Inspirations, the Stories Space Coffee House: If you're reading this it just might mean I'm back, sorta. If you're not reading this, well, congratulations.

And Happy New Year's Day! Every one bright and eager this morning?

I didn't think so…

Oh well. There's Columbian medium roast beans for coffee, and Buddha's Blend and Earl Grey for tea – plus hot water for them what want to make their own choices.

I think there are some goodies left over from 2024, but since I'm no baker, check it for yourselves.

And may 2025 be a year you all remember with fondness!

Okay, I may have had a bit too much to drink last night. I had a Manhattan! Plus champagne and a little bourbon. Good food.

Nice evening though. I am happy heading into 2025. I haven’t written much during the holiday break, but I will write today.

Peace everyone. Coffee would be a dream come true.

Another comp entry is in. We are past 10 so can actually have a meaningful top ten. Keep 'em coming (though I think the Inspirations regulars are all in except Cora, who has been scarce over the holidays).

I shall put on some Tobermory Flowerpot Island coffee. Teapots are filled with Irish Breakfast and Russian Caravan. Hot water is ready, there's hot chocolate mix and mini marshmallows on standby, and there's our selection of sodas for those needing something cold.

Good morning and welcome to day 2 of 2025.

Good morning all, and thank you for the setup Ape.

Comp is going strong. Really great set of stories so far. And it’s not over yet!

Back to the writing grind. I didn’t write a huge amount during the holidays (3 flash, 2 micros), but I am on day 2 of a novel now. I don’t have a great track record with finishing novels I start, so I hope this turns out well. I have written three novels, none of them good. Just keep trying.

A coffee and a cookie please!

And I am, once again, caught up on the comp entries. Come on, folks, challenge me. I am in a Flash kind of mood these days. Just can't seem to focus on longer stuff.

I need to decide what to write next. None of my current projects seems to be engaging me much. Maybe I'll try some more Flash type stuff just to keep things moving.

Good morning. Winter has returned to Southern Ontario, seemingly to stay for a bit. Fortunately, this ape is now only a week away from heading South for a spell so I will be able to ignore the cold and snow for a bit. Going cruising again, with stops on a bunch of Caribbean islands.

For now, though, here's some Columbian dark roast, a remnant of my cruise of a year ago when I toured Cartagena. And there's English Breakfast and Vanilla Earl Grey for the tea set. Hot water is ready and sodas are stocked.

What's up? Anything exciting coming up this weekend?

I got nothing this weekend. We might go see that Dylan movie. We might not get past the front door.

Day 2 of novel writing today. It’s pretty boring so far. I will spend the weekend with big sheets of drawing paper look for a coherent plot.

Right now, cat on my lap, Talia on my shoulder. I am content.

Except for my lack of coffee. I need coffee!

Doing some writing and listening to metal. It's an playlist that kind of fits with what I am writing, the music of a Dutch band called Blackbriar.

Here's some Deathwish Dark Roast (fits with the music) and some Scottish Breakfast and Peach White teas.

Hope you're having a good weekend.

Later.

I drove through a weird snow squall yesterday. It's not something that often happens here. I was dropping my husband off to pick up his truck at the shop; it was in for work after he hit a deer a few weeks ago. I was in the shop for only five minutes, and when I came out, it was dark and very windy, and my car was completely covered in snow. It was rush hour on a Friday, so that did not help. The drive home was torturous, but we finally returned safely. The snow squall only lasted about an hour.

They are calling for a snowstorm starting tomorrow night. I admit I am looking forward to that. I'll have an excuse not to go anywhere on Monday and enjoy being home and admiring the snow. People this far south are dreadful drivers in bad weather. The safest place to be is at home. I can catch up on reading the comp entries. It's good to see them coming in.

I hope everyone has a good weekend. Take care of yourselves and stay healthy. Cheers.

Quote by gillianleeza
I drove through a weird snow squall yesterday. It's not something that often happens here. I was dropping my husband off to pick up his truck at the shop; it was in for work after he hit a deer a few weeks ago. I was in the shop for only five minutes, and when I came out, it was dark and very windy, and my car was completely covered in snow. It was rush hour on a Friday, so that did not help. The drive home was torturous, but we finally returned safely. The snow squall only lasted about an hour.

Oh man, we get those all the time here in Southern Ontario. Just last Friday, we went from sunny to a light squall in minutes at one point in the afternoon.

Good morning. How are things in your world, folks? One week and I'll be in the sunshine on a big floating resort, a.k.a. a cruise ship. Sure not getting much of the big fusion reactor in the sky around here these days.

Put on some Ethiopian Yirgacheffe coffee for you bean worshippers. For the leaf crowd, we got Scottish Breakfast and Yorkshire Red. Hot water is, of course, available for other hot beverages as is our selection of sodas for cold beverages.

Hey folks, check out the comp page. Two more entries!!!

I’m had a rough night with an unusually upset stomach, but I am doing pretty well now.

Hung up on logistical b.s., like 3000 words into the new novel. I’m bummed I’m tripping over plot holes this early into it. The only good thing about being awake feeling nauseous is that you have a lot of time to think about the story.

Anyway. With the able help of Talia and the cats, I am feeling better, and off to write.

A coffee would be swell.

One swell coffee, coming up!

Since Mendalla hasn't swung by yet, I'll get things going.

We've got some nice Costa Rican dark roast beans for coffee, plus Lemon Zinger and Earl Grey teas, as well as hot water for all the usual other warm beverages.

(checks the fridge) Reasonable number of soft drinks, but I'll leave a note to Mendalla to stock up soon. We're getting a little thin on colas.

Competition seems to be going well. Thirteen entries, all of which are good, and in very different ways!

Shaping up nicely – who's next?

Thanks for doing the setup, o white furry one. Yeah, 13 with a few days to go is pretty good for here. Recent comps have sometimes been struggling to break 10 at this point. More, please. 😊

Working on stuff but not sure I'll have anything ready for a while. Debating taking my laptop on vacation. It's a cruise and we do have 5 sea days when I could hunker down somewhere on the big boat and write. However, my reading has been flagging badly and cruises are usually a good time to get some focus on that so more likely I'll just take my tab and load it up with e-books.

Good morning all, and thanks for the setup Mr. Bear.

Big snowfall last night, and it snowing pretty hard now. So my day will be shoveling the driveway and sidewalk, and perhaps the neighbors as well, if they haven’t beaten me to it.

Solved the plot problem yesterday, got my thousand words, and should be able to get them today too. Cosmic horror in Iowa cornfields. So far, I like it, but that never lasts long.

Anyway. Coffee would be swell. No treats lately, maybe I will try to bring some. Anyone heard from Cora? Sara? Red?

Seize the carp!

Quote by verbal
Anyone heard from Cora? Sara? Red?

Sadly, no, though Cora's profile says she was last on 3 days ago so she's lurking, at least.

Good snowy morning. Maybe I'm getting the storm verbs was talking about yesterday. Took maybe 18 inches off my driveway already and it is still coming down on and off. Winter in Ontario, you know I ... well, I sometimes love it. Oh well, the Caribbean beckons. Three days to go.

Putting on some Fire Roasted Holiday Blend because, hey, we've lots left over and it's not that far past the holidays yet. For teas, there's Earl Grey and Raspberry Royale, both from Bigelows. Hot water is ready and sodas are stocked.

How's things?

And story #14 in the comp is up, from AAnna.

Snow Bound | Stories Space

So both Anna's are in. Anna that's all folks. (dodges tossed fruit)🤣

The Caribbean sounds cool, Ape. I have never been there.

The snow stopped, and streets are fine. Regular boring day ahead: write, walk on the treadmill, read, play video games. I cannot complain, and I won’t.

14 entries! Woo-hoo!

Coffee please.

Quote by Mendalla

Good snowy morning. Maybe I'm getting the storm verbs was talking about yesterday. Took maybe 18 inches off my driveway already and it is still coming down on and off. Winter in Ontario, you know I ... well, I sometimes love it. Oh well, the Caribbean beckons. Three days to go.

Putting on some Fire Roasted Holiday Blend because, hey, we've lots left over and it's not that far past the holidays yet. For teas, there's Earl Grey and Raspberry Royale, both from Bigelows. Hot water is ready and sodas are stocked.

How's things?

.

Which cruise line are you going with, and what island stops are you making, Mendalla? Lady Jay and I have been on several cruises, including the Bahamas and the Caribbean. We actually prefer being at sea to doing this one-port-stop-every-day shit. After a while, the ports start to look the same, and the only differences are what's printed on the t-shirts.

But if I can make a recommendation, get out of the main port areas. They've been bought up by the cruise lines, and the same luxury good vendors, and jewelry sellers occupy those parts of every stop. But if you get out into the back streets, you can find some real stores by local people. Lady Jay and I found an outstanding linen and fabric tableware shop that way. We would also seek out a good coffee shop, often asking one of the locals. That not only got us wifi access, but we got to chat with some people who WEREN'T owned by the cruise companies. Just be sure to use a condom – I mean a VPN – if you're using a public wifi system, including those in the coffee shops!

We don't shop much, just sightsee. We have tours booked for some islands and then use an app called GPSMyCity which has self-guided tours for many destinations, including most of the ports we are visiting. Costs me all of US$13 per year or something like that and you can download to use online. Renews via Google Pay. And sometimes we just hit a beach.

We have five sea days and 8 ports, of which 5 are ones we have been to before. I can't even remember them all right now. The ones that aren't repeats are Antigua, Dominica, and Grenada. This type of cruise is really not my first choice. They're getting a bit old hat as you suggest. But my wife finds resorts boring compared to island hopping on a ship so this is how we spend our winter getaways.

Personally, I would happily hit a good resort in the Dominican or something, pack my laptop along, and write on the balcony or something. I have staff from St. Lucia and the Dominican Republic on my team so can even get hot local tips if we go to one of them.

Windy as all heck outside today. I kind of like listening to it howl.

I have never been on a cruise, though Talia and I keep threatening to take a whale cruise to Alaska. It sounds fun. Hang out on deck with eyes on the ocean all day sounds much more appealing than shopping in port towns. I’d head straight to a coffee shop. Or a bar.

6600 words on the new novel. This one feels good, so much so that I even built a word counter in Excel for it.

Comp is looking good. I have AAnna’s to read.

A coffee and anything sweet please.

I've never been on a cruise, either. The longest time on a ship is when we travel to Newfoundland. It's an eight-hour or so ferry trip from Nova Scotia to Newfoundland. When I first heard you took a ferry, I pictured something small and quaint. It's an ocean-going vessel with over three hundred cars, trucks, and over 900 people aboard.

We got about ten inches of snow on Monday. Watching it come down was lovely; I did not have to go anywhere that day. I didn't get out on Tuesday either, a lot of roads where not plowed. I did get out yesterday to see my dad, but the sidewalks and parking lots were very icy. It's now very windy and cold. It's a good day to stay in, which works for me since I now have some sort of flu bug. So many people where my father lives are sick. It was just a matter of time.

Stay warm and healthy, everyone. Cheers.

Quote by gillianleeza
The longest time on a ship is when we travel to Newfoundland. It's an eight or so ferry trip from Nova Scotia to Newfoundland. When I first heard you took a ferry, I pictured something small and quaint. It's an ocean-going vessel with over three hundred cars, trucks, and over 900 people aboard.

You can even book overnight berths on those ferries. We looked at going to Newfoundland on a trip to Eastern Canada in 2022 but then a hurricane went through the region, hitting the parts of New Brunswick and Nfld that we planned to visit. So we changed plans and spent the whole trip touring Quebec instead. Ended up being a good trip. Quebec's national parks (equivalent to provincial parks in other provinces but Quebec is a nation, right?) are amazing.