Daily Reminder # 487

I spent some time at the back door today, the first time in at least two weeks that I have done so. Put a little seed out and had a nice little chipmunk visit but no birds. They seem to be mostly gone. The woodchuck was around but managed to avoid my camera with great skill, which is too bad because he or she was obviously fixing a nest for winter and kept appearing at the back of the yard with mouths full of dead leaves, looking very cute. He or she then headed to the tree stump and disappeared with the leaves only to reappear a while later in the same routine. Woodchucks hibernate, so the time must be drawing near. Autumn has been pretty drab this year. There are some flowers in bloom and a little color, but not much. Oh - and my quince has fruit on it. Probably not edible, but still, I'm proud of my little bush for growing little quinces. I'll post those pictures tomorrow. Today we are going all chipmunk.  I've missed the back door.  Not looking forward to winter but such is life.

Some things I'm grateful for today:  (Items in red are pre-gratitude, an effort to connect my Spirit with the Creative Forces of the Universe and with their help, manifest lots of cool things, especially but not limited to MONEY... and lots of it.)

• Angel and Tara Grace
• water
• pomegranate lemonade
• corn muffins
• my computer
• the internet
• my chair/walker
• my cane
• that my legs still get me around with help
• electricity
• my Tibetan salt lamps
• my rock collection
• my camera
• my house
• the back door
• chipmunks
• turkey vultures in flight
• peach/mango yogurt smoothies
• cheese
• my TV
• the remote control
• the mute button
• Netflix
• email
• my nieces, my nephew and their families
• that they are happy, healthy and successful
• that Simon kitty is holding his own
• my warm sweat shirt
• computer games
• music
• ear phones
• Pandora radio
• the joy of singing
• a clothes dryer
• a sun room on the back of the house
• more flowers in the back yard
• Nintendo
• winning lottery numbers
• a truckload of money (big bills)
• a ceiling fan in the bedroom
• new curtains
• blinds for the front window
• a reading and healing with Nancy DuTertre
• $5,000/week for life from PCH
• freshly painted living and bedroom walls
• a paid off mortgage
• zero balance on my credit cards
• seeing the red list turn to black
• reiki
• angels
• miracles
• Dennis Puffett
• wordzzles
• inspiration (had none tonight. zilch. Sigh)
• ideas
• imagination
• words
• poetry
• Sam-e
• Omega-3
• IP-6
• Vitamin D-3
• Advil
• indoor plumbing
• my microwave
• my wonderful mattress
• the ability to read and write
• the ability to type
• the capacity for change
• sight
• hearing
• taste
• touch
• smell
• the aroma of white sage
• the taste of cheese and of smoothies
• the telephone
• Tara Grace's head butts
• Angel's hugs
• coconut oil
• Healing with the Masters - I really liked Cynthia Kersey
• ideas
• beauty
• my electric tooth brush
• toothpaste
• Listerine
• Dr. Bronner soaps
• light and shadow
• bees
• butterflies
• purple flowers
• autumn colors
• creativity
• resilience
• determination
• the capacity to heal
• humor
• laughter
• love
• compassion
• kindness
• life

HAVE A SPLENDID DAY!

Weekly Wordzzle Challenge, # 172

Still going with the story of Fred Johnson,  Paragon of Virtue. Here are links to the previous episodes.  If you need/want to catch up, click here for the 1st installment, 2nd installment, 3rd installment, 4th installment, 5th installment, 6th installment, 7th installment., 8th installment, 9th installment, 10th installment, 11th installment

TWO DOWN, ONE TO GO....  Need a nap first.

Word for this week's10-word challenge: Paradise, silver, wind in the trees, ravaged, illustration, cat toys, important, candid, cartwheel, liver    And for the mini: bank, lotion, carpenter, slick, cheek


My mega:

Fred Johnson's, Paragon of Virtue felt his heart do a series of cartwheels and wondered if his cheeks were as red as they felt.  The old healer Edgar McFlash - rather more candidly than Fred would have wished - glanced at the paragon's blush ravaged face and said "Ah, you have never seen Bubbles in her true form before, I see," he chuckled. "She must really trust you."  To make Fred's discomfort even worse, the old man waxed poetic as he continued mixing herbs in the beautiful sliver chalice Bubbles had handed him a few minutes earlier.  "When I first saw her true form, I thought I had died and gone to Paradise. The wind in the trees seemed to be singing her praises and nothing seemed important but to tend to her needs. It's a good thing she is so pure of heart for such beauty could make cat toys of the hearts of all the men who see it.... Ah, the lotion is finished, sweet girl. Try this. he said handing.  "Oh, it feels lovely, McFlash," she said rubbing a bit of the slick liquid on the back of her had. Smells good too. Thank you so much."  The healer beamed happily as if in illustration of the power of her beauty, but then shook his head as if to clear and said rather sternly. I want to teach you to make the Tamago potion for yourself. You can't bank on me being around forever - Psycho has been watching me of late, I think - and it is well for you to know this regardless, since I will not live for ever in any case. My liver is not what it used to be, you know..." he sighed.  For his part, The Paragon of Virtue, stood by in befuddled silence, wishing very much that the words of "If I Were a Carpenter" would get out of his head. Granted, even though his relationship with Flashlight was all in his imagination, it seemed terribly disloyal of him to be so enraptured by Bubbles secret beauty. It seemed that every time he thought he was finding his footing in the Kingdom of Sunday, some new mystery or wonder emerged to shatter his confidence.


My mini:

As if trying to ease his discomfort, Bubbles moved closer, gave the Paragon a small peck on the cheek and offered him a dollop of the slick lotion, explaining that it was made with a rare flower that grew on the banks of the river. A carpenter friend of hers had found it while out foraging for wood and had thought she might like to have it. Like the Graph Branches she had given him earlier, she explained, these flowers had the capacity to impact magic.... in this case, to deepen one's skill.... and also, she added laughing, "with McFlash's help in lotion, they make one's skin wonderfully soft."   "Thank you, Lady Bubbles" Fred whispered, and feeling the flush on his face deepen, wished very much that he knew how to disappear.


And the 10-word:  Coming soon....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Words for next week's 10-word challenge:  practice, essential, pen, victim, allegory, straw, bear, go west young man, fingertips, hunch

And for the mini: keen, swap, organ, champ, brush

Thanks you for playing.  Newcomers can check here for some guidelines to make the game more fun. There are no rules, just some general guidelines and tricks.

Daily Reminder # 486

I got side tracked at Huffington Post (they posted a TOTALLY distorted headline about Joe Biden, completely misconstruing something he said) and I got absorbed in useless arguing about it.  Time flies when you are being cranky.  I do think I might have had something else I wanted to talk about   but I don't remember what it is, so... just gratitude.

I don't usually put pictures of myself but the sun hit the TV screen this
morning and made such a clear reflection of Angel and me that I couldn't
resist seeing how it photographed and since you can't really see me (but
you can see Angel), I decided to share it.  Kind of cool. 

Some things I'm grateful for today:  (Items in red are pre-gratitude, an effort to connect my own creativity with the the Creative Power of the Universe so as to draw abundance and cool stuff into my life and my bank account.)

• Angel and Tara Grace
• my house
• my camera
• ceiling fans
• my computer
• the internet
• google
• SKYPE
• computer games
• my TV
• the remote control
• the MUTE button
• peach/mango yogurt smoothies
• hummus
• corn muffins
• electricity
• my Tibetan salt lamps
• my rock collection
• Simon kitty holding is own - sort of
• my nieces, my  nephew and their families
• that they are happy, healthy and successful
• my friends
• coconut oil
• the view from my front window
• my back yard
• autumn colors (there are a few leaves turned)
• the colors of the rainbow
• beauty
• the wonders of nature
• Jon Stewart
• Stephen Colbert
• ideas
• humor
• that I don't miss All My Children at all
• Pandora Radio
• music
• ear phones
• Healing with the Masters
• the joy of singing
• groceries
• the garbage man
• Netflix
• a reading and healing with Nancy DuTertre
• a clothes dryer
• Nintendo
• freshly painted living and bedroom walls
• more flowers in the back yard
• winning lottery numbers
• a sun room on the back of the house
• a ceiling fan in the bedroom
• a truckload of money (big bills)
• a paid off mortgage
• zero balance on my credit cards
• new curtains
• blinds for the front window
• $5,000/week for life from PCH
• seeing the red list turn to black
• reiki
• angels
• miracles
• Dennis Puffett
• food
• my wonderful mattress
• an abundance of water for drinking and bathing
• indoor plumbing
• Dr. Bronner's soaps
• smell
• taste
• touch
• hearing
• sight
• art
• poetry
• words
• creativity
• imagination
• inspiration
• my chair/walker
• my cane
• that my legs still get me around
• the US mail
• my kitchen
• windows
• Sam-e
• Omega-3
• IP-6
• Vitamin D-3
• sleep
• books
• words
• the ability to read and write
• the ability to type
• the capacity for change
• resilience
• determination
• a sense of humor
• memory foam
• my thermal coffee cup
• coffee and International Delight
• toy mice (and happy kitties)
• crunchies (and happy kitties)
• L-lysine (really helping Tara)
• cooler night air
• paper towels
• scissors
• my shop vac
• laughter
• love
• life

MAY YOUR DAY BE FULL OF SWEETNESS

Daily Reminder # 485

Tara Grace did me the honor of posing this morning and I really thought I had gotten her in focus. I swear she has some special voodoo trick she uses to blur the images. But since my pictures tend to be all Angel all the time, I felt I'd post these even if they are not good. 


I thought I'd share a Neale Donald Walsh message from God today. This one is quite thought provoking. I'm sort of addicted to fear so my brain always reacts when the word is there.  When I read this, I had the thought (just seconds ago, so I haven't processed it or thought it through, I'm just throwing it out there) that many of us who live with a history of intense fear tend to be all or nothing.  It's like the only way we can push through our fear is to throw caution to the winds - which all too often, unfortunately - ends up re-enforcing our fear. But not always. Sometimes it reminds us that fear is all in our minds and we are forced to look at the annoying reality that we have sat around paralyzed by something that turned out to be so easy it's humiliating that doing or saying it was ever an issue. I guess the complexity of being human makes life interesting, but sometimes I could do will a little less complexity and a little more.... simplicity. Anyway, here's what God told Neale to tell us:

On this day of your life, dear friend, 

I believe God wants you to know...

...that caution is natural, but fear is not. 

Do not give in

to fear, yet do not abandon caution.

It is a balancing act. Caution is what causes you to look

both ways before crossing the street. Fear is what keeps

you frozen on the curb forever. You know the difference.

You can feel it.

If you're "stuck" right now, you're probably into fear.

Get out of there. You've already looked both ways. Now

cross the street, for heaven sake. The cars have long

since gone. The coast is clear. Your only obstacle now is

your own mind.

You know exactly why you heard this today.

Love, Your Friend.... 

Some things I'm grateful for today:

• Angel and Tara Grace
• clean litter box and garbage out
• plastic bags
• Katgo
• my camera
• my TV
• the remote control
• the mute button
• my computer
• the internet
• email
• Pandora radio
• music
• ear phones
• the joy of singing
• reiki
• angels
• miracles
• Dennis Puffett
• water
• indoor plumbing
• cooler evening air
• crocs
• coconut oil
• my house
• the view from my front window
• my back yard
• electricity
• my Tibetan salt lamps
• my electric tooth brush
• my teeth
• Listerine
• my microwave oven
• my kitchen
• a truckload of money (big bills)
• more flowers in the back yard
• a ceiling fan in the bedroom
• new curtains
• blinds for the front window
• freshly painted living and bedroom walls
• a reading and healing with Nancy DuTertre
• winning lottery numbers
• Nintendo
• a sun room on the back of the house
• a clothes dryer
• zero balance on my credit cards
• a paid off mortgage
• $5,000/week for life from PCH
• seeing the red list turn to black
• my nieces, my nephew and their families
• that they are happy, healthy and successful
• my friends
• Jon Stewart
• Stephen Colbert
• google
• SKYPE
• my new grabber
• sight
• hearing
• taste
• touch
• smell
• the aroma of white sage
• computer games
• the ability to read and write
• the ability to type
• Sam-e
• Omega-3
• IP-6
• Vitamin D-3
• Advil
• words
• poetry
• my new grabber (it's quite handy)
• ceiling fans
• the colors of the rainbow
• my cane
• my chair/walker
• that my legs still get me around with help
• the post office
• imagination
• inspiration
• ideas
• resilience
• determination
• the capacity to learn and change
• the telephone
• light and shadow
• paper
• Paint Shop Pro
• kindness
• laughter
• love
• life

WISHING YOU A WONDERFUL DAY!

Daily Reminder # 484

SIMON

That's my niece Diana's kitty Simon. Isn't that the sweetest face?  Despite looking like a youngster, Simon is getting on in years and hasn't been feeling so well.  I'm reiki-ing him and he is graciously receiving the energy -as must animals seem to do. Unlike humans, they tend not to second-guess love, a lesson we could all learn from them. Anyway, I'm going to do another session on Simon once I'm done here, so I will just ask you all to send some good thoughts, love, prayers, energy his way, do my gratitude list and then get to reiki-ing.  My niece took these photos this evening. Something about the way they come through doesn't let me save and download them, so I took a chance and copied it. Amazingly that worked but I can't resize them. Sorry. The rest of him is as cute as his face.


UPDATE:  It took me at least two hours and numerous failures, but I figured out how to get the pictures converted from AOL aspx? (something like that) to jpg using Paint Shop Pro. Whew. Now those who missed him before can see sweet Simon.

Some things I'm grateful for today: (Items in red are pre-gratitude, an effort to stir the hearts of the Creative Forces of the Universe to want to supply me with lots of cool stuff, especially lots of cash with which I can supply myself and others with needs and desires and live free of at least one kind of anxiety until the end of my days. So be it. So it is.)

• Angel and Tara Grace
• water
• my house
• the view from my front window
• my front window
• my back yard
• music
• Pandora radio
• ear phones
• sight
• hearing
• taste
• touch
• smell
• my nieces, my nephew and their families
• that they are happy, healthy and successful
• friends
• cooler air
• fans
• my camera
• my TV
• the remote control
• the mute button
• my computer
• the internet
• email
• snail mail
• Janet, the mail carrier... you should see the hills she climbs to bring me my mail
• computer games
• electricity
• my Tibetan salt lamps
• my rock collection
• Sam-e
• Omega-3
• IP-6
• Vitamin D-3
• Netflix
• coconut oil
• more flowers in the back yard
• a sun room on the back of the house
• winning lottery numbers
• a clothes dryer
• new curtains
• blinds for the front window
• Nintendo
• $5,000/week for life from PCH
• a truckload of money (big bills)
• a reading and healing with Nancy DuTertre
• a ceiling fan in the bedroom
• freshly painted living and bedroom walls
• zero balance on my credit cards
• a paid off mortgage
• seeing the red list turn to black
• reiki
• angels
• miracles
• Simon
• Dennis Puffett
• coffee and International Delight
• my microwave
• ice cream
• bananas
• the joy of singing
• indoor plumbing
• the colors of the rainbow
• the ability to read and write
• the ability to type
• words
• poetry
• kitty hugs
• that my niece Diana asks me to reiki her cats
• ideas
• inspiration
• creativity
• imagination
• resilience
• determination
• stubbornness
• my chair/walker
• my cane
• that my legs still get me from room to room
• compassion
• laughter
• love
• life

WISHING YOU A GRAND AND GLORIOUS DAY!

Daily Reminder # 483

Very, very tired tonight and having a hard time keeping going. Still, a promise is a promise.  Have a Neale Donald Walsh/God item to share... It's a good one for me right now. Don't if I mentioned that when my friends were here something happened to the new Angel gate and now mu front door won't close. So I wrote to Delaware Opportunities and they are contacting the contractor to have them come and fix it. This makes me REALLY anxious. Doesn't matter that I haven't done anything wrong. I FEEL like I have. Anyway. That's my story.

On this day of your life, dear friend, 

I believe God wants you to know...

...that getting down on yourself is not the answer. Why

would you do to you what God would never do to you?

The few things you do not "get right" (whatever that is)

cannot compare to the things at which you excel. Do

you know that? You are kind, you are caring, you are

generous, you are sensitive, you are compassionate, you

are forgiving, you are more accepting than you know,

and more loving than you will give yourself credit for.

Now...what else is there?

Try to understand this: You are doing just fine. Better

than 'just fine.' You are excelling. You are magnificent,

you are wonderful! And God loves you to pieces!

Love, Your Friend.... 

Some things I'm grateful for tonight: (Items in red are pre-gratitude, an effort to inspire excessive generosity to my from the Creative Forces of the Universe, just because I have thanked them so nicely in advance.)

• Angel and Tara Grace
• fans
• water
• cooler night air
• Dr. Jim
• my camera
• my TV
• the remote control
• the mute button
• the view from my front window
• Delaware Opportunities
• music
• Pandora Radio
• ear phones
• paper towels
• electricity
• my Tibetan salt lamps
• my house
• computer games
• my chair/walker
• my cane
• that my legs still get me around with help
• the ability to read and write
• the ability to type
• coconut oil
• Chocolate soy silk
• comedy
• Stephen Colbert
• John Stewart
• the telephone
• the internet
• my computer
• email
• Google
• You Tube
• a clothes dryer
• winning lottery numbers
• freshly painted living and bedroom walls
• a ceiling fan in the bedroom
• a truckload of money (big bills)
• more flowers in the back yard
• zero balance on my credit cards
• a paid off mortgage
• a reading and healing with Nancy DuTertre
• new curtains
• blinds for the front window
• $5,000/week for life from PCH
• Nintendo
• seeing the red list turn to black
• reiki
• angels
• miracles
• Dennis Puffett
• Neale Donald Walsh
• Healing with the Masters
• my nieces, my nephew and their families
• that they are happy, healthy and successful
• my friends
• irony
• resilience
• Sam-3
• Omega-3
• Vitamin d-3
• IP-6
• my mattress (I'm SO tired tonight... it's calling me)
• cat toys
• my rock collection
• indoor plumbing
• the colors of the rainbow
• sight
• taste
• touch
• smell
• hearing
• Angel hugs
• Tara Grace head butts
• imagination
• creativity
• inspiration
• words
• ideas
• poetry
• beauty
• love
• compassion
• laughter
• life

WISHING YOU A WONDERFUL DAY!

Taking Another Day Off

Just don't feel like it again. Doing gratitude in my head for today.  List is just as long, just not typed out. Tomorrow. I promise. 


For now, enjoy the music.... reminders of what war costs the soldiers who live through it... and those who don't.  Sorry there are so many. I get started and I can't stop. Would have taken me less time and energy to do my gratitude list. First one is the best.  But I wouldn't have had as much fun.



















This one is and the last are from the Civil War.  My father and I used to sing them - and we really hammed up the second one, which is beautiful and horrifically corny at the same time.

PEACE

Taking a Day Off

Just don't feel like it tonight. Sorry.  But here's a video from a cool site called Population Action International. Well, no video from them... Couldn't make the embed work. So here's some Abraham Hicks....

WISHING YOU JOY AND ABUNDANCE!

Daily Reminder # 482

(Please scroll down for Wordzzles.)





Well, I just finished wordzzles and it was a struggle, so there will only be gratitude tonight.  Will have to find something from You-Tube for visual entertainment. Tired. Long day for some reason. When my friends were here the other night, one of them did something to the Angel gate. Like everything else the people who did the last work for Delaware Opportunities did, it wasn't very well done, but I didn't worry too much about it. Now it won't close right, which means my front door won't close either. I was able to get it to work last night but tried twice today with no luck. Sigh. Such is life. It's still nice to have it and I'm sure I'll get it fixed one way or another.  The House just passed a bill gutting the EPA.  Got me to thinking about things like mountain top removal, so that's what our videos are tonight. Food for thought.  Please check out I Love Mountains.org.

Some things I'm grateful for today: (Items in red are pre-gratitude, an attempt to persuade the Creative Forces of the Universe that I really MUST have a truckload of money and a clothes dryer and some cool improvements to the house.... Really. They are supposed to hear and feel my gratitude and manifest cool stuff. I hope they are listening.)

• Angel and Tara Grace
• wordzzles
• wordzzles DONE (weary brain. weary fingers)
• words
• ideas
• inspiration (wish I had had more)
• imagination
• poetry
• YouTube
• my computer
• the internet
• email
• water
• free ice cream treats from Schwans
• Schwans
• electricity
• Tibetan salt lamps
• my camera
• coconut oil
• the ability to read and write
• the ability to type
• my new grabber
• my cane
• my chair/walker
• that my legs still get me around with help
• my TV
• the remote control
• the mute button
• my house
• the view from my front window
• seeing bees on the goldenrod
• my rock collection
• the colors of the rainbow
• sight
• hearing
• taste
• touch
• smell
• beauty
• music
• ear phones
• the joy of singing
• Pandora radio
• Healing with the Masters
• paper towels
• my desk chair
• memory foam
• indoor plumbing
• a clothes dryer
• Nintendo
• a ceiling fan in the bedroom
• more flowers in the back yard
• new curtains
• blinds for the front window
• CLEAN windows
• a reading and healing with Nancy DuTertre
• winning lottery numbers
• freshly painted living and bedroom walls
• a truckload of money (big bills)
• a sun room on the back of the house
• $5,000/week for life from PCH
• zero balance on my credit cards
• a paid off mortgage
• seeing the red list turn to black
• google
• SKYPE
• Netflix
• reiki
• angels
• miracles
• Dennis Puffett
• Sam-e
• Omega-3
• IP-6
• Vitamin D-3
• Dr. Bronner soaps
• computer games
• fans
• laughter
• humor
• corn muffins
• ideas
• determination
• resilience
• kindness
• my nieces, my nephew and their families
• that they are happy, healthy and successful
• my friends
• memories
• the wonders of nature
• mountains
• trees
• I Love Mountains.org
• compassion
• humor
• laughter
• love
• life

WISHING YOU PEACE

AND A MOUNTAIN TO LOVE

Weekly Wordzzle Challenge # 171

Still going with the story of Fred Johnson,  Paragon of Virtue. Here are links to the previous episodes.  If you need/want to catch up, click here for the 1st installment, 2nd installment, 3rd installment, 4th installment, 5th installment, 6th installment, 7th installment., 8th installment, 9th installment, 10th installment

Word for this week's 10-word challenge were: corn, chalice, perpendicular, what if, leaves, relief, teaching, healer, ramp, diamond ring   And for the mini: peek-a-boo, highest, shallow, willing, imagination




My mega:  


If he had hoped for relief from his anxiety, Fred had not gotten it from the Chef's note. Or at least the relief it offered was immediately erased by his fevered imagination presenting him with a series of horrific "what ifs" in which not only was he beheaded by Count Psycho (who for some reason insisted on playing peek-a-boo with him from the side-lines), but Bubbles and her baby suffered a series of horrible fates as a consequence of his inadequacy as a Paragon of Virtue. Lying in a heap of self pity on his bed, he moaned to himself - Wasn't it bad enough that being Paragon put his own life at risk? Now sweet pregnant Bubbles and her unborn child were relying on him to keep them safe. "I was not made for this," Fred muttered to himself. I am shallow and even though I am willing - how could I not want to protect sweet Bubbles and her child... and this Kingdom which has been so kind to me? - I do not have greatness in me. Would that I did." He was about to spiral into despair when Cane's wet nose butted him gently and brought him out of it. "What would I do without you, dog?" he asked, fondly reaching over and scratching the dogs's ears with one hand while pulling a cracker out of his pocket with the other. "Truth is, whether I'm up to the job or not, I'm who the tree stump chose for the highest honor of being Paragon and that leaves the task up to me. Guess I'd better ramp up my courage and see if I can come up with some kind of plan. Let's see if we can find our way to the kitchen. I wonder if Chef sent any corn muffins. We could take her a couple on the pretext that her cousin sent it because a healer told him it would be good for her baby. Sounds reasonable, doesn't it? Let's get me perpendicular and get going. Come on dog."  Leaping out of bed he sighed happily to find the desired corn muffins, checked his pockets for the graph twigs and cloth and headed out the door. This was his first opportunity to walk the halls of the Fortress unaccompanied and he thought it might be a good idea to use the time teaching himself as much as he could about the lay of the land, to connect the descriptions on Bubbles excellent map to the reality of the space around him. There was no shortage of things to look at. The halls abounded with paintings, sculptures, and tables and cabinets with a variety of ornate and bejeweled objects: chalices, crowns, sceptres, even a diamond ring or two were on display. in a not so subtle flaunting of wealth and power.




My mini: 


Fred soon felt a sense of being followed. Maybe it was his imagination but he thought he heard shallow breathing echoing off the walls not far behind him, though when he turned quickly to see if he could spot whoever it was, there was no one there. He decided he was not willing to continue on in that fashion, so the first time he and Cane turned a corner, he attempted to duck out of sight behind the highest object he could find and see if he could catch whoever was tailing him. Sure enough a few seconds later footsteps drew closer and as they came near Fred jumped out into the path of a small, wizened old man with a triumphant "Peek-a-boo."  Seeing the horrified look on the old man's face, Fred felt a bit ashamed and quickly apologized. "Sorry, he said, "I thought you were following me. Didn't mean to scare you. Well, I did, but...."  The old man laughed. No need to apologize. I was following you... but I meant you no harm. Spark asked me to keep an eye on you if I could. Name's McFlash. Edgar McFlash. Nice to meet you."




The 10-word: 


Relief washed over Fred's anxious spirit like water in the desert. Leaning against the wide perpendicular column he had recently been hiding behind, he beamed. "Wonderful to meet you Mr. McFlash. Any friend of Spark's is a friend of mine and it's just eases my mind to know I'm not quite as alone as I have been feeling. I was taking a couple of Chef Confetti's corn muffins to the kitchen. as an excuse to see Bubbles. I thought I'd say a healer told Chef that they would be good for the baby. I have several. Would you care for one? If you haven't tasted chef's food, you really must. What do you do, by the way?" "Don't mind if I do," the old man replied, "and since I happen to be a healer, you won't even be lying. Anything produced by Confetti's hands heals body and spirit... and as it happens, since I am on my way to see Bubbles myself to make a special preparation of tamango leaves which will strengthen and protect her and her baby, what if I join you and show you a short-cut in the process? It will make it easier for you to speak with her. I'm delighted to be teaching her the art of healing. She is a remarkable young woman as you may have already guessed. Shall we head on?" And so saying he made a quick right turn, led Fred through a series of doors, down a steep ramp and directly into the kitchen," calling out loudly as they entered. "Bubbles, my dear, bring me the potion chalice, the one with the diamond ring circling the bottom. Oh - and I've brought you a visitor bearing corn muffins from Confetti. Medicine for body and soul, my dear."  As Bubbles came towards them, chalice in hand, he beamed happily. "You are looking radiant indeed," young woman. And Fred, feeling a bit like he was betraying Flashlight, had to agree that she was not just radiant but dazzling. "Brought you a muffin," he muttered blushing as she smiled with delight.

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Words for next week's 10-word challenge: Paradise, silver, wind in the trees, ravaged, illustration, cat toys, important, candid, cartwheel, liver

And for the mini: bank, lotion, carpenter, slick, cheek

Thanks you for playing.  Newcomers can check here for some guidelines to make the game more fun. There are no rules, just some general guidelines and tricks.