Reflections and Nightmares- Irene A Waters (writer and memoirist)

Cee’s Odd Ball Challenge: Retro Zabe

Posted on February 2, 2015 by Irene Waters 19 Writer Memoirist

A new coffee shop has opened in town with an ambience to appeal to the young and those that enjoy a trip of nostalgia down memory lane. I hankered after a princess when I was a school kid. All my friends had them – the original transportable.

We had one of these at home and my parents could see no need for music in the house that didn’t come from either this or the old bakelite radio in the kitchen which, if we were lucky we could tune to pick up other countries in the world, firing our imaginations.

Ours was also a “His Masters Voice” – I don’t know whether there were any other brands around.

This made me reflect on the revisioning of these old musical items which once blasted out songs like “How much is that doggy in the window?” and in our family lots of classical music and operettas. And here are these machines, broken and yet in their broken state give me the pleasure of hearing the songs of the past echoing around in my head.

The cafe is small, cosy and intimate which is lucky because if you had to look for fifty different record labels to check whose coffee you had ……

In response to Cee’s Odd Ball Photo

Posted in Cee's Odd Ball Challenge, Memoir, photography | Tagged Australia, Cee's odd ball challenge, gramophones, irene waters, Music, Photography, retro | 47 Comments

99 Word flash fiction: Disoriented

Posted on February 1, 2015 by Irene Waters 19 Writer Memoirist

The conversation floated around Horry like swirls of mist. Some came at him thick and fast. Too fast for him to make sense of. Others came slower allowing time to respond. Slowly, deliberately he managed a few words before the fog rolled in again. Mute, head hurting, he saw them stare, willing him to make another sound. Increasingly less time passed before they started chatting to each other. If only this cloud fogging his head would go. If only they would go.

” Leave.” Stunned, they obeyed his order

Catching snatches of conversation as they left, Horry smiled.

“demented”,

“disoriented”

In response to Charli’s prompt:

January 28, 2015 prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less) write a story about disorientation. A character could be lost in the maze of the mind or in a storm of unexpected traffic. What are the sounds? The sights? The smell? Explore the different ways confusion can be expressed and how it can create tension, provide relief or move a story forward.

Respond by February 3, 2015 to be included in the weekly compilation. Rules are here. All writers are welcome!

Posted in fiction, flash fiction | Tagged 99 word flash fiction, dementia, disoriented, irene waters | 19 Comments

Shadow Shot Sunday: Shadows at the dog party

Posted on February 1, 2015 by Irene Waters 19 Writer Memoirist

The shadows fell as the dog party got underway. There were treats for dogs and humans alike. Some of the home-made dog treats looked so delicious I watched as humans seemed keen to eat them as well.

There were around thirty dogs. The last party six months earlier had a roll up of 36 dogs. Amazing to see such a variety of sizes playing together . They sorted themselves in to those that liked to run, those that liked to eat and those that liked to sit at their masters feet. Not one nasty word was heard from dogs (or humans for that matter.)

Penny, at 12 weeks old stole the most gorgeous dog present award.

Bundy found a female who had dressed to impress with a ribbon in her hair but apart from accepting pats from the owner he couldn’t have cared less.

A fun afternoon in the shadows.

More shadows can be seen at shadow shot sunday 2.

Posted in Dogs, photography, Shadows | Tagged Dog, irene waters, Noosa, Pet, Photography, Shadow shot Sunday2 | 37 Comments

Silent Sunday: Waterfront living

Posted on February 1, 2015 by Irene Waters 19 Writer Memoirist

Posted in photography, Silent Sunday | Tagged irene waters, New Zealand, Photography, Silent Sunday | 19 Comments

Weekly Photo Challenge: Gaining Depth

Posted on January 31, 2015 by Irene Waters 19 Writer Memoirist

Aratiatia dam in New Zealands North Island provides a vision of depth which we were not expecting. After a morning on the jet boat we were having a lazy drive not expecting to come across something this spectacular.

The dam is supplies water to one of the many hydro electric power stations and is opened four times a day to send 90,000 litres per SECOND, yes per second down the otherwise almost dry riverbed.

When dry there are some pools of water which are the most spectacular colour.

From one of the lookouts which you can get to along an easy walking bush track.

Even then Roger and I managed to get separated. He is at the corner of the lower lookout whilst I had managed to find myself at the upper one.

Some people didn’t want to stay at the lookouts and had climbed down closer to the river awaiting opening.

The first gate opens.

The water starts to flow

Note the pool at the base of the gate is now visible as the other gate opens.

Now fully open

the level rises

Depth in the river

After 30 minutes the gates shut

leaving the depth of water to make its way downstream until once again only pools remain.

Posted in photography, travel, Weekly photo challenge | Tagged Aratiata Dam, Daily Post, irene waters, Lake Taupo, New Zealand, Photography, postaday, Weekly Photo Challenge | 20 Comments

Skywatch Friday: 30th January 2015 Noosaville 5.51 pm

Posted on January 30, 2015 by Irene Waters 19 Writer Memoirist

Posted in photography, Skywatch Friday | Tagged Australia, irene waters, Noosa, Photography, skywatch Friday | 6 Comments

Friday Fictioneers: The Business Venture

Posted on January 30, 2015 by Irene Waters 19 Writer Memoirist

Quickly scanning the document John signed the bank papers. He was safe as he was not the only guarantor and glad to help the Pacific islanders in their business venture that would take two years to complete.

The snails were ripe for transport to the French market. Fat and juicy. Carefully packed in the refrigerated container they waited on the wharf for the ship. The islanders were excited. The snails would fetch a good price.

The wharf manager, to conserve costs, cut the power. The snails boiled in the tropical sun and their own slime. John discovered he was sole guarantor.

word count 100

Every Friday authors from around the world gather here to share their 100-words and offer constructive crit and encouragement to each other. This creates a wonderful opportunity for free reading of very fresh fiction! Readers are encouraged to comment as well. Join Rochelle and see the others

Posted in fiction, flash fiction, story telling, Writing | Tagged Creative writing, flash fiction, Friday Fictioneers, irene waters | 33 Comments

Floral Friday: Potted Frangipanni clusters

Posted on January 30, 2015 by Irene Waters 19 Writer Memoirist

Posted in Floral Friday, photography | Tagged Floral Friday, frangipanni, irene waters, Photography, potted plants | 18 Comments

Minimalism

Posted on January 29, 2015 by Irene Waters 19 Writer Memoirist

On throwback Thursday I return to a post I did in Sept 2013 regarding writing the three pitches for the publisher. I did not do flash anything at this stage but the same principles hold for both pitching and flashing (I think). It certainly makes you aware of what your story is and how to say it succinctly.

Reflections and Nightmares- Irene A Waters (writer and memoirist)

1. Drawn blue and white floral curtains cooled the room from the febrile day outside by casting it in shadows. The immense bed was the only piece of furniture, gaily covered in the cheap cotton material which also draped the windows. Two worn towels were origamied at the foot of the bed with large red hibiscus flowers placed on top of them. A fan slowly whirred on the ceiling above, moving the shadows with each rotation. A setting any faster would have seen the dust being lifted from the woven bamboo walls and the thatch of the roof above. The brick-red painted cement of the floor seemed to join seamlessly with the door frame in which I stood.

2. The drawn floral curtains cast the room in shadows cooling it from the febrile day outside. The same cheap cotton material covered the immense bed, the only furniture in the room…

View original post 169 more words

Posted in Uncategorized | 6 Comments

Thursday’s Special: Arranged

Posted on January 29, 2015 by Irene Waters 19 Writer Memoirist

The Stonehenge is aged at around 3100BC and found in Wiltshire near the town of Avesbury. The site was opened, according to google, in 2000BC. In those days however you did not need to arrange a tour, you could wander at will. Now tours are arranged as the site has been protected from tourists since the 1970s due to extreme erosion.

The henge was built in three stages with the third stage the one we see today.The sarsen stones were obtained 25 kilometers to the north and it is estimated that to move the 50 ton rocks this distance the builders would have had to arrange 500 men to pull, using leather ropes and, another 100 men laying timber to act as rollers to move the stone along.

These stones were then arranged in an outer circle with a continuous run of lintels as can be seen below in the depiction of what it would have looked like when it was intact. Arranged inside was a horseshoe of rocks. The site was both a crematorium and a place for sun worship.

“I know this goes without saying, but Stonehenge really was the most incredible accomplishment. It took five hundred men just to pull each sarsen, plus a hundred more to dash around positioning the rollers. Just think about it for a minute. Can you imagine trying to talk six hundred people into helping you drag a fifty-ton stone eighteen miles across the countryside and muscle it into an upright position, and then saying, “Right, lads! Another twenty like that, plus some lintels and maybe a couple of dozen nice bluestones from Wales, and we can party!” Whoever was the person behind Stonehenge was one dickens of a motivator, I’ll tell you that.”

Bill Bryson, in Notes from a Small Island(1995)

“I don’t like the place at all. It’s all wrong. An imposition on the Landscape. I reckon that Stonehenge was build by the contemporary equivalent of Microsoft, whereas Avebury was definitely an Apple circle.”

Terry Pratchett

This post is in response to Thursday’s Special

Posted in photography, travel | Tagged Avesbury, Bill Bryson, irene waters, Photography, stonehenge, Terry Pratchett, Thursday's Special, Travel | 25 Comments

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Reflections and Nightmares- Irene A Waters (writer and memoirist)

Cee’s Odd Ball Challenge: Retro Zabe

99 Word flash fiction: Disoriented

Shadow Shot Sunday: Shadows at the dog party

Silent Sunday: Waterfront living

Weekly Photo Challenge: Gaining Depth

Skywatch Friday: 30th January 2015 Noosaville 5.51 pm

Friday Fictioneers: The Business Venture

Floral Friday: Potted Frangipanni clusters

Minimalism

Thursday’s Special: Arranged

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Recent Posts

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Archives

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Pages

Irene Waters

Blogging Challenges Available

Monthly early each month Times Past

Every Weekend Weekend Coffee Share

Sunday: Sunday Stills

Meta

Blogs I Follow