Happy Friday! Summer is in full force these days, with clear blue skies and warm temperatures.  Unfortunately, it has also brought wildfires in many parts of the U.S. and, for the UK, a first-ever extreme heat warning.   All that heat/sun may be great for solar installations, but not so great for people and pets, especially people with jobs that require them to work outdoors.

Stay safe and hydrated everyone.

While “National Popsicle Day” might more appropriate, today is actually “National Give Something Away Day.”

Whether we give tangible items, financially, or by offering our skills and services, we lift others up. Our words can be a gift, too. Showing empathy, encouragement, and compassion to someone during a time of need may make us feel vulnerable, but it empowers those we offer it to as well. You can also share your time with others by volunteering. 

I have several boxes of items that are ready to be given away–today will be a great time for me to find a new home for them, in between a full work day of meetings and conference calls.  Regardless of whatever else I manage to do, I’ll be giving today’s writing prompt and random words a try.

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Welcome to another Friday! For those who had Monday off in observance of Independence Day, I hope you enjoyed your short-work week.  I had both Monday and Friday off, so this week just flew by.

Currently, summer is in full swing here and yesterday I filled up the doggie-wading pool for the puppy, who instantly jumped in and did her best to splash out all of the water.

She had a grand time.

I had less of grand time when she then ran through the dirt and in through the house, but it was nothing that a mop and a towel couldn’t take care of.  She is now busily dropping balls into the water and batting them around.

Simple pleasures are the best.

For me, today’s simple pleasures will include diving into the latest library book that finally appeared in my queue after weeks of waiting and making a big pitcher of lemonade now that the lemon tree has some ripe fruit on it.  Regardless of whatever else I decide to do (or not to do), I’ll be giving today’s writing prompt and random words a try.

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Happy Friday!  For those in the U.S., this is the start of a long holiday weekend (for most).  Somehow, celebrating the country’s independence this year is  somewhat bittersweet with the constant barrage of attacks on democracy and basic freedoms that have been going on.  The holiday is a good reminder to not take anything for granted.

On a happier note, the puppy, who is growing by leaps and bounds, is currently asleep and looking her adorable best–curled up like a little chocolate croissant with one ear flipped inside out.  Later she’ll be back to racing around the yard like she has a booster-rocket strapped to her back, but for now, all is peaceful.

Taking a nap sounds like a great idea — maybe I’ll join her once my work is done. Fortunately, I have the day off work today, so napping is definitely on the schedule.  Working in the yard is also on the schedule today, but first I’ll be giving today’s writing prompt and random words a try.

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Happy “first Friday of Summer”.

Nature has been taking the job seriously here this past week with temperatures that make me wish, once again, that I had air conditioning.  Even the puppy has been feeling the heat and has been searching our cool areas of tile to sleep on.  She is so stretched out that she looks like she has melted. 

Coincidentally, according to the National Day Calendar, today is “National Take Your Dog to Work Day“–or as I think of it, “every day” here at the Writing Castle.

For those who have had enough reality for today, it’s also “National Take Back The Lunch Break Day“, which sounds like a good idea to step away from the computer/phone/television, head outside, and enjoy some fresh air, a real lunch, and some social interaction.  

Whatever I wind up celebrating today, I’ll be giving today’s writing prompt and random words a try.

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Happy “it’s almost officially summer” Friday.

Here at the Writing Castle, the skies are blue, the sun is shining, and the flowers are gently waving the breeze — well, they would be if the puppy hadn’t eaten most of their little colorful heads off.  Ah well, this too shall pass (pun intended).

For those looking for something to celebrate, it is both “National Cherry Tart Day” and “National Apple Strudel Day“.  That sounds like a good reason for me to pull out the old family strudel recipe . . . or maybe I’ll just plan a trip to the local bakery instead.

For those who didn’t realize that this Sunday is Father’s Day, it’s also likely to be “oh no, I need to find a gift” day. 🙂 

Whatever thing I wind up celebrating today, I’ll be giving today’s writing prompt and random words a try.

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Welcome to the start of a brand new week.  

Normally, we post our weekly writing sprint on Fridays, as a way to end the week with a little creativity, but today we’re changing things up a bit.

In completely unrelated news, the Writing Castle is now home to a new puppy who is a high-energy, rose-bush-eating, bundle of fur who has not yet been convinced that the computer keyboard is NOT a chew toy.

Fortunately, she’s cute when she’s sleeping.

Needless to say, getting any writing done has been a definite challenge, what with attempting to puppy-proof the house and spending far too much time in the backyard asking “who needs to pee?” in a perky, cheerleader voice.

Sometime today, between work and puppy-wrangling, I’m determined to give today’s writing prompt and random words a try.

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Welcome to the end of another week.  

According to the Calendar of Days, today is “National Doughnut Day” or, if you prefer, “National Chocolate Macaroon Day”–both seem like tasty celebrations.

Although I’m always happy to celebrate Doughnut day, I hadn’t previously been aware of the story behind it:

The Salvation Army created National Doughnut Day in 1938 to honor the women who served doughnuts to soldiers in World War I. This day began as a fundraiser for Chicago’s Salvation Army. The goal of their 1938 fundraiser was to help the needy during the Great Depression.

In 1917, the original “Salvation Army Doughnut” was first served by the ladies of the Salvation Army. It was during WWI that the Salvation Army Lassies went to the front lines of Europe. Home-cooked foods, provided by these brave volunteers, were a morale boost to the troops.

The doughnuts were often cooked in oil inside the metal helmets of American soldiers. American infantrymen were then commonly called “doughboys.”

Who knew?

After work, If I can avoid getting donut crumbs all over my keyboard, I plan to give today’s writing prompt and random words a try.

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Happy Friday and, for those in the U.S., welcome to the start of a three-day weekend and the official kick-off of summer.

According to the Calendar of Days, today is “National Road Trip Day” as well as “National Cooler Day”–both fit right in with the holiday weekend theme.  

As simple as the design of a cooler may seem, it wasn’t until the 1950s that the first cooler or “portable icebox” made the scene. In fact, the material needed to make coolers didn’t even exist until 1944.

There may not be a road-trip in my weekend plans, but I have been helping get our neighborhood pool ready for its season-opening on Saturday, so I will be doing my small part to kick off summer.  The weather here may have other plans though, considering that it is currently 58-degrees and windy.

Whether or not the weather decides to warm up–or I am suddenly inspired to take a road trip–I’m going to plan on starting the weekend off with today’s writing prompt and random words.

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Technically it’s still Friday in some time-zone, so this post is coming in just under the wire.

Today’s delay was caused by about a million ants that decided my kitchen was the place to be.  Counters.  Floor.  Stove.  You name it, they were all over it.  I can only thank my stars that I was foresightful enough to put my half of a leftover danish in the refrigerator the night before rather than leaving it in a bag on the counter.

On the plus side, the kitchen is now super clean and I didn’t need to resort to the use of toxic chemicals to get rid of the invaders.  Now I just hope they’ll stay gone.

Whether or not my kitchen is overrun again in the morning, I’m going to plan on starting things off with today’s writing prompt and random words.

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Happy Friday everyone!  I hope your week is ending on a positive note.  The weather here is beautiful with just the right balance of sunshine and light breeze, and my case of COVID is over, so things are definitely ending on a positive note here.

Welcome to all of the new followers who have found this blog in recent weeks.  I hope you are enjoying the Writing Sprints and have been able to get some words on the page–whatever you may be writing.

My writing these past months has been focused primarily on white papers and articles for my day job, but I’m hoping there will be a lull soon so I can get back my various fiction projects.  Who knows what my characters have been getting up to in my absence.  One can only hope they’ve managed to untangle a plot problem or two.

Regardless what else I wind up writing today, I’m going to take at least a few minutes to give today’s writing prompt and random words a try.

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