I will be abroad from Saturday this week. This is my last W3 and CFFC post and last Esther Chilton writing challenge until the week starting 13 July.

I’m late for W3 but never mind. Sheila’s prompt was to write a 44-word quadrille about what remains. You can read other contributions here: https://skepticskaddish.com/2025/06/18/w3-prompt-164-weave-written-weekly/

What remains (a quadrille)

On our wedding day

we threw our lives together

into one potjiekos pot

simmering over flames

Over time we both added meat,

vegetables, and spices,

sometimes it boiled

Now, twenty-five years later,

what remains is a rich broth

to sustain us through our autumn

***

Esther’s challenge for this week is outdoors. This is another childhood memory haibun. You can join in here: https://estherchilton.co.uk/2025/06/18/writing-prompts-70/

Thorn phobia

When I was a young girl of eight years old, my grandparents moved to a farm in what is now the Northwest Province of South Africa. The farmhouse was old and primitive, built from stone and with a gas water heater in an outside room for washing, bathing, and all other activities requiring hot water. The kitchen had an ancient wood-burning oven and a single electric plug for the refrigerator. There was a gas hob for daily cooking.

When my father took us to visit our grandparents for a weekend, my mother was horrified by the conditions. Hayley was a baby of about six months old, and Catherine was four. I remember my mother struggling to get us all washed and ready for bed both nights. She was distressed, but I thought it was great fun. I imagined Catherine and I were Carrie and Laura Ingalls from Little House on the Prairie.

The first morning, Saturday, the neighbouring farmer and his young son came to visit my grandparents. The son was twelve and had a diesel engine quad bike for driving around the farm. He offered to take me for a ride. I was thrilled until my father warned me about the acacia thorns. The area was densely populated with trees that grew long, sharp thorns of between 8 and 10 centimetres in length. He said, these thorns could puncture a quad bike tire and cause it to crash. Quad bikes were, in his opinion, very dangerous. I learned much later in life that his friend’s son had been killed on a quad bike. Despite his dislike of quad bikes, he didn’t say I couldn’t go for the ride. Nope, he just ruined it by scaring me to death about the thorns. “The thorns can go right through the sole of your shoe and lacerate your foot. Acacia sap and thorns contain irritating toxins which trigger a severe inflammatory response in the soft tissues and bones,” he said. I was terrified and his well-meant warning completely spoiled my quad bike adventure. I just wanted to get back to the farmhouse and stay inside where I was safe from thorns.

To this day, I am scared of thorns. If I look at a picture of a thorn or read about a thorn, my eyes start to prick, and I close them protectively. My dad’s words resulted a lifelong fear of thorns. It astonishes me, when I think back, as he was really being overly dramatic. The thorns will do the things he said, but it is rare for a person to injure themselves by stepping on an acacia thorn. They are so long, they are difficult to miss when walking. I am not, however, fearful of quad bikes.

thorn anxiety

led to phobia for life

eyes prickle and burn

CFFC – High angle

These are my photographs for Dan’s CFFC challenge: High angle. You can join in here: https://nofacilities.com/2025/06/23/view-from-below-high-angle-cffc/

Merril’s challenge for d’Verse: Poetics is as follows: So, today’s prompt is to write about that thin line between triumph and defeat, or if you’d like, you may focus on one or the other. You may respond to the poetic examples or the painting, as well.

You can other contributions here: https://dversepoets.com/2025/06/17/poetics-triumph-and-defeat/

Because I’m late posting this poem, I’m including it for open link night here: https://dversepoets.com/2025/06/19/greetings-from-boston-and-an-invitation-to-join-us-live/

I have written a double haiku for this challenge.

Undefeated

mirage of defeat

merely easy illusion

excuse to give up

***

opportunities

manifest from painful learnings

hardship a teacher

Thursday Doors

You can join in Thursday Doors here: https://nofacilities.com/2025/06/19/doors-for-sale/

Today, I am sharing a few pictures from our visit to Kaminarimon Gate (Thunder Gate) in Tokyo. Kaminarimon Gate, which stands at the entrance to the processional road leading to Senso-ji, is Asakusa’s most famous landmark. Inside the gate, standing on either side are enormous wooden statues of the protective Buddhist deities Fujin (wind god) and Raijin (thunder god) after which the gate is named.

Kim quadrille prompt is to write a poem of exactly 44 words using the word honest. You can join in here: https://dversepoets.com/2025/06/16/quadrille-226-honestly/

Honestly Dishonest

Honesty is an anomaly

Many people claim to be honest

Truly believe they are honest

But they live a version of truth

The version palatable to others

Few of us live unburnished truth

Fearlessly facing the world alone

Spitting in the eye of deception

Esther Chilton’s writing prompt this week is blue. You can join in here: https://estherchilton.co.uk/2025/06/11/writing-prompts-69/

A Blue Moment

When I was a little girl of seven, my cousin received a plaster of paris moulding set for a birthday gift. The set was a Disney theme and included moulds of various popular characters including Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Goofy, Pluto, and Donald and Daisy Duck. The kit included plaster of paris power and water-based paints with two paint brushes.

One look at that kit and I was envious. I wanted a kit like it, but my birthday had passed, and Christmas was months away. I persuaded my cousin to let me make two characters. He agreed to Minnie Mouse and, under duress, Goofy. He wanted me to make Daisy as at ten years old, he wasn’t keen on anything perceived as girly.

I carefully mixed the plaster of paris and moulded the characters. It was a hot day and they dried quickly so I was able to paint them. Goofy had blue trousers and a yellow jersery and Minnie had a pink dress with flowers on it. I was a good painter for my age and the characters look great. It was at this point that the day went wrong for me. Ian suggested I put the characters in a submarine made from an old HTH bottle. Back then, HTH came in large white cylinder shaped bottles with screw on lids. He had cut a door in the bottle to serve as a hatch. He would contribute his Action Man to the adventure and wanted me to contribute my two characters. I didn’t want to but he talked me in to contributing Minnie.

The great journey along the lines of Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne commenced. Unfortunately, the submarine flipped over to the door side, took on copious water, and sank. Ian rescued it from the pool and inside we found his Action Man covered in a soggy mess of melted plaster paris and paint. It was a great tragedy for me.

I gave the surviving Goofy character to Granny Joan, and she kept it on her dressing table until she passed away when I was eleven. I remember seeing it when my parents took me to my grandparents’ house to help Granddad Jack pack up her clothes and other personal items. I wanted to take it, but didn’t as it felt like stealing. In retrospect, I’s sure it was thrown out and I wish I had taken it.

artistic success

destroyed by misguided faith

second chance passed up

Sunday Stills – Paths and Trails

You can join in Terri’s Sunday Stills here: https://secondwindleisure.com/2025/06/15/sunday-stills-paths-and-trails-in-the-great-outdoors/

Dora’s Poetics challenge: What I’d like us to do is to write a poem that conjures a view (whether from our travels or everyday life, whether from desire or experience) that is colored by the emotion of the moment. You can join in here: https://dversepoets.com/2025/06/10/poetics-a-view-of-ones-own/

The Certainty of Life

There is a quiet peace

in our deep certainty

of the changing seasons

In our unwavering conviction

that the frigid winds of winter

will always give way

to the bright blooms of spring

that the ferocious heat of summer

will invariably succumb

to the cooler temperatures

and rich colours of autumn

There is a deep restfulness

in our unwavering confidence

that the sun will always rise

sometimes early

and sometimes late

sometimes obscured by cloud

but it comes up every day

in celebration of life

Thursday Doors

These photographs are from Inyati Game Lodge in the Sabi Sands Game Reserve. I’ve show a few of the doors and also some sunrise and sunset pictures to compliment my poem above. You can join in Thursday Doors here: https://nofacilities.com/2025/06/12/colorful-pittsburgh/

Esther’s challenge this week is paper. You can read other contributions here: https://estherchilton.co.uk/2025/06/04/writing-prompts-68/

Paper dolls (shadorma prose)

When I was eight, my sister, Hayley, was born. She suffered from cholic and was a terrible howler. Mom was exhausted and thin trying to care for this fretful baby who never slept. Granny Joan and Granddad Jack were living and working at a yacht club on the Vaal River, and they offered to have me to stay with them for the duration of the summer school holidays.

I was delighted. I loved staying with my father’s parents, and they liked having me as I was quiet and used to entertaining myself. The South African summer holiday runs for six weeks from the beginning of December, through Christmas, until approximately mid-January. The yacht club was great fun, with lots of family staying in chalets and enjoying the many activities including boating, swimming in the large pool, and eating endless ice creams and snacks from the small shop that Granny Joan ran with a helper. I made a few friends and joined in the swimming but, never one for crowds, I also liked alone time.

Prior to school closing, paper dolls had become popular. All the girls wanted these glamorous dolls made from thick cardboard. They came in a pack with stands and a vast wardrobe of clothing with tags to attach them to the dolls. I didn’t have one of these packs, and I didn’t ask for one, but somehow, Granny Joan knew I wanted paper dolls. Granny was an artist, and she kindly turned her drawing hand to sketching me a series of beautiful figures along the lines of Betty and Veronica from the Archie comics. She cut these figures out of firm cardboard and even made stands for them. She then drew several outfits for the dolls with tags, and I spent many happy hours colouring them in with felt tipped pens. I treasured these dolls and kept them for months before they eventually became too wobbly and bent to play with anymore. The creation and subsequent playing with these dolls are some of my favourite memories with Granny.

paper dolls

dressed in smart outfits

attached with

folded tags

providing hours of pleasure

for reserved girl child

Sunday Stills – Pretty in Pink

Terri’s prompt for Sunday Stills is pink in nature. These are pictures of pink flowers from my summer garden (it is now winter). You can join in here: https://secondwindleisure.com/2025/06/08/sunday-stills-monthly-color-challenge-shades-of-pink-in-the-great-outdoors/

Thank you to Thomas Wikman for this lovely review of Burning Butterflies. Thomas has a wonderful appreciation of nature and wildlife which shines through in his review.

If you don’t know Thomas, his has a lovely blog where he writes about Leonberger and other dogs as well as book reviews and other interesting dog and book related articles. Do take a look around while you are there.

Review of Burning Butterflies

Lillian’s challenge is to write a quadrille using the word sunrise. You can read other contributions here: https://dversepoets.com/2025/06/02/the-sunll-come-up/

Dan’s Thursday Doors Writing Challenge has closed, but I wanted to write for Resa’s picture below, so I’ve combined the sunrise and photograph challenges into a single poem.

You can read all the contributions to Dan’s Thursday Doors Writing Challenge here: https://nofacilities.com/thursday-doors-writing-challenge-2025/

You can find Resa’s wonderful blog here: https://graffitiluxandmurals.com/2025/06/01/butterfly-poetess/

Contrasts

Outside, heavy rain fell in sheets

the thick darkness of the night

complementing the ebony shelves

and heavy leather-bound books

comprising the men’s library

Soft music reminiscent of sunrise

on a hot summer’s morning

crept through the drapes

causing the grey readers to smile

I entered these three photographs in a B&W photograph competition. Do you like any of them?

What Amazon says

It’s the summer of 1992. Clara Jane is an alternative music-loving graduate from a broadcast school in Detroit. She lands her first job at a small market station in northern Michigan in a one-stoplight town called Saturn.

The hyper-local programming (featuring lost farm animal reports and radio obits) and its mix of light hits and great oldies is a far cry from the rock star glamour she hoped to achieve with a radio career.

But Clara finds a home with an eccentric cast of characters, especially the recently-divorced morning man Seth Jones. As Clara and Seth bond over their shared sense of humor and a mutual love of different genres of music, the station is sold and staff members start to be replaced by automation. Will Clara find the radio stardom she craves before the station goes completely robotic?

My review

I reviewed this book in my capacity as a member of Rosie’s Book Review Team. If you would like your book reviewed, you can contact Rosie Amber here: http://rosieamber.wordpress.com/.

I must say upfront that I really appreciated the time and setting of this book. I enjoyed learning about how a radio station, and the DJ’s who worked at them, operated during the early 1990s which was when I was listening to radio stations and top music hits the most. I also appreciated the insights into life for a female DJ at a time when women were just starting to come into that market. The commentary around the ‘boss’ expectations of what a working woman should look like and how she should dress took me right back in time to when I first started working in 1997. There was no equality between men and women in the workplace, and it’s still difficult in many countries and work situations.

The intricate details about the working of the equipment, the chats and impromptu conversations between the morning team, and the selection of music for the audience was all fascinating to me. And then there were the characters.

Carla is a young woman who has pushed back against her parents’ expectations for her and followed her own path. She is on a journey of discovery and soon learns that many obstacles are placed in the path of working women in male dominated jobs. The exploitation of Carla and her ambitions by the new boss were frustrating, sad, and very relatable. Carla, of course, needs to learn what life is all about and she makes a judgement error that almost leads to disaster. Walking Carla’s path of discovery reminded me of my own and I found it riveting. This is not a thriller or an adventure, it is a coming-of-age story with a romance element.

Seth is an appealing character, dreamy and fun, but also idealistic, unrealistic, and recovering from a failed and disappointing relationship. I found myself routing from him throughout this slow burn romance. Rad is the opposite of Seth, ambitious, self-absorbed and competitive, he doesn’t come across particularly well, but he is on his own coming-of-age journey and improves dramatically over time as he too starts learning about change and needing to constantly evolve as a career person.

In summary, a most entertaining and interesting book that shares much about life as a DJ in the USA in the early 1990s and which is populated with relatable and interesting characters.

Saturn’s Favorite Music is available from Amazon US here: https://www.amazon.com/Saturns-Favorite-Music-Laura-Lee/dp/0965734552

Dan’s Thursday Doors challenge closes today. With these two final entries, I have written twelves poems for twelve different contributions. Today’s photographs were contributed by, in order, Miriam Hurdle and Teagan Riordain Geneviene.

Thank you to Dan and all the photograph contributors for making this such a wonderful challenge.

You can join in here: https://nofacilities.com/thursday-doors-writing-challenge-2025/

It floats (shadorma)

happiness

floats just beyond reach

beckoning

enticing

our lack of understanding

leads to wrong choices

Beguiling (shadorma)

life presents

opportunities

lockless doors

just waiting

without signs or directions

for our decisions

Thank you to those of you who wrote for my photograph contributions. I am delighted my pictures inspired you. You can read these entries here:

 Mother Magic (Thursday Doors Writing Challenge)

Robbie’s Inspiration – Thursday Doors Writing Challenge – The Spider #poetry #photography

One Door leads to the Other

Gratitude at the Door, #BookReviews, #TDWC, & Whatnot

29 May 2025 Steffie Does Art

Yearning for Yesterday

Yearning for Yesterday: On to Tibet