My Mate's Blog-It Challenge

I have a friend (yes, only one, naturally) called Josie.
Josie has some dealings (not the legal type) with a group of people
who she's been helping to develop their writing skills.

Cretan creativity with a satellite dish

She set them a Blog-It Challenge, to write a blog about anything that they wished to express. (No themes imposed, see, liberty is all). They could do their expressing in any form they liked - story, poem, article. The blogs could be written using any style of language - informative, persuasive, entertaining.

I'd like to read those blogs when they've done them, says me to my mate.

You can, she says.

(I hope the dialogue's not getting too deep)

I wouldn't mind posting a couple of the best ones on my blog, says I.

You can, says she.

Anyhows, the blogs are now written. My mate Josie tells me that she's proper chuffed with the results; that she's proud of those people.

I'm looking forward to reading them (the blogs). Not that far forward because as soon as I post this post, I'm off to access those blogs and choose a couple that I'd like to share with you.

My guests and I will see you in a wee while. (That's Scottish for 'at some point soon'. Don't think I haven't been paying attention in Aberdeen.)

Meander Roller-Coaster

In a favourite bay-side restaurant in Elounda, Crete

So, since February 2012 I’ve been much into meandering. I’ve done a lot. Did I say A LOT …. ?

Snorkelling in Elounda Bay in Crete, drinking (please, no more) in the nearby fishing village, rooftop Thai restaurants; a wedding in the Old Chapel in Ross-on-Wye, mammoth family reunion at the Chase Hotel; Fountains Abbey & Water Gardens, Ripon Cathedral and its signpost of dreams …

a stay in the old blacksmithery of a Yorkshire farmhouse; Greek day at St Gregory’s, sensology at Milestones and the Shrubberies, both special schools in Gloucestershire; fireworks on the beach in Tenby; Victorian markets on a canal-side; Jamie Oliver’s Italian Restaurant and Union Square in Aberdeen; a road trip along the coastal road through Northumberland; new life in the forms of Isobelle and Eva; 

ten weeks in Moreton-in-the-Marsh, with wicked humour supplied by the chaps and chapesses at the Fire Service College; car picnics in random locations (you have to find your dinner somewhere); the greatest cheesy chips in the world (don’t think I don’t have style) in the courtyard of the Swan Inn; 

views from the fifth floor of the Alexandra Warehouse; a residential international conference, fun and laughter with the Germans and the French; promenades on the north-east coast; cocktails in the afternoon in Swindon; an invitation to play rugby at Marlow Referral Centre (not happening, I’m more of a cheerleader); reiki in a Buddhist lightship; 

white wine on the terrace of the Inn on the Wye; what-shall-I-choose-today from the Chef’s Specials at the Farmer’s Boy; salmon and talk of multi-national bell ringing at the Blue Elephant; a carousel of charity fundraising events; the set up of a pop-up social enterprise co-operative; playing the didgeridoo; bullocks wandering in a spring orchard, swathed in morning mist; the horseshoe bend of the Severn, all seasons; bike tracks in Somerset; the miniature adventure playground at CSMA (Civil Service Motoring Association) in Whitemead Park; 

herons and hawks and a random white owl; photo opportunities in the bluebell woods; tall Americanos at the Oasis Café; the air instrument orchestration of How To Be A Rock God; first ever visits to traveller sites (eye-opening dispelling of myths) and bonding with the showmen of Gloucestershire and their families …

It’s been a roller-coaster.

Too immersed in the meandering to tell you all about it as it happened. Soz for that.

It will all inspire and inform the writing. A gathering of people and places and incidences.

Emergent tales.

More anon.