Words for Wednesday Prompts - Feb 4, 2026

This February, I am the host for Words for Wednesday. Words for Wednesday is started by Delores and continued by Elephant's Child who sadly passed away. River at Drifting through life is our new coordinator but the prompts are provided and hosted by various people and hosted on various blogs. The aim of Words for Wednesday is to encourage us to write using some or all of the prompts.

This week's prompts are: 
1. black eye
2. car wash
3. mud bath
4. jelly bean
5. duct tape

Charlotte's color for February is Electric Rose (#f00699) which you can see it better here.

You may write your piece in the comments or post it on your blog. If posting on your blog, please leave a direct link to the post so we can all visit you. Have fun writing!

Book Rants - Jan 2026

It has been a long-short month where the days just sweep by like there's only a few hours per day. I did some reading, some jigsaw puzzles, basically procrastinating until I have to do mandatory stuff like work and chores. Same old things but I'm lucky to be able to say nothing extremely bad happened and though I wish time would go slower, at least I'm still around to complain. Here are the books I read this month.

01 - Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik
What's it about: silver, gold, moneylenders, Jews, poor people, winter, bits of magic, kings, demons, slightly lunatic husbands
There are three main female characters (Miryem, Wanda, Irina) we are following so it's like we are reading three different stories at once though they are interconnected. I don't like these other perspectives from minor characters that could be told through one of the three though there is a bit that is probably necessary for one of the minor character's view but it wasn't as if they couldn't fit it into with the three. Plus why no winter king's perspective when his character is essential to the plot? I like that the king adheres to a strict trading rule - you do something for him and he do something for you in return - he doesn't do anything without a reason.
    There is no romance which I'm all for but the ending sort of ends like a romance which is fine. But these women (two of them anyway) were forced to marry these jackasses and [SPOILER AHEAD > they ended up with them so it kind of seem like a dumb conclusion but at the least the men changed in a way < END SPOILER] but we don't know that for sure since the ending isn't too detailed.
    Still, I enjoyed this book even if I sort of dislike how it ended but the ending still would have benefit from more details. 

Fiction: The Cupcake Tragedy

This month's Words for Wednesday prompts are provided by Sean Jeating and posted at River's blog over here. This week's prompts are: long, monk, novice, spiritual, time and/or ants, boy, compassion, stream, trapped.

Fiction: The Cupcake Tragedy
Penny Picnickle's mission was to bake 500 cupcakes in different varieties of flavor and design for a place in the Women's Culinarian Society (WCS) to please her would-be mother-in-law. Not long ago, Penny would have dismissed doing such dumb things to please another but this could change her life. She had to go through three baking competitions to become one of eight lucky candidates.
    It took Penny a lot of sleepless pacing, a bit of meditation and a whole lot of tea to make the cupcakes in five days. Thankfully, her cousin Nicky had all the supplies she needed. Sometimes Penny thought he must be a spiritual monk. He never broke into a temper nor had a flicker of ire toward anyone or anything. It was as if he had all the compassion and patience in the world. In the last two days, his calmness kept Penny from freaking out. He also got her the ten trucks to move the cupcakes to the Kinsfolk Hall's massive kitchen.