Just Do It - 500 Word Challenge, Day 2

Addicted to Crochet - Just a few of my latest bits!

So my brilliant plan of writing these 500 words every morning as the first thing I do each day kind of slipped badly today and it's only day 2! I do have a very good excuse though. I had a day's work, helping out a friend in her yarn shop and after over three weeks of working at home, Mum away on her travels and almost no social interaction elsewhere, I have to say it was a huge change of scenery for me which although fun, has left me drained and also fairly emotional.

All I had to do was make tea and coffee for customers who stayed for a chat. My friend was running a charity yarn day - tombola, guess the teddy's name, free hot drinks and cakes as well as goody bags for the bigger spenders. As you can imagine, I met a lot of older ladies today - many of whom knit or crochet for every baby that enters their own social circle. But there were also a surprising numbers of younger females too - several very heavily pregnant ones included.

The guys who came in to the shop were obviously just waiting for their womenfolk to get their supplies - which is a shame because there's loads of other craft related stuff on those magical shelves and racks - but I guess these guys preferred more 'manly' occupations like DIY, gardening or tinkering with car engines.

I've recently taught myself to crochet using Youtube videos so I had a great time chatting to the old biddies about different stitches and learning a few neat tricks too. I had the chance to show one young Mum-to-be how easy crochet is and she left with supplies to make her own baby blanket. That felt pretty good.

If you want to try crochet, this is the video that I started with.

There is something special about my friends little shop. People just pop in to say hello and stop for a chat as well as to buy their wool. Some of the ladies knit so much, they bring stuff in for my friend to sell for them. it's not really a profitable venture for them, just enough to cover their yarn costs and make a little extra.

It's almost like an old fashioned haberdashery - lace, ribbons, buttons and fancy trimming all adorn the wall racks and one wall is just a riot of beautiful yarn colors. I wish I had taken my camera with me - that wall of yarn was calling to me all day - especially the 10 or so different purple yarns! I wonder if I could make a quilt one day or would that really make me feel old!

In a small town like mine, these lovely old fashioned shops often act like small community centers. We have quite a few elderly residential homes as well as warden assisted living units so those old ladies who can still get out and about, pop into the shop just for a chat. We had some good giggles with one lady today - she was a character and a half. Some of the stories she told were hilarious but we also found out about the new Princess from her and how to enter the London Marathon. She's thinking of entering next year - not bad for someone I'd guess was about 75!

It was a great day and reminded me how much I miss my grandmother. She was a prolific knitter and she taught me when I was about 5 years old. I think she'd be pleased to see me crocheting these days athough I have my doubts that I can ever reach her prolific output! The other thing I learned today was no matter how old I feel now, there's still loads of life left to live (God-willing of course) and there's nothing to stop me doing stuff except my own fears and mindset. Maybe Nike do have it right after all - Just Do It!

Word Count - 657 :)

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Check out my other projects
Gifts for Gamers and Geeks

and my photography site
HVS PHotography

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500 Words a Day Challenge - Day 1

Yesterday Jamie posted his first blog post in ages about a 500 Words a Day Challenge and as I was having the shittiest few days ever, doubting myself and everything I have done for the last 6 weeks, it kind of resonated with me. Add to that a suggestion late last night from Scott to start writing here again & here I am, getting back to my random thoughts blog and filling my screen with words.

I followed the link in Jamie's post to James Greig's article and read through that too. I don't want to be a writer - that's not the point for me. It's more about writing everyday to create a new habit & bring some discipline into my free form days. My life is changing all around me and I'm attempting to build a business for myself, working from home or anywhere I can get internet access.

It looks like I'll be spending more time on James' blog too - he's been or going through this process and the couple of articles I've read so far, suggest he could be an inspiration for my own journey. I'm also following Pat Flynn from Smart Passive Income blog and podcast - he's an interesting guy and I'd recommend his podcast to anyone who has dreams of a side hustle or making money online. I don't get the creepy feeling from his stuff that I get from so many entrepreneurs out there. Many are just snake oil salesmen using the internet to make big promises they can't keep!

I also came across this quote from Game of Thrones last night - it seems my prayers for inspiration and guidance were answered - I named this blog 'She Rides Dragons' because of Anne MacCaffrey's books and I always felt that the dragonriders were the bravest souls and I was fighting my own battles at the time.

Truly, I'm still fighting - not cancer or divorce anymore but myself. My seemingly complete inability to finish one thing before starting another, my endless supply of bright ideas that distract me or my tendency towards depression. It's all a form of procrastination - I know that but fighting that shiny object syndrome is probably going to be one of the hardest fights of my life. It's a personality trait I've had for almost 50 years after all.

I'm also not including words I write on my other 2 blogs in my word count. The 500 Words a Day is for this blog - it gives me a specific task to achieve and even if I have a bad day & get nothing else done, at least I can check this off my to-do list each day.

So let's do this challenge - 500 words a day for the whole of May & post worthy ones too! I will be late on one day as I'll be flying Stateside but I'll hand write my words that day & post it the next so I'm not even going to give myself an excuse to not post!

Wish me luck!

(word count day 1 - 514)

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Check out my other projects
Gifts for Gamers and Geeks

and my photography site
HVS PHotography

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One Minute Gaming #47 - Cooking Fever

This week, I've been playing Cooking Fever. It was recommended to me but I lost the name, I'm so sorry but thank you! It's a speed based strategy game in that you have to serve various combinations of food and drink to your customers. You start off in the Fast Food Court - flipping burgers and hotdogs, fries and sodas but I've also played the bakery and am now on the Chinese Restaurant!

Each customer pays you & tips you so you use the cash to build cooking upgrades as well as restaurants upgrades like tables, tv and music systems. Each upgrade costs gold but some cost gems too. Don't spend your gems too easily at the lower levels, you will need them much more later.



I've heard criticisms that you have to spend real money to buy gems to progress but so far, I've managed not too. I built my gold up by playing levels over to hit the 3 stars and then I used the excess gold to spin the wheel at the casino! I got 25 gems that way. You get a couple of gems just by logging in each day too.

You also get gems just by leveling up but that can take a little while. I'm enjoying it, it really is quite addictive at times so I'd give it an 8 out of 10.

If you have a game you'd like to suggest, you can contact me on twitter @NevAHAddict or leave a comment below.

So until next time - have fun!

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Don't forget to check out my latest project
Gifts for Gamers and Geeks

or my new Kindle book on Amazon!
Improve Your Flower Photography

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One Minute Gaming #46 - Pixel Dungeon

This week, I've been playing a game called Pixel Dungeon, suggested to me on Twitter by Mike Sherretz. At first glance, I thought 'great! a platform type game' but once I opened it up, it turned out to be a vertical jumping game!

You play a knight in shining armor, jumping and bouncing your way up the screen, collecting diamonds as you go. The only control you have is the tilt function for left or right but don't miss the next platform or you'll fall off the screen and have to start over! You can jump off the screen to each side but make sure there's a platform to land on or you'll die again!

Some platforms have dragons on them which you need to avoid (or you die) and some have power ups like extra bounce or speed. You can buy upgrades in the store with the in-game currency and you can also change characters too.


It's a great game for kids or for killing 5 spare minutes & the graphics are kinda cute. The one big downside for me is the adverts between each game. I wouldn't mind if they were just static pop ups to close but these aren't - they are 5, 10 and even 20 second video ads which you can't close until the timer finishes. You can pay real money to remove the adverts but I don't think the game is good enough to pay out for!

It's not a bad game at all but the ads kill it for me so I'd give it a 4 out of 10.

If you have a game you'd like me to try, you can contact me on Twitter @NevAHAddict or leave a comment below.

So until next time - have fun!

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Don't forget to check out my latest project
Gifts for Gamers and Geeks

or my new Kindle book on Amazon!
Improve Your Flower Photography

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

One Minute Gaming #45 - Dark Echo

This week I've been playing a creepy puzzle game called Dark Echo. I'd suggest playing it in a dark room with headphones on if you want the full effect - echoes, footsteps, flies buzzing, squeaky doors etc.

When you first start up the game, you are presented with a black screen & two tiny footprints. As you tap the screen, you give off sound waves which show as white lines and bounce around your immediate area. They give you a guide to the shape of the room or corridor as you move around a map you can't see!

Beware though - if those sound waves turn red, then it's a danger zone or even worse, something that will chase you. There's also areas where the sound waves turn yellow - those open locked doors and gates in other parts of the map.




It's basically a maze game but you can't see more than a few steps ahead the whole time. The sound effects really do creep you out a bit though especially if you're concentrating hard & someone taps you on the shoulder!

For a simple but very effective game, I'd give Dark Echoes an 8 out of 10.

If you have a game you'd like me to try, you can contact me on Twitter @NevAHAddict or leave a comment below.

So until next time, have fun! 

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Don't forget to check out my latest project
Gifts for Gamers and Geeks

or my new Kindle book on Amazon!
Improve Your Flower Photography

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

One Minute Gaming #44 - Empire Z

This week I've been playing a game called Empire Z. It's a tiny bit like Clash of Clans but based in a ruined city and fighting against zombies. It's much more complicated than Clash of Clans though.

There is a wider variety of resources to collect and manage - food for your troops, lumber, oil and metal for production items as well as a bunch of buildings.

You can build farms, mines and lumber mills etc outside your defences whilst inside you build the larger units like housing and hospitals. There's also a recruiting station for new troops and a cloning center to revive fallen heroes.




You also have research to do to develop various skills - in combat, defence or economics categories. The combat skill takes you all the way from recon to Zombie dozers at the top end! You will need to join an alliance to take on larger enemy units but you can set your troops off exploring too.

You don't get a choice where your city is placed on the map but you do get a free one time teleport to move it once you join an alliance. I haven't done that yet though.

I'd give it a solid 8 out of 10 - great level of detail and management that Clash of Clans just doesn't have!

If you have a game you'd like to suggest, you can contact me on Twitter @NevAHAddict or leave a comment below.

So until next time, have fun!

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Don't forget to check out my latest project
Gifts for Gamers and Geeks

or my new Kindle book on Amazon!
Improve Your Flower Photography

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

One Minute Gaming #43 - Word Crush

This week I've been playing a word puzzle game called Word Crush. It has two modes, endless and arcade where you're up against a timer and all you have to do is make words from the grid of letters you are given.

Once you have used the letters they drop out of the board and new ones replace them - if the word you made was good enough, you get bonuses on some of the new letters. If you manage to combine enough bonus squares, you get a combo prize which bumps your score up.

In the endless mode, there is no timer so you can take as long as you like to make some really long words. In the arcade mode, you're up against a timer - the longer the word, the further back you push the timer.



Arcade mode also has three difficulty levels, not only does the timer get quicker but you get more consonents to replace  letters so you need to make words with multiple consonents rather than vowels.

It's not the most enthralling game I've played but I do enjoy word puzzles and this game has no additional real money costs, the adverts only appear between games and it keeps my brain working fast. I'd give it a 7 out of 10.

If you have a game you'd like me to try, you can contact me on Twitter @NevAHAddict.

So until next time, have fun!

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

Don't forget to check out my latest project
Gifts for Gamers and Geeks

or my new Kindle book on Amazon!
Improve Your Flower Photography

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