SoCS: scent

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “cent/scent/sent.” Use them in any form you like. Use one, use two or use them all. Bonus points if you use all three, and Cheryl will put your next drink on David’s tab. I know, you used to get bonus points for two, but inflation…

I did something stupid; I bought two scented things. They said ‘lavender’. I blame it on low blood sugar and driving around a city on a hot day.

The first was my pillow; I can’t remember if I wrote about the mattress not getting delivered? Well, I said I wanted a free pillow for my troubles. But they didn’t bring me a free pillow, they gave me a voucher so I could pick it out next time I was in town.

Big trip into the city; I had a list of little things I have needed for a long time. I almost forgot to go to Sleep Country to get my pillow. The sales guy took me on a tour of pillows and think he really wanted me to notice his red nail polish because he put both hands spread out on every pillow. Or maybe he was just admiring his nail polish.

Well, the lavender one looked so pretty. I bent over and got a vague whiff of lavender. “You had me at lavender” I said. He didn’t even smile. Bitch. He said the smell might wear off after a few months.

The next thing was dryer sheets. I don’t know what I was thinking! I usually buy these dryer sheets that are made with paper so better for the environment and they are lightly scented. I don’t know if my brain was fogged because I hadn’t eaten and I was getting tired driving around to different stores and didn’t want to go to yet another store to get the paper dryer sheets . . . I bought lavender and vanilla dryer sheets. They stink to high heaven! WTF was I thinking? They will be good for scaring mice away.

My pillow sat in the box until the next day. I ripped open the plastic bag and the smell assaulted my nose and brain. I aired it outside for most of the day and now its sitting on the bed in the guest room. A very large air freshener. I think I’ll be able use it in a week or two.

I’m still pissed off at myself for buying those awful dryer sheets. I can smell them when I pass my laundry room which is OK because my laundry room is 20+ years old and has a funky smell anyway. I’ll use them then chastise myself every time.

Its been almost a week now: the scent of fake lavender is subsiding.

https://lindaghill.com/2022/06/17/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-june-18-2022/

SoCS: wandering eyes

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “a picture from wherever.” When you sit down to write your post, find a picture, whether in a magazine, newspaper, or even product packaging. Write whatever thought or emotion the picture provokes.

Is it supposed to be the first thing we look at? My eyeballs are still adjusting to being awake as I’m still on my second coffee so I’ll take you on a short tour of anything on the other side of my laptop.

The Kleenex box. It isn’t brand name Kleenex but we call them all Kleenex now; its Compliments tissues. The box shows a range of mountain tops, jagged and snowy. Maybe the Rockies but could be the Himalayans: who knows? It looks cold and harsh. It invokes no emotion.

I work my way up and there is a photo of my mom and dad. He has his arm around her and she is nestled into his shoulder. They are both smiling. Now that invokes emotion I can’t put into words, at least not this early. It sounds something like; “mmeeeyyyaawwww!”

Then there is a tiny framed watercolour of two bunnies talking to a robin sitting on a Hawthorn branch. Actually it could be a tiny pencil drawing. It has all the qualities of an English children’s book illustration like Enid Blyton. It looks like innocence. It might even be worth something. It belonged to my great aunt who did collect some nice art that may be originals. I would have to wait for Antiques Road Show to find out if I have anything of worth.

Well that’s the pictures that are straight ahead and I don’t have to turn my head to look for anything else. I would like to include my globe beachball I won at exercise bingo which is on the chair next to me. It has all the countries and borderlines on it! I use it for my newest favourite game: Worldle. Not wordle which is my first favourite, this shows you a country’s outline which most times is impossible to guess so you try something random; then it tells you how many kilometres and what direction the right country is. You get 6 tries. I’ve learned where so many countries are!

Now I have 4 games; Wordle, Canuckle, Quordle and Worldle.

Re-reading the prompt I may have wandered off topic; off the kleenex box with snowy mountaintops. It just doesn’t do anything for me.

https://lindaghill.com/2022/06/10/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-june-11-2022/

SoCS: irony/iron

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “iron(y).” Use “iron,” use “irony,” or use both. Use them any way you’d like. Bonus points if you use both.

Maybe I better stick to ironing cotton. Irony is not easy to come up with! Certainly can’t think of anything ironic with stream of consciousness, early in the morning.

Alanis Morrisette got in trouble for making a whole song about irony then was told it wasn’t really irony. I guess its just ‘you know it when you hear it’? I may even say things that are ironic when I think I’m merely being sarcastic, which I am a lot.

So, yeah, I iron. If you love cotton, you have to have an iron. I’m an old lady: I have an iron and an ironing board I can set up in my storage room. Its adjacent to my sewing room. When you sew, you need an iron.

“Good Morning, Beautiful!” Is that ironic?

I had a friend come and stay with me because “its so beautiful here” then spent hours on her phone and on Facebook. I could hardly get her out to the back yard. Is that ironic?

I’m going to a birthday party for my grandniece today. I’m the only vegetarian but they go out their way to make vegetarian options so I end up with too much to eat. ironic?

“There’s nothing to eat!” If I said that, would that be ironic?

How about having 500 channels and “there’s nothing to watch!”.

Is that irony?

Last week I told you I was painting my front doors and was asked for photos so here we are.

I took out the window when I painted it last time and didn’t this time. SoB.

I was proud of this! Not supposed to paint in full sun so I rigged this up!

I haven’t finished those flower/herb pots by the door because I painted this door then had company. Today I’m back to planting before I leave for the birthday party. I’m leading two exercise classes this coming week and in between my ex is visiting me. Not only that, I haven’t mown my lawn yet and its LONG. So long it has to be done in sessions, over days.

I’m really trying to think of something ironic to say about that. Life of leisure?

https://lindaghill.com/2022/06/03/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-june-4-2022/

SoCS: trial/trail

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “trail/trial.” Use one, use both, use them any way you’d like. Bonus points if you use both.

I’m in such a hurry this morning but I can’t pass up SoCS because I missed last week! I don’t want my 5 faithful followers to get worried!

Last Saturday I was getting ready for a mattress to be delivered that never showed. It was classic Mercury in retrograde miscommunication. 2 weeks ago I went to TOWN to pick out a mattress, a trial you might say, and found the perfect one.

The guy who sold it to me wrote up a delivery order and didn’t see the notice come in saying it needed back ordering. The next employee came in, her job was to phone everyone on the delivery sheet to tell them to get ready for it. I cleared furniture and got my old mattress out in the hallway. No one called or showed.

But long story short because I’m in a hurry; got my mattress and a voucher for a free pillow . . . next time I get to TOWN.

Today I’m in a hurry because I slept in on my beautiful mattress and I’m painting my front door! I got swatches and taped them to the door earlier this week, trial colours you might say, and I’m very excited to paint my doors today. I also paint the screen door because I didn’t want a glaring white one over raspberry which has faded to an ugly pink but after today it will be turquoise!

I have a wonderful trail right beside my house! I’ve written about that before but now I want to start my door! Couldn’t pass up the bonus points!

https://lindaghill.com/2022/05/27/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-may-28-2022/

SoCS: my rain hat

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “hat.” Use it literally or metaphorically.

Recently I lost a hat I’d had for about 20 years. It was black waterproof outer layer with a fleece lining. Perfect for spring and fall or even a not-too-cold snowy day: I wore it a lot. It kept the rain or snow off my glasses, it fit so perfectly on my head, wind could not blow it off. I got it at a store called Zellers which will bring a little nostalgia to Canadians. That’s how old it was.

Good Friday Easter weekend was cold and blustery. We had a family gathering and I already knew I was going to stay outside by the campfire. I put my hat in my carry bag in case it rained. Sometime I got something out of my bag and my hat escaped. I didn’t notice until I got home. My hat!! My beloved hat I’ve had for so long . . . NOOooo!!!

I texted my sister right away; “. . . my hat. . . !” She and my grandnephew looked everywhere. They went all around the neighbourhood. She posted it on Facebook in their neighbourhood group. No hat.

That week I had to go to the city for a bone density scan so I went on the look for another rain hat. I found one almost just like it at Winners! Black vinyl with fleece lining. It even looks nicer because its not a 20 year old hat. Only thing not quite the same as its a little looser and would blow off in the wind but that’s OK: I’ll hold onto it. It also doesn’t have BB cream on the headband. Its nice and clean and new.

Last week my sister found my old hat. It had blown to a spot where it wasn’t easily seen. Now I have a hat just for working in and a dressier rain hat!

Well, talk about stream of consciousness; I just got a text from my sister. My brother-in-law wants to come and dig up some ferns in the woods here and she will bring my hat!

But now we are having summer weather so I’m in a sun hat. Yesterday I smothered myself in sunscreen and took a very long walk on the beach in a sunsuit. I wore my sun hat which is even older than my old rain hat. Its the best and irreplaceable! Thin white cotton on top, sides are screen for ventilation, sweat band inside and it fits so perfectly the wind can’t blow it off. I’ve never found one as good as this one.

Well, that’s all I got about hats today. I’ll be wearing my sunhat soon. It also protects me from falling ticks. Found one crawling on my ear the other day. . . always wear a hat in the woods.

https://lindaghill.com/2022/05/13/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-may-14-2022/

SoCS: what’s a row?

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “a phrase you grew up with.” Include in your post a phrase your mom/dad/grandparent/sibling used all the time when you were growing up, or just write whatever inspires you based on that phrase.

My mom was from Yorkshire and my grandparents moved here to Canada because both their daughters married Canadians from the RCAF (Royal Canadian Air Force) after WW2. They had a lot of funny expressions and words but for some reason the one I remember still the most is the most puzzling.

If I would say “I’m hungry” my mom and/or grandma would say “And I’m angry and there’ll soon be a row” That’s not ‘row’ like a row of something lined up, its pronouncing like ‘cow’. I just looked it up in my Merriam Webster dictionary: its entry 6 of 6. ‘rau. “to engage in a row: have a quarrel”

I remember asking what a ‘row’ is and told it was a fight. It implied that saying I was hungry might start a fight or certainly make them angry. Could I get beat up for being hungry? Maybe its just an old fashioned way of saying you are hangry.

I was with my mom and my aunt at the airport in Toronto waiting for someone to fly in from England. I was an adolescent and they were both “in their Prrrrime” as they liked to say: rolling the ‘r’ like Maggie Smith in the “Prime of Jean Brody”, they loved that movie Their heads both turned slowly in unison watching a pilot walk by. When he was out of earshot my aunt said “Oooo, he’s got talent!”. They laughed and banged elbows and told me that’s what they used to say as they checked out the enlisted men at dances. Obviously they had a special place in their ‘hearts’ for pilots.

Its really great to remember them like that; in their Prrrrime.

OMG I found the perfect clip on YouTube!

https://lindaghill.com/2022/05/06/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-may-7-2022/

SoCS: zip, zero, zilch

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “zip, zero, zilch.” Use one, use ’em all, bonus points if you use all three.

Did my income taxes. It was the usual; “enter zero”. That’s where you do all the work to do what they already know. Back in the olden days we got two sheets; one to do in pencil and another for the good copy done in pen. That’s where we enter the numbers they already sent us and figure out what we owe . . . or not.

I used to get refunds when I was working. I would pay income tax but would get some return as I was always low income.

My sister just called me and I lost my stream of consciousness. Do I go back and read what I wrote? I started out with zip, zero, zilch. Now I have a bunch of people in my head.

Ok I read it again but it is no longer my stream of consciousness. My consciousness is moving outdoors: I have so many jobs I want to do outside but only have half as much energy as I need to do it all. After two or three hours my arms just give up on me. I start stumbling when I get that tired. I work until I have nothing left. zip, nada, zilch.

And that’s all I got left on this SoC: zip, zero, zilch.

https://lindaghill.com/2022/04/29/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-april-30-2022/

SoCS: too/to/two

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “too/to/two.” Use one, use ’em all, bonus points if you use all three. Extra bonus points if you start your post with one.

To write or not to write; that is the question. Should I start writing when I have no idea what I’m writing about? That is stream of consciousness.

I was too busy this week. Everything scheduled for this month landed on the same 3 days. It was busier than I like to be but it turned out very good for getting back out into the world without anxiety.

Anxiety; I learned something from Brene Brown last week watching her special ‘Atlas of the Heart’. The series is about understanding your own feelings and how to communicate them to people so you can forge a deeper connection. Anyway, she said when you are anxious it feels the same way as being excited. So true! I had never thought of it that way.

I learned more than that but what stayed with me the most was ‘language’. She mentioned how important language is in communicating to each other and that language is cultural. For instance there was a discussion on how to translate ‘anguish’ into Spanish: there wasn’t a word. There were German words used where there is no word to translate into English.

A few years ago I attended a seminar called “Bridges Over Poverty” about the effects of generational poverty. There were statistics that children raised in poverty had only 30% of the words; the vocabulary of children raised in the upper class. If you don’t have the language to express your emotions and are not taught to express your emotions, then you can only act out in violence of some sort. The anger and frustration gets packed down until it explodes. Then the child is punished and the cycle continues.

**********************************************************************

I started out telling you about my busy week but that came out of it instead! I don’t want to write two subjects: that would be too much. Ta-daaa!

https://lindaghill.com/2022/04/22/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-april-23-2022/

SoCS: How?

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “how.” Use the word “how” in your post. Bonus points if you start your post with it. 

“How can people be so heartless?” Of course, a song usually comes to mind. Its one that has been in my head for a couple of weeks although I haven’t listened to it. Its from the musical Hair. I will find it and put it on the end of my SoC.

Its so hard to see the war going on and the atrocities. So hard to imagine this can still go on in this day and age. What’s worse is its becoming back page news as is goes on and on: as we get hardened to it. How can this happen? How can one man or even a handful of men have the whole world by the balls? How can they just lie about what they are doing? And how can we still let ourselves feel happy?

How can the rich be so greedy and feel proud of it? Luxury homes and luxury cars are in high demand. The big new homes built around here solely for B+Bs go for $10,000 a week, yes, a week, and they are filling up. Tiny cottages that middle class people could afford for a week are being torn down. There is no middle class anymore. There’s the haves and have-nots.

How can people keep up all their habits that make giant carbon footprints and then post on social media of how much they care about nature and the environment? People aren’t trying hard enough to change their ways. How can we stop buying all this shit? How can we “build our economy” and and stop buying so much shit? Crap coming over in huge barges, hundreds a day; half of it ending up in the landfill with packaging and things people decide they don’t really want. How long can this keep going on?

People aren’t changing. Money is more important. Bitcoin and all the internet crap, Twitter, tiktok. all suck energy. Needless, pointless drivel hour after hour. Keeping our minds in a false reality. A false construct. An illusion. But it sure works. We are just as much prey to propaganda as Russia but we are so subtle. We make good consumers. We consume goods like the Wendigo chewing off his own lips in hunger.

How can I sound like I’m in such a bad mood but still feel somewhat contented? Partly because this is the place I vent without bothering people. But also because I live in my own house in a peaceful place and I have my health. How could I ask for more? One thing: A good friend who lives close by would be really nice.

Well, now I remember why I haven’t listened to this song in a while. LOL! But great lyrics so I picked one with them written out.

https://lindaghill.com/2022/04/08/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-april-9-2022/

SoCS: tip

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “tip.” Use it as a noun or a verb.

Tip of the iceberg. I use that expression a lot but I don’t feel like typing out something philosophical. We are all looking at each other’s ‘tips’, especially on Facebook! That image is enough. I’m not wordy today.

I think we did this prompt years ago because I remember leaving a tip so here it is again: when using cayenne pepper, pick it up with a fork. So much easier to get the right amount.

And that’s all I got today.

https://lindaghill.com/2022/04/01/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-april-2-2022/