Joy

This is the last photo on the Bluedaisy Photo Challenge.

I can hardly believe that I have posted a photo every week for 52 weeks – Wow!

JOY! 

in the dark of the year

twinkling lights bring warmth and joy

new hope burning bright

~

dark Winter

candle-light twinkles

hope burns bright

~

Joining in with Ronovan’s Haiku Challenge: YEAR and NEW

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So many reasons to feel joyful today:

A drum roll please!
A brand new Photo Challenge for 2016

We are proud, happy and excited to present our spanking new weekly Photo Challenge all ready for 2016

Four, fab, photo fiends have joined together to create this 52 week photo challenge.

Let us introduce ourselves:

Cathy from Nanacathydotcom

Jane from Rainbow Junkie

Melissa from The Aran Artisan

Sandra from Wild Daffodil

We have so enjoyed Jamie’s (Bluedaisy) photo challenge that we just did not want to stop – many thanks to Jamie for starting this off and for her great list of prompts – we hope we have created an equally inspiring list.

The ‘rules’ such as they are, are very relaxed. It is up to you to take those prompts and run with them:

1. You could make it your own challenge to post a photo each week for 52 weeks,

or

2. See each week as a fresh challenge and enter as many weeks or as few as you like. You will be very welcome whenever you want to join us.

3.We intend to enter just one photo as the ‘challenge’ photo, but feel free to enter as many as you like.

4. Whether you like to take a new photo each week according to the subject, or search your archives to find a photo that fits – all are welcome.

5. Join in at any time during the year, the more the merrier.

6. Each week the PROMPT goes live from 9am GMT on Monday to 9am GMT the following Sunday. We start on Monday 4th.January, 2016.

7. Anytime during the week post a photo inspired by the prompt on your blog Once Cathy has posted her photo that week (usually on a Tuesday) you can add your link in the Comments section of her post.

You are welcome to download and keep the list or display it on your blog.

Melissa and I like to combine the Photo Challenge with Ronovan’s Haiku Challenge. Sometimes it is an extra brain-tease but on the whole one often seems to support the other – it really is fun – have a go!

Or maybe the photo will inspire a poem or short story – oooh – some fun possibilities!

But of course there is absolutely NO need to combine them if that does not appeal – this is primarily a photo prompt.

Primary Aim: FUN!

NEXT WEEK’s PROMPT – Our first!

GAME

Any ideas?

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Magic

 

daylight blues transform

the magic of candlelight

making colours sing

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Two photos needed today for the Bluedaisy Photo Challenge prompt: MAGIC.

Ronovan’s Haiku Challenge prompt words: SING and DAY

Blues could apply to mood in this haiku, and then I think I might have captured the two opposing sentences.

For a real treat pop over to read Annette’s Haiku – just beautiful!

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On the textile tour in Japan we went to a weaving workshop where they wove the most highly prized silk kimonos. The dyes used look as in the top photograph in daylight, but when the lamp was shone on them they turned into rich golds, and warm pinks, giving the kimonos a completely different look at night – now that’s magic!

Last week of Bluedaisyz Photo Challenge next week, prompt word:

JOY

And then 4 of us have worked together on a brand new list for 2016! That brings me a feeling of JOY right there! We have put together a cracking list of photo prompts – eeeek! Exciting!

It would be absolutely wonderful if you’d like to join in.

Red

Red Henry: He has tales to tell and the scars to prove it.

I have had Henry with me for about 30 years, a lot has happened in those 3 decades. He finally needs to go into retirement and be replaced with a younger model. I just could not bring myself to take him to the dump – he holds memories – how ridiculous to have a sentimental attachment to a gadget, but he’s seen me through some tough times.

I asked Miss E (8) to think about what we could do with Henry, and she came up with the idea that he could be used to hold toys for Little Miss M (3), “because she would love to push them around” – and I do believe she would!

So after a bit a a clean he has taken up his new post as a toy carriage.

And if that doesn’t please Little Miss M as much as we think it will – he can be used as a moveable plant pot holder for the heavy blue ceramic pot holding a custard apple plant that I have grown from seed.

One of Henry’s Tales:

Cue wobbly camera effect as we go back to circa 1989……..The day was fraught with my 11 year old middle child (!) being very annoying. He was pretty cross with me for leaving his Dad, and I was pretty cross with him for being bolshie. We were all struggling to adjust to the new situation. We lived in a town at that time and were planning to go shopping, he was refusing to come with us. In the end he persuaded me to leave him at home – we only planned to be about 45 mins so rightly or wrongly (wrongly as it turned out!) I decided I could really do with a break from the arguments and took the other two with me.

The three of us were wandering peacefully along in the pedestrian shopping street when a bike came up beside us very fast and screeched to a halt! It was middle child looking terrified – he garbled, without drawing breath “I wanted to be helpful, so I thought I’d lay the fire but it caught alight and I tried to put it out but it made a mess so I vacuumed it up and now the vacuum cleaner’s on fire!!!”

“Ok,”I said, “we will all go home” (I could be very calm in a crisis in those days) and he took off on his bike. We hurried back to the car park and drove home.

When we arrived, I was relieved to see no flames licking the roof, only an ashen faced boy holding on tightly to his bike standing at the gate waiting for us.

Opening the door I was greeted by a hideous smell, a mixture of burnt plastic and human hair (a lot of hair seems to be vacuumed up in our house) have you ever burnt hair – it smells DISGUSTING.

But no smoke and no fire! Phew!

Luckily the smouldering pieces once inside Henry’s belly had seemingly run out of oxygen and although they had burnt through the dust bag and a made a small hole in the canvas dust bag cover, and some scorch marks on the inside, no further harm was done and Henry still worked perfectly well, and soldiered on reliably until just a few weeks ago.

On the plus side – middle child was quite subdued and beautifully behaved for the rest of the week, returning to his more natural good humour and playfulness.

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cantankerous child

with charm and a certain look

he redeems himself

~

and a 3/5/3

cheeky boy

with a charming look

puts things right

~

Which do you like best?

These are definitely Haibun this week: story summed up with a haiku

And the new Henry seems to be settling in nicely

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Joining in with Ronovan’s ever expanding band of Haiku Challengers. Prompt words: CHARM and LOOK

and

Bluedaisyz 52 week Photo Challenge: RED

Bluedaisyz Challenge is coming to an end. 😦

A few of us have enjoyed it so much we have been chatting behind the scenes and hopefully there will be some exciting developments to tell you about next week. 😀

I’m very excited!

The photo prompt for next week is:

MAGIC!

Contrast

wolfing down the cake

contrasts with her daily mood:

“No, that’s not for me!” 

~

Combining the two challenges of Bluedaisyz Weekly Photo Challenge: CONTRAST

and

Ronovan’s weekly Haiku Challenge: prompt words CAKE and WOLF

The photo is of my Mum on her 87th birthday, she often says “No” to things, but seemed genuinely delighted with her cake. Perhaps it was because it had a splendid Welsh Dragon on it, the cook at her nursing home handpainted it for her – I cried! Such a wonderfully touching thing for him to do.

Mum has dementia, a cruel and hideous disease, so it is particularly special when we can see that she is really enjoying herself.

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And another one:

hungry wolf

pushes cake aside 

to feed on dreams

~

The ‘hungry wolf’ refers to the creative driver that lives inside which sometimes just will not let me attend to the everyday mundanities – know what I mean?

Photo prompts for the next 3 weeks – the last three weeks of the year – are RED, MAGIC and JOY

Update: Ronovan’s Review:

Contrast | Wild Daffodil. There are two Haiku, but I’m focusing on the first one. The Wild One might not see this as humor, but the fun I received from it tells me differently. The imagery and the truth of it makes it a sweet Haiku people will smile at when they read. The second Haiku is nice, but not humor and the first is so good and there is so much sentiment in it that it steals the show.

I’m thrilled that Ron picked up on the humour – one of Mum’s strongest and most endearing characteristics.

Movement

俳句

black and white

bullet train speeding

past Fuji

短歌

colour missed along the way

rushing through another day

~

The photo above is my attempt at taking a photo of the bullet train as it came into the station and below……

…. Surprisingly thrilling – this is my first sighting of Mount Fuji, photo taken from the train.

Joining in with Bluedaisyz Weekly Photo Challenge, prompt word: MOVEMENT

and

(Sometimes, just sometimes these challenges go together like peaches and cream!)

Ronovan’s Weekly Haiku Challenge, prompt words: BLACK and WHITE

A gorgeous Haiku to enjoy at the Daily Echo.

I’m going with the the 3.5.3 format again this week, in combining the challenges but have added two 7 syllable lines to create a Tanka – or is it? ooooooh, now what am I doing, playing around with the ‘rules’, I can see our Japanese guide looking sideways at me with a bemused smile at this uneducated Westerner.

And here another Tanka (5,7,5,7,7 this time)

white light heats the day

bright rays of inspiration

black night integrates

as winter hibernation

holds seeds of the new forming

~

And pop on over to ‘Me and the Boss’ for a Troiku and an explanation of how it works. A new one to me and this got my haiku head spinning – I must try this one out…… here goes

white light heats the day

bright rays of inspiration

black night integrates

*

white light heats the day

bringing colours out to play

made brighter by black

*

black shadows hold

bright rays of inspiration

white highlights sparkle

*

a day of colour

comes to a glorious end

black night integrates

*

What do you think? Gosh I had fun with that one!

Next week’s Photo Challenge prompt word is CONTRAST. This will be the 49th week, only 3 more weeks after that – gosh, I’m amazed that I have been able to rise to this challenge each week. I did mix up the weeks once and had to swap them round but I have actually posted a photo each week – it’s been fun – thank you to Jamie for coming up with such a brilliant list of subjects.

Remember

remember

a life of giving

carved in stone

~

This Haiku is inspired by 3 people this week.

Firstly Jamie and her Photo Challenge prompt word: REMEMBER

Secondly Ronovan and his Haiku challenge prompt words: LIFE and GIVE

And thirdly by Haiku Hound Denis who left a wonderfully encouraging comment in response to my post Windy Haiku

“Each month I meet up with a bi-lingual haiku group that is organised by a Japanese Haiku master, (mistress). She encourages us to write 3/5/3 in English as this translates almost perfectly to 17 syllables in Japanese………Be adventurous and have a go at a couple of 3/5/3/ after 5/7/5 and see how you feel!!!”

I’ve had a go and it feels GOOD!

Thank you Denis!

The photo was taken in a cemetery in Tokyo, where I went to find a peaceful spot to have my lunch. The wooden memorial boards (Tohba) are carved to mark an anniversary, either of the date of death, or birth or a special occasion.

Whilst writing this haiku I realised, everyone’s grave marks a life of giving, each one of us gives something during our lifetime …….

When a close friend of mine died many years ago, I had the task of choosing the inscription for her headstone. I adapted a card that I was sent at the time and chose:

“Those who give of themselves live on within the hearts of others”

I had this in mind as I was writing the Haiku.

Grey

~

Grey skies overhead

Inspiration underfoot

Japanese design

Even drain covers delight

When the eye is tuned to beauty

~

Joining in with Ronovan’s weekly haiku challenge. He gave us the prompt words COVER and COLOUR this week.

Ronovan also invites us to write other forms of poems in the haiku family of poetry. I have gone for a Tanka this week, which is a Haiku 5,7,5 syllable pattern, followed with two lines of 7 syllables each.

Pop over to see Edwina’s Haiku using these prompt words as always she makes me smile! And don’t miss Melissa’s amazingly rich, inspiring and varied post, I don’t know how she does it!

Also joining in with Bluedaisyz Weekly Photo Challenge: prompt word this week GREY

Cathy has entered a great photo taken not too far from where I live, how I love that place. So many different greys, love it!

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As you might have guessed – I’m BACK!

Home after the most amazing trip to Japan – what a wonderful country – I have fallen in love with the place and the people. Already I’m wondering about going back one day. If you ever get the chance to go – GO!

I’m so excited about being able to share my journey with you, although right now  I am still recovering as I feel exhausted and have spent most of the last two days in bed recharging the batteries.

I travelled with a group of 11 other textile enthusiasts and our superb Japanese Guide, Yuka.

Jeni was the first to photograph a manhole cover and after that several of us were hooked! Our guide told us there was a website with a collection of the cover designs, and I have just looked that up – incredible designs – click here to see some more.

The manhole cover above was found in Nagoya which is well known for its tie-dye fabrics and we stopped here for a tie-dye workshop whilst on our way from Tokyo to Kyoto. I’ll be sharing more about this workshop and others later – ooooh so much I want to tell you about …. but first I need to sort the hundreds of photos out – hurray for digital cameras!

Next Week’s Photo Prompt is REMEMBER.

 

Sharp

¥

Haiku mind sharpens

in the tranquil rock garden

daily bell for peace

¥

Weekly haiku challenge prompt words: HAIKU & MIND

Joining in with Bluedaisyz weekly photo challenge, week 44 of 52: SHARP

Next week: SPIN

Excitement

crazed muse moves the pen

scrimbling with excitement

creates peaceful mind

~

Joining in with Ronovan’s Haiku Challenge: MUSE and PEN

The two sentences work like this:

crazed muse moves the pen, scrimbling with excitement

scrimbling with excitement, creates peaceful mind

Did I manage to have opposite meanings in the two sentences do you think? I think I did – that, to me, is very exciting! (but not the main reason I’m excited this week)

Maybe it also conveys a little message – not a traditional moral tale or words of great wisdom perhaps, but that scribbling and scrimbling can be like a meditation and a stress-buster.

Have you heard of ‘scrimbling’ it is a kind of two-handed scribbling that Miss E did at school to help with learning to write and well as to calm the mind and help with concentration. Perhaps that was what Jackson Pollock was trying to do – to calm his troubled mind

I found scribbling and scrimbling on a large (A1 or larger) piece of card to be very freeing and wonderful to do.

EXCITEMENT is a very timely photo prompt this week! I’m VERY excited as I am preparing to go away to the land of the Haiku!!!

I am going on an organised textile tour and will be visiting artisans in their workshops. We have been told that the Japanese like to swap business cards, so I made some to take with me.

First I collaged one side of the large piece of card

So relaxing to do – just tear up old magazines and place randomly til the whole area is covered – I did this whilst sitting in my sweet little caravan in the garden, called Pippin.

When the card is covered and the glue  has dried doodle all over it with a silver pen

It is great to know that it will all be cut up anyway so you can just do loads of random doodles.

Then came the delight of scribbling all over the back of it – gosh it’s good to do this – taps into the inner child and feels SO relaxing and silly and fun all at the same time.

 

I cut the card up into business card sized pieces and printed out my details to stick on the back with the scribbling as a background.

 

To do this I used this wonderful little gadget – ooh I do love a crafty gadget

A Xyron sticker maker. I also have a 5″ wide one as well for making bigger stickers, called a Xyron Creative Station. The grandchildren LOVE them.

You push in your artwork or printed paper one side and pull it out the other and hey presto! it is sticky on the back – magic!

 

We have been told that the Japanese also like to give little presents so I’m making some little crochet offerings to take with me

Have you been to Japan? Any timely tips?

Joining in with Bluedaisyz Photo Challenge: EXCITEMENT

Next week’s photo prompt: SHARP

Pop on over to bask in Cathy’s ‘excitement’.

And for a beautiful, romantic Haiku see Liz’s, here.

Orange

Sunset’s orange light

Anticipating dark night

Shadows to delight

The call went out

Gather on the cliffs tonight

For cheerful magic 

Bluedaisyz Photo Challenge: ORANGE

Ronovan’s Haiku prompts: CHEER and CALL 

Location: Durdle Door, south coast of England

Free Shipping worldwide in the Society6 shops til 25th. Oct.

Here’s a link to mine: Wild Daffodil at Society6

Listen

No grief, no pining

I will be glad to be free

Of this old body

~

 

For Bluedaisyz Photo prompt: LISTEN

Another soothing take on ‘Listen’ by Cathy: and click here for Jamie’s avian photo.

Only slightly smaller than life-size this statue/sculpture is in a little pergola in Doreen’s garden in Branscombe, Devon

~

Allegory

Pine tree pines for cones

Dropping to the ground to grow

Not grief, just pining

~

And Ronovan’s Haiku Challenge: PINE and GRIEF (including a nature reference)

Go see this post by TJ –  but allow some time to really take a good look at the sunrise photo – just stunning! Click on it and see it much bigger with more detail – gorgeous!

And Olga’s Haiku takes my breath away, the sparkling picture and that last line ……..!

Next week’s photo prompt is ORANGE

Shadows

Photographer keeps

Harping on about shadows

Clear shapes made with joy

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I took Miss E stone carving with Sarah from the Sculpture Hut and with the chippings we had a bit of fun creating a picture for this week’s photo prompt: SHADOW

Go see Cathy’s graphic response.

I think this also qualifies for Cee’s Odd Ball Challenge.

Ronovan’s Haiku Prompts this week: HARP and CLEAR.

I absolutely LOVE the sound of the harp and remembering a wonderful Christmas in the candle-lit Hot Spring Baths at Esalen, when a man and woman dressed in white angel robes, complete with magnificently huge angel wings, played to us on harps as we lay in the hot steamy water – truly heavenly!

*

harps played by angels

fanning strings with feathered wings

dancing with my heart

*

Al the Author inspired a great bit of banter this week.

Next week’s Bluedaisy Photo Challenge: LISTEN

What would you photograph?

Empty

Space without a sound

Staggering around alone

All is empty here

 

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Joining in with Bluedaisyz Weekly Photo Challenge: EMPTY

And Ronovan’s Weekly Haiku Challenge: STAG and NOISE

Crumbs I found both challenges this week, well, challenging!

Because Bluedaisy has given us all 52 weeks of words already, which I really like, I usually get the photo lined up and then fit the haiku to the picture. So when STAG came out as one of the Haiku prompt words – YIKES!

So after a brain-aching half an hour of counting syllables I have used a little poetic licence – hope you like it. The two sentences work like this:

space without a sound, staggering around alone

staggering around alone, all is empty here

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The way the Haiku turned out reminds me of when I was ill for all that time with the dratted virus – fortunately I’m back to full energy levels now.

Next week the photo prompt is NUMBERS, perhaps I will wait for the Haiku words and get the picture to fit the Haiku prompt for a change, that might be easier. Now I need a coffee!

View

A most glorious walk on Sunday: we walked along a ridge, part of the Wessex Ridgeway, and then down into the valley and along the opposite ridge which forms the horizon. I love long walks when you can see exactly where you have been.

*

A perfect day ends

With tears of joy and champagne

We celebrate life

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Bluedaisyz Weekly photo challenge: VIEW

Ronovan’s weekly Haiku Challenge: TEARS and WINE

A perfect day ends with tears of joy and champagne

With tears of joy and champagne we celebrate life

*

Here’s wishing you all your very own perfect day.

Elbow and the BBC Orchestra

‘One Day Like This’

Cheers!

Peace

*

***

***

the sand, a bridge ‘tween

land and sea, waves ebb and flow,

fluidity

*

Ynylas Beach in March with Linda

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Joining in with Ronovan’s Haiku Challenge: BRIDGE and MOVE

Oh my word, that this photo prompt of PEACE should come right now is serendipitously perfect. It has caused me to wonder which way to go with it (thank you to Judy for her suggestion ) – how on earth to represent PEACE in one photograph – thinking of how we use the word in everyday language:

At Peace                             Peace be with you

Peaceful                             Love and Peace

Peace and quiet                  Rest in Peace

A rose called Peace

(picture from Google images)

I have mentioned before that for some years I was privileged to host the international camp of the Dances of Universal Peace – such magical times. There is a particular dance for peace that is so beautifully explained and danced here:

And the prayer we sang at the end of each dance session: May All Beings Be Well:

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❤ Dedicated to the memory of my brother, who left us on 2nd. August, 2015 ❤

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Clean

Bluedaisyz 52 week Photo Challenge: prompt word: CLEAN

You know you need to take action when your 8 year old granddaughter gets out the step ladder and says she needs to clean your walls!

Life has been a bit topsy turvy for a while and having stripped the wallpaper off the walls in the hall, it has been left for rather a long time – I had got used to it with its streaks of old wallpaper paste, and managed to ignore it – however Miss E could stand it no longer!

I liked the pose she struck in her zig-zag leggings – hope you do too.

See Jamie’s ‘clean’, and Cathy’s demanding take on the subject

Next week: SILVER

Purple

 

Bluedaisyz Weekly Photo Challenge: PURPLE

Master R has asked for a blanket to be mainly purple and green – a bit of a challenge for me. I have persuaded him to let me add a few more colours.

I have started colouring a page in ‘The Enchanted Forest” in purples to play with colour combos

Have you seen these books

very relaxing to do on holiday

Routine

Bluedaisyz Photo Challenge: Routine

The photo is of me proudly holding my twin granddaughters back in 2012.

My daughter-in-law is the Routine Queen – thank goodness, because I don’t know how we would have survived those first few months without her brilliant regime!

Other Routine photos: Cathy’s and Jamie’s

 

Soft

Can more than five fruits

On one branch survive and thrive?

Only time will tell

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Joining in with Bluedaisyz Weekly Photo Challenge: SOFT

and

Ronovan’s Weekly Haiku Challenge. Prompt words FIVE and THRIVE

Now I know the Haiku does not have many of the required elements, namely: it does not work as two sentences, it does not have opposite meanings within the two sentences, it does not have a moral or poignant message to impart.

It does have 17 syllables in 5,7,5 format.

It is about nature.

And most important I have done it – a stretch for me at the mo as my poorly body is affecting my poorly brain, which does not want any challenges at ALL! I’m still in a fog of virus. It is going on for so long! But having heard of others who have had this for weeks and weeks, I am not fighting it – just sitting it out, it is only a virus and I will get better. Thank goodness for doodling, crochet, BBC iPlayer and some wonderful blogs to read.

The peach tree is my dwarf tree, planted last autumn, and only knee high. I posted about it back in March, when it was covered in bright blossom. Now it is covered in fruit, isn’t nature wonderful! I’m wondering if I should have thinned out the fruits, to get just a few fat juicy ones. There are masses, they look gorgeous but are still small and rock hard under that downy SOFT skin.

Some other SOFTIES to check out: Cathy – mmm delicious; Jamie, baaaa

Next week’s Photo prompt is ROUTINE – I’m hoping inspiration will strike – nothing yet. Routine and me don’t really go together.

Scent

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Bluedaisyz Photo Challenge this week the subject is BLACK, but I mistakenly entered my ‘black’ photo last week, so last week’s subject SCENT is what I am entering today.

Luckily, I have had this sitting in my ‘drafts’ as I am still ill with really the worst virus I have ever had the misfortune of coming in contact with and my brain is still very fuzzy.

Miss E has a particularly acute sense of smell and spent one morning going round my garden smelling all the plants to see which ones would make good perfumes or good teas. Here she is making Lemon Balm and Black Peppermint tea. I have always enjoyed Lemon Balm tea, but it was Miss E’s idea to add a leaf of mint – delicious!

Recipe

In a tea pot put a handful of lemon balm sprigs, two leaves of peppermint and one ordinary tea bag.

Fill with boiling water.

Leave for 2 minutes, if you are not superstitious, give it a stir.

Pour into cups and enjoy.

The taste is quite sweet enough for me but Miss E likes to add a little honey.

Also good as a cold or chilled drink.

Miss E asked how we could drink this in the winter, we talked of drying, but she wanted to do something instantly, so I suggested that we put the herbs into ice cubes. She chopped them up with scissors in cup (by far the best way to chop), packed an ice cube tray with the herbs and then poured the cooled tea over them.

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Photo prompt next week: SOFT. What would you photograph?