Disappearing Ink?

This is Day 4 of the 20 Days of Chill writing challenge hosted by P. J. at A ‘lil HooHaa. Today's prompt is Pen and Paper. Please visit the other participants to see what they have put forth on this mighty prompt.

The pen is mightier than the sword but the paper upon which the words are written is easily destroyed.

Early writing began some 5000 years ago with pictures, e.g. the cuneiform script, which were impressions made in a clay tablets with a blunt reed used as a 'pen'. As time moved forward, real languages were created and eventually, paper-like material made from the papyrus plant replaced clay and stone, and recorded history began being written on scrolls. 

Romans wrote on wooden tablets with sheets of wax, while Europeans used parchment with bone or metal writing implements. This is just a tiny sampling of how writing evolved chosen to illustrate how far we have come since those first primitive markings.

In the centuries that followed came the quill and inkwell, the fountain pen, ball point pens and the use-and-toss disposable Bic Stics, not to mention the lead pencils we began school with. Yeah I know it's really graphite. There are pens in all shapes and colors, some light up and some even talk. Do you really want a talking pen when you're trying to write? 

Anyway, with the age of the computer and the internet, keyboards and displays are rapidly replacing the art of writing - of actually grasping a pen and forming letters into words and words into sentences. A recent post on Facebook posed the question - should we still teach cursive writing in school?

If you have to ask that, is it too late already? Is this to be the fate of the pen and paper? I hope not!


If you enjoyed this post, please leave your calling card in the comment section or click the visitors box below to let me know you stopped by.

The Wonderful Potato

This is Day 3 of the 20 Days of Chill writing challenge hosted by P. J. at A ‘lil HooHaa. Today's prompt is Life just wouldn't be the same. Please visit the other participants to see how their lives would be changed.

There are a lot of factors that can change one's life. Anything can happen at any time. Things beyond our control can spiral until we are left spinning into infinity. Relax, that's not where we are going here.

No, what I'm going to talk about today, while less ominous, is still quite serious. I'm talking about potatoes - baked, boiled, fried, roasted, scalloped, mashed, hashed or any other way you fix 'em. 

I was weaned on potatoes (a.k.a. taters). I love 'em. I could have hash browns for breakfast, fries for lunch and a baked potato for dinner. I couldn't imagine a world without potatoes.

Potatoes are healthy and nutritious, at least until you deep fry them or load them up with butter or gravy. One medium potato has about 165 calories and a whopping 70% of your daily vitamin C needs. They are also a good source for Vitamin B, Potassium and Magnesium.

There you have it folks. Taters are good and good for you. Life just wouldn't be the same without 'em!


If you enjoyed this post, please leave your calling card in the comment section or click the visitors box below to let me know you stopped by.

People and Places

This is Days 1 and 2 of the 20 Days of Chill writing challenge hosted by P. J. at A ‘lil HooHaa.  I was a little out of the loop on this and now racing to catch up. I will be covering the prompts Who Am I and Your Favorite Place today.

Humans are multi-dimensional, complex entities who breathe life into the world and have all sorts of interesting relationships. Relationships with people, animals, their careers or really anything that brings emotion into their lives.

Humans have personalities as diverse as the universe is wide. In the mixing bowl of life we have the funny, the serious, the silly, the sane and insane, the wild and crazy and the quiet and reserved...and that could all be the same person.

Humans have likes and dislikes, their  favorites and the "no way I'm going to...eat, drink, play, watch or go there".

So who am I? I am a roll of the dice...I am a human.

As for my favorite place, anyone who reads my blog can tell you that I love the beach, most specifically, Florida beaches. We vacation regularly at Madeira Beach just outside the city of St. Petersburg, FL. I love the beach, and I love the city. 

That being said, as much as I love the beach, traveling and exploring new places, my favorite place is home. I don't live in a mansion, not even close, and you're likely to find cat hair and toy mice under the furniture, and dust on the mantle, but home is comfortable, familiar and it's my own space.


If you enjoyed this post, please leave your calling card in the comment section or click the visitors box below to let me know you stopped by.

Welcoming the New Year

It is New Year's Day, 2016, and the world is still turning. The sun came up this morning long before I crawled out of bed. Last night we rang in the New Year with friends, bubbly and New Year's Crackers (also known as Christmas Crackers). We toasted, we hugged and we closed the chapter on 2015.

Now we look forward to a new year. The world is not a perfect place, nor are there perfect people, but I still believe it is a good place, filled with good people. I shall be counting my blessings for all the goodness in my life.

This is also a leap year, so we have one more day of winter...or another day to be grateful for - however you choose to look at it.

May each of you be richly blessed this year with health, happiness and peace.





If you enjoyed this post, please leave your calling card in the comment section or click the visitors box below to let me know you stopped by.

Peace, Hope, Love!

Wishing all my friends and family a joyous Christmas 

and a blessed New Year!

If you enjoyed this post, please leave your calling card in the comment section or click the visitors box below to let me know you stopped by.

The View at the Top

Trust only movement. Life happens at the level of events, 

not of words. Trust movement. -Alfred Adler

Words are just words until they are followed up by actions. Yes, words and conversation are important. Very much so, but the real essence of living is doing, not just talking about it.

This picture was taken last summer from the top of the St. Augustine Lighthouse. The action of walking up 219 steps brought us to the gorgeous view.


If you enjoyed this post, please leave your calling card in the comment section or click the visitors box below to let me know you stopped by.

I'll Fly Away

We were walking along the Marsh Walk in Murrells Inlet last week watching the wildlife and enjoying a nice fall day at the beach when this fellow decided I had gotten a bit too close. I managed to catch him before he got away. Some of the other posts were resting places for gulls and cormorants.

Here are some interesting facts about the Brown Pelicans:

They are sometimes the victims of theft. Gulls often try to steal fish from the pelican's pouch as they drain the water after a dive, sometimes while perched upon the pelican's head. How rude!

Pelicans incubate their eggs by standing on them. When startled, a hasty takeoff can cause them to crush their eggs.

Brown Pelicans are only one of two species of Pelicans that plunge dive for food; the other being the Peruvian Pelican.

They live on both the East and West coasts. They breed on the barrier islands of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, Mangrove Islets in Louisiana and Florida, and rocky islands off the West Coast.

Pelicans eat mostly small fish such as mullet, anchovies and herring, diving from heights of up to 65 feet. Their throat pouch can hold up to 2.6 gallons of water, which they drain before swallowing their catch.

Adults are silent except during wing-jerking displays that forces air out of their lungs and produces a rather hoarse sound. Like most birds, the young call for food when they're hungry.





If you enjoyed this post, please leave your calling card in the comment section or click the visitors box below to let me know you stopped by.

Peace on Earth

He who has not Christmas in his heart 

will never find it under a tree. - Roy L. Smith

Here it is the first day of December and the Holidays are finding me busy with much left on a never-ending to-do list. Christmas cards to write and gifts to agonize over and hope Amazon delivers in time.

Still, I'd like to take a moment to reflect and ponder that there is more to Christmas than the perfect gift or the right party outfit. It is being peaceful and enjoying being with friends and family. Everything else will sort itself out, and if it doesn't, it probably wasn't all that important anyway. 




If you enjoyed this post, please leave your calling card in the comment section or click the visitors box below to let me know you stopped by.

Color The World

My skin is kind of sort of brownish
Pinkish yellowish white.
My eyes are greyish blueish green,
But I’m told they look orange in the night.
My hair is reddish blondish brown,
But it’s silver when it’s wet.
And all the colors I am inside
Have not been invented yet.
- Shel Silverstein, "Colors"

The world isn't black and white and neither are people. We are as multi-colored as we are multi-faceted. Everyone is their own brand of unique. We are colorfully complex individuals; a living garden of humanity. The more we are different from each other, the more we are the same. Being unique individuals is what we have in common all across the world. This is something we should embrace, learn from and treasure.

If you enjoyed this post, please leave your calling card in the comment section or click the visitors box below to let me know you stopped by.

A Cup of Memories

If you are cold, tea will warm you; if you are too heated, it will cool you; if you are depressed, it will cheer you; if you are excited it will calm you. 
- William Ewart Gladstone

Apparently tea is a beverage for all seasons and all reasons. My Mom would drink hot tea year round, any time of the day, while I prefer iced tea. When I was a kid, she and I would make ourselves lunch on a warmish winter day and take it outside to eat. We would find a sheltered place in the sun, usually next to the house behind a big bush and sit and eat. I remember she would fill a jar with a lid with hot tea instead of using a cup. Those were good times.

Does a cup of tea conjure up any memories for you?



If you enjoyed this post, please leave your calling card in the comment section or click the visitors box below to let me know you stopped by.

Got Mussels?

Since everyone loved my (non-compensated) review of Phillips Maryland-Style Crab Cakes so much, I thought I would bring you another new-found seafood favorite of mine - straight from your grocer's freezer.

I would like to introduce you to Pier 33 Gourmet Mussels in Butter Garlic Sauce.

Not all frozen seafood is created equal, and not all of it is good. I've eaten mussels from many restaurants and there were some winners and losers there, too. 

Why, you ask, would I suddenly buy frozen mussels? Well, I'm a frugal shopper and avid seafood lover, so when I saw them on a buy-one-get-one-free sale, I said, why not, and grabbed a package.

Within a day or so, those little fellows were in a pot getting ready for a prime-time performance as an appetizer. To prepare you simply cut open the package and empty the contents into a large lidded pot and heat on high for 8-10 minutes and presto, you have a bowl of steaming mussels in a yummy sauce. 

We complimented them on their performance by quickly reducing them to a pile of empty shells.  They had good flavor and texture, and were tender and grit-free. 

Pier 33 Gourmet Mussels are pre-cooked and pasteurized and contain no unpronounceable ingredients. Mussels are also high in protein, Omega 3, Vitamin C, and Iron.

We gave them two thumbs up, and I went back and got two more packages while they were still on sale. They retail for around $4.99, and you get about two dozen per package.

Mussel Trivia: Did you know that the orange mussel meats are females and the white mussel meats are males?



If you enjoyed this post, please leave your calling card in the comment section or click the visitors box below to let me know you stopped by.

Another Rainy Day

A pleasant smile is the wisest comment, always interpreted favorably and rarely misquoted. - Robert Brault

Being at the beach always puts a smile on my face, so on this rainy November day, I look back, remember and smile. The gull in this picture is getting his smile on, too.



If you enjoyed this post, please leave your calling card in the comment section or click the visitors box below to let me know you stopped by.

Just A Rock

There is nothing special about this rock. I did not sit on it in contemplation. It does not mark the site of a buried treasure - that I'm aware of anyway. It is just a rock in the woods along the Salem Lake trail. It caught my eye by the way the afternoon sun shone on it bringing out all the different layers of color and texture.



Posted for Photo Friday prompt - Minimalism, and yeah I know it's Saturday. 



If you enjoyed this post, please leave your calling card in the comment section or click the visitors box below to let me know you stopped by.

Sky On Fire

Never waste any amount of time doing anything important when there is a sunset outside that you should be sitting under.  - C. Joybell C.

Take a moment and relax to a beautiful sunset and the sounds of the waves gently lapping at the shoreline.



If you enjoyed this post, please leave your calling card in the comment section or click the visitors box below to let me know you stopped by.

Just Chillin'

Enjoying a little R&R. 

If you enjoyed this post, please leave your calling card in the comment section or click the visitors box below to let me know you stopped by.

Fall Is Upon Us

I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers. 

― L.M. Montgomery

There is as much beauty in one simple leaf as on a whole mountainside.

If you enjoyed this post, please leave your calling card in the comment section or click the visitors box below to let me know you stopped by.

A New Season

Oh how we love pumpkin season. You did know this gourd-ish squash has its own season, right? Winter, Spring, Summer, Pumpkin.... We anxiously anticipate it every year. -Trader Joe’s Fearless Flyer, October 2010

Hawks Pumpkin Patch

Move over roses - everything is coming up pumpkins! It goes beyond pies, muffins and lattes. There are pumpkin spice marshmallows, English muffins, bagels, cream cheese and yogurt, but it doesn't stop there. There is even a pumpkin spice kahlua. Want more pumpkin? Check out this list of foods for the pumpkin season.


If you enjoyed this post, please leave your calling card in the comment section or click the visitors box below to let me know you stopped by.

Still Going

Celebrating 6 years at Roses to Rainbows.

What is blogging? Blogging began as a web log, an online journal of whatever you wished to write down to share with friends, family or just for yourself.  Over time the web log has evolved into the blog, or blogging, and one who writes a blog is called a blogger. Our thoughts are now shared on a much larger scale as we try to reach out to people all around the world.

Why do people blog? For some blogging may be an extension of a business website; for others it may be a means of staying in touch with family and friends. 

Some bloggers get recognized for their content and go on to write books. I've watched bloggers go from small sites to national recognition, magazines and TV shows. Is this the norm? Nope. It is the few of the few, so why do the rest of us do it? As self expression, a creative outlet, or as some people state, "I can't not write".

These are some of the things that got us started, but what keeps us coming back to the keyboard? What keeps us pressing publish, sharing our thoughts, our words, our stories?

I have previously shared this quote "Better to write for yourself and have no public than to write for the public and have no self." I often wonder what Cyril Connolly was thinking when he said those words? Born in the early 1900s, he was a widely published British author, so apparently he was not lacking a public for whom to write.

For whom am I writing?  For anyone who takes the time out of their busy lives to read my posts. For anyone who reads my words and smiles. For anyone who happens by on their way to somewhere else. 

What is my goal? To reach out to people, to make them smile, make them think, to encourage and motivate them. I serve up a mixture of facts, fiction and anecdotes, tossed with humor and inspiration and sides of pictures and poetic ponderings. 

What keeps you writing or reading?

The quote of the week returns next week.

If you enjoyed this post, please leave your calling card in the comment section, or click the visitors box below to let me know you stopped by.

Nature's Way

I go to nature to be soothed and healed, 

and to have my senses put in order. - John Burroughs

Nature affords us the simple pleasures that relax and soothe us, and make all right with our world again. Whether we gaze out over the ocean, hike a wooded trail or while away shady hours beneath an old oak tree, nature brings us back in touch with ourselves.




No time to comment? Please click the visitors box below to let me know you stopped by.

Shine On!

I wish I was a glow worm,

A glow worm's never glum.

'Cos how can you be grumpy

When the sun shines out your bum!

- Unknown

Have a safe and happy Labor Day!

No time to comment? Please click the visitors box below to let me know you stopped by.