Wrong Way Share

Melanie has some new Q’s for us today, and again they are preceded by Potter Q’s from Roger.

Roger’s Magical, Mystical Questions: 

1. Have you ever driven the wrong way on a one-way street? How did this come about?

Right after I moved to California, I had a doctor’s appointment in Pasadena. I got a bit lost and didn’t realize I was on a one-way street. I started to make a left turn from the right lane and the guy in the left lane hit me. It was my fault, of course. He was nice and helped me figure out how to get to the doc’s.

2. As a kid, did you ever decide to run away? Did you have a plan? Take a pet? Sandwiches?

I was 17 and “ran away” for a day because my parents were driving me nuts. I had cash and a car, so I picked up a friend and we went to lunch. At first, she said she’d run away too, but she changed her mind. I drove 50 miles into Chicago and ate dinner alone. Then I turned around and went home.

3. You suddenly found you have a hidden talent for playing a musical instrument. What musical instrument do you hope that accompanies your talent? Any particular song?

It would be great to be able to play the piano well. Any song.

4. Do you accessorize with jewelry? There was an opal necklace (cursed) and Slytherin’s locket (also cursed) in the Potter story. Have you had any heirloom jewelry passed down through the generations? Is it more ‘keepsake’ or do you wear it on occasion? (Hopefully, yours was not cursed?)

Yes, I wear jewelry every day, usually silver. Mostly I wear a silver bracelet that’s a chain of hearts and some other stuff depending on my outfit. I do not have any heirlooms, only a few things that belonged to my parents.

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Melanie’s Ordinary Muggle Questions:

1. What ingredients go into YOUR favorite salad?

Lately I’m not so much into leaves, so my favorite salad is cut tomatoes, carrots, cucumber, and of course avocado. A drizzle of balsamic dressing is good on that.

2. If you care to, share something that really irritates you.

Red light runners.

3. What are your favorite ‘lounging around the house’ items of clothing?  Now that a lot of people ‘lounge around the house’ waiting for the all clear in respect to Covid being shown the door, have those lounging items changed?

I like yoga pants and a big tee or sweatshirt. When it’s cooler, I’ll wear cozy socks. This hasn’t changed since the plague.

GRATITUDE (as always this is optional)

Please feel free to share something about Autumn (or Spring if you’re gearing up for that) that you especially enjoy! 

Grateful for my snuggly kitty.

 

~*~

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

My Jewelry Box

Ashley did a fun post about her jewelry and I thought I’d do the same. I used to have a beautiful mini-cabinet for my jewelry, but it took up too much space. Plus, it didn’t hold everything anyway. I had a bunch of separate boxes for the stuff that wouldn’t fit. The Container Store had these super practical stacking boxes, so that’s what I use now…

I used to have more, especially gold items, but I sold some 10 years ago. Most of the time I wear silver now. I rarely wear the costume beads, but I keep my favorites, especially silly things to wear at holidays (these are in a separate bag). My daughters bought this cupcake necklace for me, so I do wear it…

My high school bestie Elizabeth gave this cool silver coin charm to me for my bday way back when…

My mom loved this set of fetish animals she got on a vacation, I forget where. A few pieces have chipped, so I am careful with it.

A friend gave me this from his trip to India.

I love turquoise and this is a favorite set I treated myself to…

I also love butterflies and kitties…

It’s hard to take pics of rings, but I do have my faves. One is a silver and turquoise ring my daughter bought for me in Israel. I also love a gold and opal ring that my mom used to wear. Not to forget my dad: I have his platinum wedding band with their wedding date engraved inside. I haven’t worn a watch for a long time, but one of these days I’ll spend a few bucks and get this one fixed.

Isn’t it pretty? I have small wrists, so it’s perfect for me. No, I don’t know who those initials refer to, but isn’t it cool to think about a love story from 1947? I assume the man came home from the war and saved up to buy his wife this lovely Christmas gift.

The top post is my pink pearl necklace. The parents of my second ex-husband bought it for me as an engagement present. I’ve always loved this necklace and still wear it occasionally. At the time, it cost $1800. Now, it’s worth $50 at most because there are easy ways to produce pink pearls and the market is flooded.

Here’s a gorgeous piece I bought off eBay, but it’s not that comfy to wear because it’s so heavy. But I just love the huge chunks of turquoise!

~*~

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

Inheritance, Part 2

[Please read Part 1 first.]

As soon as Belinda stepped back into the woods, Simon hurried over to the bag she’d left under the lantern. He picked it up and peeked inside. Ah, yes! The ancient objects gleamed in the faint moonlight. A ruby winked up at him and seemed to emanate a deeper, darker hue as he gazed, transfixed. He touched it, shocked at its heat, as if it had just been released from a kiln. Shaking himself out of the trance, Simon stuffed the bag in his backpack and went after Belinda.

Her steps were lighter and faster than before, and it took him several minutes to catch up. He didn’t want her to end up on the main road and be seen by a passing car. Simon got close enough to shoot her in the neck with a dart a few yards before the tree cover ended. She cried out in pain and surprise.

Simon watched her put her hand to her neck and stumble. “Hello, Belinda,” he said.

“You!” she gasped. “I thought you were in prison.”

He smiled. “Not anymore. I’ve come back to claim what’s mine.”

“You’ll never win.” Belinda swayed and grabbed onto a tree. “You and your evil… evil… gran…”

Simon watched her fall. He felt for a pulse and then picked her up. Though he was strong from all his workouts, it was still a struggle to carry her body to the river and dump her in. As she floated away, he turned back to where he’d parked, sweaty and out of breath.

But by the time he pulled into the long, curving drive of Gloomhaven, he was calm and breathing normally. The mission had been a complete success! Simon hummed as he leapt up the stairs, banged open the door, and flung the bag of treasure on the sofa next to Grandmama.

“I did it!” Simon grinned, wondering why she didn’t seem more alert and excited. “Grandmama… the ancient relics. Look! Now our we can restore our home to its rightful splendor. Repair the ruin. We will rule once more!”

“You touched them,” the old woman said weakly. “I warned you.”

“Well, I…” Simon had known he wasn’t to touch any of the cursed jewels. “Just for a second. The ruby. It was burning up.”

She nodded. “Gabriella’s stone. You broke my spell.”

“What do you mean?” Simon watched in horror as her beloved face turned ashy and her eyes fluttered closed.

“It’s time… nothing to be done.” She sighed and sunk deeper into the pillows. “I’ve had an extra hundred years. Give or take. No reversing the curse…”

“Grandmama! No!” Simon watched her shrivel and fade. She’d been the last of her line, and the only one who had cared about him. Now, he was alone.

Though he still had the bag of stones…

~*~

Written for Sadje’s What Do You See?

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon

Image from Pixabay.

A Braided Chain

Happy February! I’m participating in Bee’s fun music challenge again and hope you’ll join in (you don’t have to play every day).

Today’s theme is a love song containing jewelry. In this sad song, we discover that Brandy loves a man who can’t be with her because his true love is the sea. She wears a locket that bears his name on a braided chain made of finest silver from the North of Spain. It’s implied he gave it to her, which is weird, if you think about it (“can’t stay, honey, but I got you sumpin with my name on it”), but I still love the song. ❤️

~*~

Written for Love Is In Da Blog Day 12.

Image credit to Happy Color.

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

Layered Blogger

Here’s my contribution for the photo challenge for layers. I’m wearing layers of tops (black shirt, turquoise shirt, beige sweater) because it’s so chilly, and my pendant is composed of layers of turquoise and whatnot. My hair is cut in layers too, but it’s grown out a lot.

V4L Challenge 11 (ranty)

Why Valentine’s Day Sucks!

First, if you’re wondering (and of course you are) where challenges 9 and 10 are, no worries! You did not miss an exciting installment of Cupid + Chantal. I simply skipped those challenges due to math: the pesky 24 hours per day adding up to 24 yet again. Dammit.

Second, I actually like Valentine’s Day and think it’s a lot of fun to celebrate love cuz gawd knows we spend way too much time focusing on stuff we dislike, amirite? The day doesn’t have to be sad if you don’t have a romantic sweetie ~ it can be about other loves. Children, friends, pets. You can even buy a treat for yourself, or for me. 😍

However! I totally get why people hate Valentine’s Day. It’s stressful to be forced to demonstrate your feelings on demand ~ some people just don’t respond on cue, and I respect that. They don’t want to spend money on schmaltzy cards or buy pink teddy bears, jewelry, flowers, candy, etc. because it’s the fourteenth day of February. Whyyyyy? How is that meaningful? Unless it’s the anniversary of that particular couple’s first date or other special occasion, I can see people (especially men) feeling resentful of the expectation to produce tangible evidence of their relationship commitment on this random date.

What’s even more annoying is that women will go along with the above paragraph and then still be upset if the man ignores Valentine’s Day as they had previously agreed to do. She had probably agreed mostly to make him happy, but then when the day arrived she thought well he could have at least gotten me a silly card and a cupcake. That wouldn’t have taken so much time or cost very much. Then he’s mad that she’s upset. True story. 💔

I personally don’t like the pressure to make a huge fancy deal out of Valentine’s Day cuz that’s a lot of work, and who needs more work? I resent the idea that (when I did have someone), I was supposed to buy a gorgeous new outfit and look spectacular on Valentine’s Day, or else I’d disappoint my guy. Naturally he was supposed to make reservations somewhere nice, or else we’d have to plan to cook something special together. So much work! Especially on a weeknight. Ughhh.

But it seems like everything has to be extreme these days, all or nothing, love or hate. Why can’t we (if we have a romantic partner), celebrate Valentine’s Day in a fun, low key way? Do something special but not annoying or expensive? Maybe plan it for the weekend afterward if February 14th is a work night. If we don’t have a partner, there’s no reason to hate the day when we can treat a relative or friend to a little gift, or even ourselves. Gifts can be of time too.

Sure, it would be ideal to express our love every day of the year, to buy a gift exactly when we felt the genuine urge, not when ads told us to, or to give the special people in our lives extra time and attention at any random time just because. We certainly do not need a pink and red hearts day mostly concocted by greeting card companies to nudge us, right? But let’s get real. People who say that stuff mostly aren’t that loving. They’re cranky curmudgeons who don’t randomly make pretty, glittery cards for people or bake pink frosted cakes or jump up and say hey I’m really glad you’re in my life!

So pffft on them and their hatey poopery. They bag on Valentine’s Day because they like to be cynical about all things all the time. They don’t want to shop or create something handmade or give you extra time. They feel awkward about expressing positive, good feelings. Mostly I’m talking about the men I’ve met, since I’m more forgiving of women who are sad on Valentine’s Day because men are so hatey about it. But don’t be sad! We can buy our own candy now.

Sorry… but I guess I just don’t think that Valentine’s Day sucks. There are so many ways to celebrate love. 💖❤️💗

Daily Fun Three

From Rory and the Pimpin’ Imp:

Name Three …

Things you can find in a garbage/rubbish/trash can beginning with the letter D?

– diapers, dental floss, dog food cans

Things that can be found floating on the wind?

– dust, leaves, butterflies 🦋

Things in a river that are not fish?

– Running Bear, Little White Dove, currents

https://youtu.be/VQ3XUM9gUG4

Things found around the house beginning with the letter E?

– etchings, ectoplasm, exes in various states of decomposition

Animals that don’t have the letter E in their name?

– aardvark, octopus, inchworm

Bands/Groups that have three [3] in their name [not a song]?

– 3 Doors Down, 3 Dog Night, 3 Stooges

Holidays/Vacations that only involve visiting ruins?

– Rome, Greece, Trump White House

Things that can seriously ruin your day?

– nuclear war, fleas, perfume

Roman Gods?

– Tony, his cousin Tony, his other cousin Tony

Animals that lay eggs? [Monotremes ]

– birds, fish, snakes 🐍

Three letters in the alphabet that don’t sound the same as the other letters?

– H, Q, W

Gemstones that start with the letter T?

– topaz, tourmaline, tiny diamonds

Cocktails that begin with the letter M?

– Manhattan, mojito, mimosa

Hobbies that are no longer as popular as they were twenty years ago?

– prepping for Y2K, collecting beanie babies, bashing Hillary Clinton… j/k people never get tired of that apparently 🙄🙄🙄

Pastels Galore [CFFC]

For this fun photo challenge, I’m using another pic from the lovely afternoon in 2015 when my eldest took me to high tea up in NorCal. It was such a wonderful day. Besides the delicious tea and treats, I simply enjoyed spending quality time with my sweet girl in a beautiful atmosphere. I never used to appreciate old-fashioned decor, but I do now. I really like to wander through antique shops and check out the dishes and dolls, furniture, jewelry, and knickknacks. I never buy anything, but I love to walk around and look at all the prettiness.

Teal, Aqua, Seafoam, Turquoise [CFFC]

Welcome to another one of Cee’s fun foto challenges! This challenge is in the color series, and since it happens to focus on my fave section of the wheel, I have quite a few pics to choose from.

Cousins at a teal table, Scarsdale NY, 1996.

Jellies in aqua, Aquarium of the Pacific, Long Beach CA, 2016.

Seafoam in here somewhere, Crystal Cove, Newport Beach CA, 2016.

Car selfie 2015, turquoise sweater, turquoise necklace ~ two for Tuesday!

Plz note crooked glasses, proving I’m not totally OCD or I couldn’t have kept this pic. In fact, the entire photo is slanted and off-center, but not artistically, which isn’t bugging me at all, nopey nope. Will not give it another thought…

Time Pieces

My mother had some old watches and pocket watches she picked up here and there at estate sales and such, and now I have them. I tried to sell them once and was told they had no value, so I keep them tucked away. I’m glad I didn’t get rid of them after all. They’ve grown on me.

This is a plain pocket watch with no cover. It says “Waltham” on the face. This piece is two inches in diameter and feels heavy in my hand.

This is the back. It has a cool geometrical pattern/logo, but no words.

This piece is smaller and lighter, about an inch and a half in diameter, but it’s thicker and more complex, as you’ll see. This is the front.

It flips open to reveal the clock’s face sideways. “Elgin” is printed on the face. The back of the cover says “Keystone” and has a serial number (1194946).

This is supercool ~ the back opens to show gears and stuff!

Next up is a ladies’ bracelet watch. It’s very delicate and pretty. It says “Victoria” on the face and nothing on the back. The clasp says “Hadley” with a patent number.

The last is another bracelet watch, a Bulova. I like it a lot, though its face is scratched up. I might get it cleaned up and working someday so I can wear it for real. I used to wear it anyway, just for fun, but then I decided it was bad luck and stopped.

The reason this watch is so special is because it’s engraved on the back. I imagine a husband gave it to his wife for Christmas in 1947. I’ve decided he fought in WW2 and she waited for him.

My mother died today, nine years ago. I love her and miss her every day. Her voice and presence are both still right here, almost, as if she just left the room a few minutes ago. Nothing has changed in all this time.

~*~

The Daily Prompt: Timely