tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-78024129249363752472023-11-16T07:52:15.770+01:00Still LearningAnjihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02562210585479814093noreply@blogger.comBlogger208125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7802412924936375247.post-5529129212638167952023-08-18T16:10:00.000+02:002023-08-18T16:10:02.726+02:00Use this plot in a short story; Doctor says hockey is damaging his back.<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal">When my son was at school he was no good at sport.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He hated the days he had to change into his
sports gear and participate in what was for him humiliation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In those days teachers were not so tolerant
of pupils <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>who didn’t get sport.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To make things worse, his classmates made fun
of him too.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Then one September he came home from the first sports lesson
of the year full of himself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A new teacher
had arrived and introduced the boys to hockey. For some reason my son took to
this sport really well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’d had a
growth spurt during the holidays and was becoming stronger.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Apparently once he was armed with a hockey
stick there was no stopping him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He soon
became chosen for the team that was created to represent the school.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As the first term sped by, my son went from strength to
strength, not only in sport, but in his academic work too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He continued to grow taller and was turning
into a good looking, popular young man. Life was good.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">One morning he woke up and when he got out of bed, he could
hardly walk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His back was very painful
and he found it difficult to stand up straight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Of course, we took him to see the doctor who ordered X-rays and therapy
and a visit to a specialist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
specialist listened to his history and asked about sport and how that had been
going.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My son proudly explained how he’d
done so well once he started playing hockey.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">At the mention of the word hockey the doctor scratched his
chin thoughtfully.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He explained that my
son had grown to be exceptionally tall and the constant leaning forward with
the hockey stick was putting a strain on his back. Hockey, which had helped my
son so much, was damaging his back.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://creativewritingprompts.com/#" target="_blank">Creative Writing Prompts</a> No. 317<o:p></o:p></p>Anjihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02562210585479814093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7802412924936375247.post-74343274322943137952022-02-20T10:27:00.000+01:002022-02-20T10:27:05.374+01:00Write a story about a beggar who loves to hear himself sing<p> Old Joseph was a familiar site in the town center on most
afternoons. His clothes were old and
worn and quite dirty, unless he was given something new to wear by the people
at the soup kitchen. Nobody really knew
where he went during the mornings or the evenings and nights. Most people probably didn’t think much about
how he managed in the cold winter rain at night.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Joseph was one of those men who had been very successful and
(he thought) happily married with three lovely children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His marriage ended the day his wife asked him
to leave.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She had been having an affair
and wanted to divorce him in order to marry her new man.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Things didn’t work out as she expected as her
lover suddenly lost interest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He already
had a wife and children of his own.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why
take time to adjust to a new family?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This all meant that Joseph had to pay the mortgage on the
house and support a wife with three young children without the benefits of
living comfortably with them. At first he slept in spare rooms, on sofas and
even the floors of friends and colleagues.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Very soon his work started to suffer; it was becoming harder to find
somewhere to spend the night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He wasn’t
good company and he started to drink.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Have
you ever wondered what it must be like having nowhere to shower and prepare for
the day at work?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He had very little
money anyway and one day decided that it wasn’t worth the effort and he walked
out of his job.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He managed to get himself away from his home town and became
one of the many homeless in a new place where no one knew who he had been. There
was one thing that made him stand out and also earned him a few coins; he loved
to sing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Joseph had an amazing voice so
he usually finished Saturday afternoons with a bit of money in his pocket.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was quite an audience of people who
looked forward to hearing him and they would shout out requests.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He would sing anything, he’d always loved
music so could manage most demands.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Unfortunately, his health started to suffer and his voice
started to fail and eventually you would hear people in the street on Saturday
afternoons wondering where he had disappeared to. When they heard that he had
died they said that it was such a pity to lose a local character who loved to
sing.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://creativewritingprompts.com/" target="_blank">Creative Writing Prompts</a> No. 222</p>Anjihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02562210585479814093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7802412924936375247.post-3851536002060422312021-02-09T16:15:00.003+01:002021-02-09T16:15:51.263+01:00Anne of Green Gables<p>This summer I watched “Anne With An E” on Netflix. I loved it.
The setting was beautiful. I totally got Anne and I loved her ability to
see the best in every situation. I don’t
understand why I’ve never read the book before. I found the eBook on Amazon and downloaded it to my phone. I haven’t had much time for reading this last
year, but I’m almost at the end and am thoroughly enjoying it. I will be looking out for all of the “Anne”
books, as well as the rest of Lucy Maud Montgomery’s work.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>Anjihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02562210585479814093noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7802412924936375247.post-31541064612570728592019-10-30T10:23:00.002+01:002019-10-30T10:23:32.417+01:00Cat menThis post also appeared on Facebook<br />
<br />
We’ve recently seen the film Bohemian Rhapsody and since then Freddie Mercury and Brian May seem to be cropping up all over the place online. I’ve been especially interested in Freddie’s love for cats. We had four cats as I was growing up and I loved sharing the house with them (except for winter mornings when one or another cold damp cat would try to get into bed with me).<br />
<br />
This morning as I woke up a grain of an idea manifested itself; I had seen someone like Freddie holding a cat somewhere before. I managed to find a surviving scan of a rare photograph/postcard we sold of French writer, Pierre Loti, holding one of his cats. Like Freddie he was famous for his love of cats, he loved flamboyant clothes and was possibly bisexual. And the moustache is very similar too! <a href="https://timeandoft.blogspot.com/search?q=+pierre+loti" target="_blank">Here are a couple of blog posts</a>.<br />
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<br />Anjihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02562210585479814093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7802412924936375247.post-74230247854338124792019-07-15T10:26:00.001+02:002019-07-15T10:26:48.632+02:00The moving statue of Franz KafkaIn May we visited Olivier and his partener Anna. As I thought, Olivier had plenty of new things to show us. This was one of them:<br />
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A statue of Franz Kafka that moves. If you're interested look on Google for longer versions.Anjihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02562210585479814093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7802412924936375247.post-18841619119596360332018-01-28T10:02:00.000+01:002018-01-28T10:02:03.432+01:00The Jardin Public in Bordeaux<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">At the end of November we spent a weekend in Bordeaux. We
had Sunday lunch at the Jardin Public, a beautiful park on a beautiful day. We
even ate outside in the sunshine!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="344" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vmGC-0hLlWQ" width="459"></iframe>Anjihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02562210585479814093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7802412924936375247.post-79631105767967687342017-08-21T17:57:00.001+02:002017-08-21T17:57:26.081+02:00walking by the riverWe were walking along the banks of the River Charente in Jarnac. It was a beautiful day. Here are some reflections:<br />
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It really is a beautiful place to go for a walk:</div>
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<br />Anjihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02562210585479814093noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7802412924936375247.post-27868154665364292712017-04-18T13:46:00.003+02:002017-04-18T13:47:47.479+02:00A Walk in the Black Forest<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/zQqHCb16MNg" width="560"></iframe>
This tune pops into my head from Time to time. The first time I heard it I was at the cinema waiting to see Mary Poppins back in 1965. I was almost 10 years old. The sun is always shining when I hear this tune!Anjihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02562210585479814093noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7802412924936375247.post-12561829059473882332017-03-03T14:32:00.000+01:002017-03-03T14:32:11.478+01:00The story that was never writtenThis morning I was in the shower when a great opening line came to me. I was really proud of myself as I knew that from this one sentence a story could develop. I made a mental note to write it down as soon as I could.<br />
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Here I am, 6 hours later. I have just remembered that I’ve completely forgotten the words that came to me. The greatest short story ever written has disappeared forever.Anjihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02562210585479814093noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7802412924936375247.post-86721592024532929882016-12-19T14:45:00.000+01:002016-12-19T14:51:09.287+01:00My new book!I'm very pleased to announce the arrival of my third book, Beausejour, available for Kindle on Amazon. I’m not putting a direct link for my book here as it won’t work in all countries. The best is to go to Amazon and search for my name, Angela Knutsen, in the Kindle Store.<br />
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If you’re interested you can visit my page at <a href="https://amazon.com/author/anjiknut" target="_blank">Author Central</a> and order from there too.Anjihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02562210585479814093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7802412924936375247.post-10693136179488289782016-12-09T14:35:00.000+01:002016-12-09T14:35:13.784+01:00Herbert George WellsI’m reading ‘The Door in the Wall and other stories” at the moment. He really is a brilliant story teller and considering the book was written in 1911 had an almost prophetic view of the future.<br />
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Looking at his biography on Wikipedia is equally fascinating – He even predicted the second world war within a few months! When I was at school we read ‘The History of Mr. Polly’ which is completely different to the more scientific stories. I remember it as a really good read and will be looking it out to read again soon.
Anjihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02562210585479814093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7802412924936375247.post-32549128154618148652016-11-07T09:29:00.000+01:002016-11-07T09:29:33.704+01:00A first!One of the books I’ve read recently was ‘The Peculiar Life of a Lonely Postman’ by Canadian author Denis Thériault. It’s a lovely story based around the art of writing Haiku. For the first time I really got the idea and now I understand how to write them. My daughter and a blogging friend have explained Haiku to me the past, but…<br />
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For about a week, when I’ve visited the town hall nearly every day to take the post to the post office, I’ve been treated to the pleasure of seeing the cherry tree in its autumn colours. How very Japanese to be inspired to write my first Haiku by a cherry tree.
So here it is. I’m sure I’ve missed something, but it does have 17 syllables. It contains everything I wanted to say:<br />
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<div style="text-align: left;">
The Autumn tree </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Studies its reflection </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
In a lake of fallen leaves </div>
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Now I want to read the book again – as it was written, in French.<br />
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I can’t help wondering if some of the trees look down at the leaves beneath them and mutter “Wasn’t me”
Anjihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02562210585479814093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7802412924936375247.post-36670896307819218652016-07-02T16:52:00.000+02:002016-07-02T16:56:05.268+02:00A.H.W.O.S.G.At the beginning of ‘A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius’ the Author Dave Eggars has added a section entitled ‘Rules and Suggestions for Enjoyment of this Book’. Rule 1 says ‘There is no overwhelming need to read the preface’. I took him at his word and didn’t bother to read the preface, it looked long and I don’t like long prefaces. I wanted to read the book.<br />
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I thought that I was reading a work of fiction – had I read the preface, I would have known that the book is autobiographical – give and take one or two changes. If I’d have known that it was a true story , I probably wouldn’t have finished it. I’m the mother of sons; the book hurts a lot. Dave has the job of bringing up his younger brother, Toph, almost on his own after both of their parents die of cancer. It’s brilliant and heartbreaking – I would love to meet this man and hug him.
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<span lang="EN-US">Now I know about <a href="https://www.mcsweeneys.net/" target="_blank">McSweeney’s</a></span></div>
Anjihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02562210585479814093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7802412924936375247.post-26400501002264622672016-05-22T17:45:00.000+02:002016-05-22T17:47:40.075+02:00King PaulThe writing prompt I found today asked me to write about my first toy in 200 words:<br />
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The first toy that I really remember was a little Teddy Bear that I was given for Christmas by Santa Claus when he visited my school. I was only five years old at the time and I was overwhelmed when he called out my name and found a present in his sack just for me! He gave all of the children in the class a present, but I didn’t really expect one for myself.<br />
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My new Teddy Bear wasn’t very big and his head and body were quite hard – I suppose he was full of sawdust. I named him King Paul. I never ever slept with a soft toy as far as I remember, but know that he wasn’t far away when I was asleep. I would say that he was a very serious teddy from the expression on his face; well he was a King!<br />
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King Paul stayed with me for many years and my own children met him, though I don’t think they found him interesting, he was pretty grubby and thread bear – sorry bare, by then. He was getting on for 40 years old by the time it was time for him to go to teddy heaven.<br />
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One word over – how’s that? <a href="http://creativewritingprompts.com/" target="_blank">Creative writing prompts</a>Anjihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02562210585479814093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7802412924936375247.post-88004523297602836872016-04-29T16:48:00.002+02:002016-04-29T16:48:37.391+02:00Stary OlsaI discovered this band thanks to Facebook. They are from Belarus and adapt rock songs in an amazing way. They perform traditional Belarusian music too. The man with the voice is Zmicier Sasnoŭski who founded the band in 1999. This is an adaptation of Deep Purple's 'Child in Time'.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7ZUii7K_QTU" width="560"></iframe>Anjihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02562210585479814093noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7802412924936375247.post-78007179237179475992016-04-10T14:58:00.001+02:002016-04-10T15:01:54.321+02:00Special promotion, Angie Brynner & CompanyI’m running special promotions for my book ‘Angie Brynner & Company’.<br />
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The UK promotion starts 12th April at 8 am GMT until 19th April at 12 am GMT ; the price will be reduced from £2.37 to 99p.<br />
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In the US, the book will be 99 cents from 12th April 8am PST until 19th April 12am PST, original price is $2.99.<br />
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To take advantage of the promotion if you don’t have a Kindle reader you can download a free app for your smartphone, tablet or computer.(App is free, not the book) The link is just below the book cover on the page.
Because Amazon doesn’t seem to cope well with links from country to country .The best way to find the book is to go to Amazon, look under Kindle and look for my name: Angela Knutsen.
Anjihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02562210585479814093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7802412924936375247.post-40449663016446897852016-02-05T17:29:00.000+01:002016-02-05T17:29:32.415+01:00Creative writing prompt: How would a broken plate feel?Yesterday I was beautiful, people always admired me. How I shone at every occasion. I always did whatever was expected of me; come hot or cold. Just this morning I was chosen above all of the others in the cupboard.<br />
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Now look at me! I’m all over the place. My beauty is lost forever. I have no future. If I’m lucky, parts of me will finish my days sitting in the bottom of a plant pot, in the cold and dark. They won’t even know I’m there anymore.<br />
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Can you hear the titters coming from the cupboard? They’ll see, it happens to us all in the end.
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<i>I found <a href="http://creativewritingprompts.com/" target="_blank">a great writing prompt website</a> after sitting and staring at a blank Word document for a while.</i>Anjihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02562210585479814093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7802412924936375247.post-22726149748460472982016-01-30T15:39:00.000+01:002016-01-30T15:39:08.199+01:00How about a little extract......from my first book? I've discovered that I can put a preview of my book here.! Enjoy.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="550" src="https://read.amazon.com/kp/card?asin=B0182RBPE2&preview=inline&linkCode=kpe&ref_=cm_sw_r_kb_dp_1BmRwb12Z2H6R" style="max-width: 100%;" type="text/html" width="336"></iframe>Anjihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02562210585479814093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7802412924936375247.post-22455193427225226912016-01-16T15:43:00.000+01:002016-01-16T15:43:36.126+01:00Collection of short storiesI’ve now published book number 2 on Kindle. A collection of short stories entitled<a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01AO2HAE2?ref_=pe_2427780_160035660" target="_blank"> ‘The Summer of 1970’</a>. It’s free for five days from Sunday 17th January to Thursday 21st January. If you don’t own a Kindle you can also read it on your Smartphone, tablet or computer.<br />
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I have the app on my Smartphone and was surprised to learn how comfortable reading on the phone can be. I use it as a back up when I’m out in case I leave my Kindle at home.Anjihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02562210585479814093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7802412924936375247.post-7816648266129896012016-01-04T20:13:00.000+01:002016-01-04T20:13:05.366+01:00Thank youThank you to everyone who took the time to look at my book. I really hope that you enjoyed reading it. Hopefully I’ll be publishing a collection of my short stories soon...Anjihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02562210585479814093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7802412924936375247.post-33683844705562473732015-12-28T16:20:00.001+01:002015-12-28T16:20:50.658+01:00… And now it’s free!Yes, “Angie Brynner & Company” is free from 28th December to 1st January 2016 inclusive. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0182RBPE2/" target="_blank">Here is the link.</a> The offer lasts for 5 days only.<br />
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If you had a Kindle for Christmas and you’re interested in Chic lit, here’s a book for you to read. If you don’t have a Kindle; you can still get your ebook by downloading the free app that enables you to read Kindle books on your tablet or Smartphone.<br />
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If you decide to take advantage of this offer, I’d be very interested to know what you think of my book once you’ve read it. If you have the time, please take a couple of minutes to review it.
Anjihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02562210585479814093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7802412924936375247.post-61054587900914424132015-11-17T13:19:00.003+01:002015-11-17T13:19:39.098+01:00It's here!!I’m very pleased and proud to announce that I have finally published a book on Kindle. It’s taken a while and challenged my knowledge of Word (which is very limited as I found out the hard way).<br />
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As From today you can buy <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0182RBPE2/" target="_blank">Angie Brynner & Company</a> from Amazon. Don’t worry, if you haven’t got a Kindle reader, you can download an App for smartphones, or you can read using your tablet or computer.Anjihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02562210585479814093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7802412924936375247.post-11473140624532907032015-10-11T09:54:00.001+02:002015-10-11T09:54:54.827+02:00Stan lights the wayWe watched a TV programme last night about the plane that caught fire in 1983 killing Stan Rogers among the 22 others who died; So next time you’re in a plane pay attention when they point out that row of lights on the floor. Thank Stan for them.<br />
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So this morning I looked him up on YouTube. I chose Northwest Passage by chance. A truly wonderful voice was lost on 2nd June 1983.
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/th-WDf42rG0" width="420"></iframe>Anjihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02562210585479814093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7802412924936375247.post-41853480619952078902015-09-25T09:54:00.000+02:002015-09-25T09:54:06.143+02:00Who is a refugee?This explains clearly the how why and when:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RvOnXh3NN9w" width="560"></iframe>Anjihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02562210585479814093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7802412924936375247.post-92226120880201672312015-07-01T17:56:00.001+02:002015-07-01T17:56:49.278+02:00I love hollyhocks<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>Faith Hope and Charity</i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_AVGfpLQa_y9MzNPGWToPhm0v2iIoUSANDWrEHsgvuOxhKLQfqhTl8WM4rxO2NT0IZYwGYMyu6k8EAxERQhay0nUCuUW5602n3ZhsAdhjRu5E_zlOCxr11O0tqxB1HZ55FmLHAf5ckFaE/s1600/hollyhocks+1+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_AVGfpLQa_y9MzNPGWToPhm0v2iIoUSANDWrEHsgvuOxhKLQfqhTl8WM4rxO2NT0IZYwGYMyu6k8EAxERQhay0nUCuUW5602n3ZhsAdhjRu5E_zlOCxr11O0tqxB1HZ55FmLHAf5ckFaE/s320/hollyhocks+1+.jpg" width="267" /></a></div>
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Every year because of cross pollination new plants flower in different shades and colours. I love this time of year - full of colourful surprises.Anjihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02562210585479814093noreply@blogger.com2