming tendrils

into shrieking banshees

swooping and circling

forlorn chimney pots

ripping at streaming hair

flowing black rivulets

while beating in anguish

at their broken hearts

***
Cowering behind

buffering door

child stands

ears covered

small, cold hands

blocking sound

holding back fear

desperate not to disturb

mother, who lies

prostrate with fever

oblivious to

devious deceptions

of storm filled night

Edvard Munch, The Dead Mother (1899)

Thursday Doors

For Dan’s Thursday Doors I’m sharing some of my photographs of doors inside Chateau de Chambord in the Loire Valley in France. You can join in Thursday Doors here: https://nofacilities.com/2026/10/22/more-october-doors/

This first photograph is of Chateau de Chambord on the inside as the photograph was taken inside the courtyard.

Picture caption: Chateau de Chambord from the courtyard

The following photographs are doors inside the chateau.

Sunday Stills

Terri is back from her travels and is hosting Sunday Stills. You can join in here: https://secondwindleisure.com/2026/10/18/sunday-stills-monthly-color-challenge-colors-of-lava-and-black/

Terri’s topic this week is colours of lava and black. I am sharing some of my photographs from inside the Sudwala Caves in South Africa.

This is what Wikipedia says about these caves:

The Sudwala Caves in Mpumalanga, South Africa, are set in Precambrian dolomite rock, which was first laid down about 2.8 billion years ago. The caves themselves formed about 240 million years ago. They are one of the oldest caves in the world.

Picture caption: TC and I in front of Samson’s Pillar inside the Sudwala caves
  • This formation is called Kentucky fried chicken

Roberta Writes – Book Blog Tour: About Midnight Madness: A Carnival of Nightmares

Picture caption: Banner for Midnight Madness A Carnival of Nightmares

Today, I am delighted to welcome Kaye Lynne Booth with her latest dark anthology, Midnight Madness: A Carnival of Nightmares.

This post highlights contributing authors Joseph Carrabis and C.R. Johansson.

About Midnight Madness: A Carnival of Nightmares

Cover for Midnight Madness: A Carnival of Nightmares featuring a book on a table, an owl and purple flowers

Midnight Madness: A Carnival of Nightmares contains fifteen stories which explore the fears that keep us awake at night. Featuring the winning story in the 2026 WordCrafter Dark Fiction Contest, as well as stories by veteran story tellers, Kaye Lynne Booth, Joseph Carrabis, Chris Barili, Rebecca M. Senese, C.R. Johansson, and more. The darkness in these stories touch on that which we fear most.

From a last big college prank gone awry, to an invisible beast none-the-less deadly, to a potion which makes you move faster than the eye can see, these stories showcase humanity’s deepest, darkest fears, how they shape our behaviors and their consequences they carry.

Everyone fears something. No one is immune. A sphere that drives men insane, apocalyptic zombies filled with sparkling dust, and even what happens when an electric car short circuits in the worst way are what make this story collection one you won’t want to miss.

Purchase Midnight Madness: A Carnival of Nightmares from Amazon US here: https://www.amazon.com/Midnight-Madness-Carnival-Nightmares-Anthology/dp/B0HLRV4Z4D

Reading by Joseph Carrabis

About Joseph Carrabis

Picture caption: Author photograph of Joseph Carrabis

Joseph Carrabis is a master storyteller with a sharp sense of humor and deep linguistic expertise. Hailing from New Hampshire, USA, his passion for writing began at the age of seven while washing dishes with his older sister, Sandra. With a career deeply embedded in evolving technologies, Joseph served as Chief Research Officer, Chief Neuroscience Officer, and Senior Research Fellow at several institutions and agencies while earning numerous awards for his journalism and trade technical writing.

Guest Post by C.R. Johansson

Carnival.

The mere word brings shivers of horror to some. While I admit modern day carnivals possess an eerie creepiness, I’m drawn to the mysterious aura surrounding 15th and 16th century traveling Romani groups. An enigmatic group of people who never revealed the details about their life. They traveled from town to town, earning a living by singing, performing, selling homemade goods and crafts, and engaging in the practice of soothsaying, exercising, and selling spells and potions intended to curse or heal. Often, they arrived and disappeared quickly hidden beneath the darkness of night.

In my short story “Sphere Of Solss”, a rugged space cowboy’s insatiable curiosity becomes his undoing when he chooses to gaze into the forbidden depths of a gypsy’s Sphere of Solss.

About C.R. Johansson

Picture caption: Author photograph of C.R. Johansson

C.R. Johansson writes gripping thriller, science fiction, fantasy, and even horror stories with a genetic twist. Her characters explore universes where the unknown prevails and the impossible is possible akin to her life with congenital heart disease. She works and plays in the Pacific Northwest with her husband. When not writing, she enjoys listening to the nearby river and communing with nature and the world around her. You can find her on Facebook and GoodReads.

The Giveaway

Enter the giveaway by leaving a comment at each stop you visit, for a chance to win.

Three lucky readers will receive a free digital copy of Midnight Madness: A Carnival of Nightmares, volume 4 in the Midnight Dark Fiction Anthology Series.

Winners are chosen in a random drawing after the tour is over and will be announced in the “WordCrafter News” post on Monday, October 26, here ib “Writing to be Read”.

Tour Schedule

Mon. 10/19 – Writing to be Read – Interview with Mark Milstead & Guest post from Christian De Matteo & promo for “Shadowmancer”

Tues. 10/20 – Poetry by Mich, Hotel by Masticadores, Masticadores Phillipines – guest post from Robb T. White & Reading from Kaye Lynne Booth

Wed. 10/21 – Writing to be Read – Reading from “Headmaster Burns” & guest post from Lindsey Martin-Bowen & Promo for “L’Bonhomme Sept Heures”

Thurs. 10/22 – Roberta Writes – Reading from Joseph Carrabis & guest post from C.R. Johannson

Fri. 10/23 – Writing to be Read – Guest Post by Abe Margel & promo for “The Shape of Denial” & Promo for “Apocalypse Family”