Tag: chop wood carry water

Anything Can Happen Day

Wednesday. Sunny and cold. Minus three F when I got up. Minus 1 as I sit here in the comfy chair in my office overlooking the Long Back Yard with Tali on my lap, taking full advantage of the electric blanket.

FedEx seems quite sure that my package, which even it acknowledges I have to sign for, will be delivered tomorrow.  I have no less than three emails in my inbox assuring me that this is the case.  So! That means today I’ll be going to the grocery and the post office and do another errands out in the world, after it gets a little warmer.

Breakfast, when I get around to it, will be oatmeal with something. I still have chocolate chips, I think and I certainly have almond butter.

Right now I’m drinking a cup of chocolate tea, which is interesting, but probably needs milk. Well, I’m going to the grocery today. I’ll pick up some creamer. The possession of tea infusers has widened my horizons considerably.

I’m feeling a bit less oppressed today which is a good thing. This is usually the result of taming piles, so well done, me.

I think that’s all I’ve got.

How’s everybody holding up?


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All righty, then!

Breakfast et, first load of laundry drying, email answered, some phone calls made — haircut, annual check-up appointment for Firefly, PT — blinds ordered.

Time to put on my boots and go do some errands in the sunny 17F-feels-like-6F day.
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So, FedEx, which swore three times in my email that it would be delivering my package tomorrow, Thursday, February 29, so I arranged to go out today so I could be home tomorrow to receive and sign for that package?

Yep, came home to find a note on my door from FedEx: “Sorry we missed you!”

A company that can’t even keep track of its own schedule is … useless. As I explained at length to poor Muhammed, who won my phone call.

The theory is that they will try again tomorrow. I just hope nobody decides to use the package for a football in the meantime.

Here have a portrait of the snowbank along my driveway.  Subaru provided for scale.


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Well, except for the paperwork I haven’t gotten yet, I think I’m finished the tax questionnaire. I still need to double/triple check, get hold of the Actual Accountant who will be working with this form, and then input everything into the Blessed Portal, but for values of having gathered all the information, I’m done.

February has somehow become completely full with appointments for me and the cats, which is — kind of astonishing.

In other news, I thought I’d gotten off easy yesterday what with SnowJoeing the deck. May I just say — Ow? Back, arm, knees, shoulder, wrists and hands.

I have achieved an item for my When It Gets Warm Enough to Walk Up and Down on the Earth List — I wanna take an alpaca for a walk, and it turns out that I can do that right up in Unity.

I’ve had Tali with me all afternoon. Rook was holding down Steve’s office for most of the day, but just recently came in to quiz me on my progress with the taxes before he took over my chair in the dining room. Firefly . . . Firefly has apparently been reading Belle’s Book. She located the heated and often-sunny bottom shelf in the built-in bookcase that Belle used to favor and has been tucked in very contentedly napping since just before lunch.

I b’lieve that the last load of towels has just finished drying, which means the only laundry left to do — tomorrow! — will be the cat blankets. Progress, so they tell me.

Everybody have a good evening. Stay safe.

I’ll check in tomorrow.

 

Would you find me in the stars?

Business First!

1 Today is the Book Day for the Diviner’s Bow mass market edition! Those who prefer this format may purchase from their favorite vendor, and we here at the Cat Farm and Confusion Factory thank you very much!

2 eARC consumers! A Liaden Universe® Contellation Volume 6 is now available from Baen

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Yesterday’s big event was the arrival of my socks, the culmination of a month-long tour of New England:

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Tuesday. Sunny and cold. Sitting in the comfy chair in my office with the happy light looking out over the long backyard, where Snow Devils are dancing in the Sun.

In my quest for rest, I’ve been going back to bed after I wake up at 5:00 or 6:00 instead of going to work, and sleeping for another hour or so. I did that this morning, so I’m late getting the day going.

Checking the mail, I see that B&H thinks my new tablet will be here tomorrow. That will be exciting.

Aside from the Gala Celebrations for the release of the mass-market edition of Diviner’s Bow, I’ll be cleaning up the piles as I’ve been swearing to do for 3 days and looking at the taxes. I’m probably calling the CPA.

An arduous day.

How’s everybody doing today?

Firefly was helping me keep an eye on the Snow Devils.

Dictated to my phone
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Wow, it got late. I guess you’ll either rest voluntarily or rest will come for you.

For those curious about the alpaca socks — I’m never taking them off again. They are soft, they are warm, they are (bearing in mind that I am a Sock Person and not a Socks are the Devil’s Work Person) — comforting.

They are pricey at full-price, so yay! after-Christmas local shopping for the win.

I need to strip the bed and start a load of laundry — any laundry at this point, and then I’ll get with the piles (yes, yes, I keep saying this). Lunch will be canned salmon, veggie, and rice stirfry, Because I Can.

. . . I think I may need some rock ‘n roll music to motivate me. And a glass of cold tea.

Onward.
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Aaand, I stoopidly corrected my email address with an organization where I was chief babysitter for a while, and now my inbox is … annoying.

. . .

Let’s go with annoying.

The SnowJoe is still charged, so the battery doesn’t have to come out to be charged. Which means I have time to acquire a C-clamp, which I thought I had at least three, but I can’t find them, and the crescent wrench won’t open wide enough, nor the groove pliers, and as the problem is hand-strength, tongs is not my tool. I have to depress a button on each side of the battery while simultaneously pulling the battery off of its prongs. And Joe isn’t heavy enough, even with my foot on him, to serve as a counterweight.

I did not, I’ll note, have this difficulty last year.

Getting old sucks. You heard it here first.

I don’t like to leave the battery in Joe, but I guess that’s gonna hafta be how we go.

Lunch will be now, and I do believe it will include a rum ‘n coke.

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Stirfry turned out great. I used some orange marmalade in my stirfry sauce. Also — no rum ‘n coke. A little while ago, a friend gave me a bottle of Barefoot Boy blueberry wine, which announces on the label that it! is! sweet! It’s also very light — 7.5% — and? if you mix it into Sanpellegrino Limonata? makes a really nice drink.

And I? only have one more pile to bring under my dominion.
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Note to self: Do not listen to “Run away to Mars” ever again.

Still working on beating the last pile into submission.

In reviewing my email from B&H Photography, I note that my tablet is supposed to be reaching me tomorrow through the agency of FedEx, so I’m glad I didn’t put any money on that proposition. The original prediction was that it would be here on Thursday, which is fine. The only thing that makes any of this tricky is that — in B&H’s worldview, anyway — I have to sign for the package, and in order to do that, I need to be home.

I say the above with a certain amount of irony. The last time I remember us being told that someone would have to sign for a package was when we had ordered our Edge phones. I was due at radiation and Steve had been driving me, but I assured him that I could drive myself (which I did, so — not forsworn, and we will skate lightly over the dicey bits) while he waited for the package.

Which! — You’re ahead of me, aren’t you? — The FedEx guy blithely left on the steps, and wandered away without even ringing the bell, which is where I found them when I came home.

. . . I wonder if there’s a horror anthology in FedEx stories?
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In housekeeping news, helpful helpers are helping

Today’s blog post title brought to you by the self-same “Run Away to Mars,” from Talk

Monday and Tuesday, too

Monday, condensed

The Long Back Yard

1 Monday morning. Snowing lightly. And the sound of chainsaws from next door.

I expect it will be my turn when and if the guys get here with the equipment since they have to take down two big pines for me.

In the meantime, since I don’t have any work to do today, I’m sitting in the comfy chair in the window in my office with the happy light on, dictating this note to the world.

How’s everybody doing today?

2 My mission today, aside from staying away from chainsaws and falling logs, is to change out the cat fountains, and catch up with friends at Front and Main this afternoon.

I will also, today, or tomorrow, be posting Explanatory Notes to the Read-Along thread on Splinter Universe, explaining why I fell off the wagon, and offering some insights to the rest of Agent of Change and Conflict of Honors.

I am now reading Carpe Diem, aka Val Con and Miri go to Madison, Maine, which I’ll note that they arrived there before we did. We finished Carpe and mailed it to our editor before we made our own migration to Maine, where we fetched up in Skowhegan, which is right handy to Madison.  The first time we drove through Madison’s shopping district, I said to Steve, “This looks really familiar.” And he laughed at me, the rat. Which is when the penny dropped, and I said, “It’s real?”

3 Well. That’s a different look. I purely hate taking down trees, and, yes, I know that these were in fact very sick trees, and a danger to the house in the next high wind, and that the top of one had already (previous to our tenancy) snapped off in a windstorm, but — still.

Trees.

4  So, that was a nice visit before the group splits for winter vacations. Front and Main has an amazing lobby. There was a woman at one of the tables all set up with her papers and her laptop, and honestly I think she’s on to something. The tomato-veggie-lentil soup was very good, and so was the company.

Went to the grocery after, but forgot to go to the hardware store. Ah, well. I’ll be out again tomorrow.

I believe I will putter for the rest of the day. Maybe make a frittata and see how that goes. I should freeze the second pork chop so I have something to draw on; I let the freezer get a little low. I made a fresh batch of hummus a couple days ago, so that’s not quite gone. Maybe some time this week I can bake bread. Oh! And I can finally finish my second glass piece.

So this is what people who don’t write books do. Wow.

Still snowing, just enough to be pretty.

While the tree guys were doing their thing, Firefly and Tali went back to Steve’s office, but Rook vanished, so he missed the play-by-play. When I came home, he had a lot to say about how the trees are gone, Mom, while he was sitting on my lap, banging his head on my chin. I think we’ve managed to agree that it was probably for the best, since he’s had a wee dram of dry food and wandered off to the bedroom window.

And so, the midday report.
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The Long Back Yard:


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Tuesday. Sunny and cold. Trash and recycling are at the curb. The space where the trees used to be is noticeable, but not raw, thanks to the snow.

Breakfast was leftover soup. Lunch with either be leftover frittata or leftover pork and sauerkraut. Prolly pork; frittata will go better in the evening, after needlework.

I have errands this morning, because! not only did I forget I needed to go to the hardware store yesterday, and even though I was there, I forgot to pick up my meds, so back to the grocery for me.

I woke up at 5, and said to Tali, who happened to be sleeping next to me at that time, “I don’t have to get up now.” She knocked her head into my chin — I’m not sure if she picked that piece of communication up from Rook or he from her — and started to purr. And I went back to sleep.

I thought I was going to update the Read-Along blog last night, but I wasn’t able to get into Splinter Universe. That’s been fixed, so I can get with that today. Instead of updating, last night I carried on with Carpe Diem, where I’ve just now gotten to the point where Val Con is introducing his kin’s theme songs to Miri.

And that’s what I’ve got this morning.

What’s everybody doing today?

History points out again and again

The Long Back Yard

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Friday. Cloudy. Breezy. Cold.

The weather beans tell me that it’s not going to snow today, but I’m watching flakes kind of just lazily drifting out of the sky so that’s interesting.

I slept solid and never woke up until 7:30. The exciting end of book writing schedule is just exhausting. All together now: Writing is hard.

I’m sitting in the comfy chair overlooking the long backyard with the happy light on. Eventually I’ll get up and get some breakfast and do my duty to the cats and wander off down coast for a bit.

I hope everybody has a good day.

Dictated to my phone.

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Pine Point


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Well. It was a nice day for a drive. Too cold to walk on the beach, though I saw some brave souls out there.

The spine doctor says keep doing what I’m doing. I have a referral to an osteo in Augusta, for manipulation, and also an extension on my PT ticket, since next time is the last time. I at least want that on file in case I need to go back, sorta like running a credit balance on your credit card.

Since it was all nice and sunny and all, and because I haven’t practiced with my navigator for a while, I drove home up Route 9, and let the navigator take me through Portland.
Got home to find, despite the instructions being in my FedEx file AND the garage door being open so it would be easy to just sit the box inside, the deliveryperson had opted to throw the 50-lb box against the front door. That’s right, so it didn’t open.

I struggled, and got the door open, whereupon the latch on the screen door flew free and splotted on the driveway.

Went inside, took care of business, came back to go through the door and get my Stuff out of the car and! That’s right! The door doesn’t open.

I get out my phone to call my neighbor, only — I can’t make a call. I can, however, text, and she’s home and she promises to come right over and let me out, just as soon as she gathers her tools, in case it was an easy fix.

While I’m waiting for her, I look out needlenose pliers, which don’t work, and only then realize I can reach through the window and open the latch from the outside, which I do.

Neighbor arrives. We get the latch back on, precariously. We come to the mutual conclusion that the set screw has come loose. We collaborate on a temp fix. Neighbor goes home, comes back with husband who has arrived home in the meanwhile. He sets the screw, diagnosis a worn-out spring, and performs a more stable temporary fix. My mission next week (after I finish this. damned. book) will be to go to the hardware store and see if they can sell me another latching mechanism.

In the meanwhile, I tried to call my cell from my landline and learned that my number is not in service.

So! I guess I should go see what the Verizon page has to say to me about that.

And how was your Friday?
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Verizon will call me back when it’s my turn — at 3:30 pm tomorrow.

So, that’s fun. I hope nobody snabbles up my phone number in the meantime.

I bought a sandwich at the Saco Hannaford, but with one thing and something else, I never got around to eating it, so I’m thinking, I’ll search up Coon Cat Happy Hour, pour a glass of wine and open my sandwich.
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Late updatery: I rebooted my phone and it is now Fully Operational.

I have canceled my litter order from Petco, so I never have to deal with FedEx again. It cost me a little bit of a pang, because it was one of the systems Steve had put into place, but he never meant it to get this stoopid.

I will be writing tomorrow, Saturday, and the next day, Sunday. With only a little bit of luck, I’ll finish this damned draft.

Today’s blog post brought to you by Blue Oyster Cult, “Godzilla“

Busy Tuesday

The Long Back Yard

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Well. I solved some, but not all of my problems. Charlie’s was able to take care of the tire pressure for me, so I don’t have to get any more scoldy emails from my car. Is anyone else’s car like this? It only writes when it wants something — air in the tires; washer fluid. It never writes to see if I want something, or just to say hey. Honestly, it’s like we don’t have a relationship at all.

Lowe’s was a labyrinth, Target was much better than the last time I was in, and I could actually shop.

I found The. Perfect. barstool for My Studio at Marden’s, but Marden’s, along with its other peculiarities, doesn’t deliver. Or doesn’t always deliver, and while the stool in question would fit in the back of the Subaru, my chances of getting it downstairs with both it and me in one piece were — let’s just say the smart money would back gravity. Heavily.

I found a less perfect, and only slightly more expensive barstool at Fortin’s, and they? Will send it across the river tomorrow with a nice young person who will take it down the stairs for me, so — win.

I did not arrive at a satisfactory solution for sunblocking the sliders, though I may have an It’ll Do.

I came nowhere near achieving a premade step so I can walk out of Steve’s office and onto the deck without breaking an ankle.

Two pleasant things happened. At Target, I was prompted to Use Google Wallet, and so I did — only it didn’t work. My cashier was in my corner though, and between us, with a bit of last minute advice from a pro on the other register, I got it to work, and he cheered.

Also, when I stopped to drop a package off at a friend’s house, a big black cat came down the middle of the road toward me, clearly on A Mission. I said, “Is that Spazzio?” and his tail went up just as far as it could.  He escorted me to the porch, where I left the package. He lobbied hard for me to let him in, but — no key, kitty.

So, back home now, and? I should find something to eat, I guess.

How’s everybody doing today?
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Fortin’s wins today’s hero badge.  They brought my bar stool to me an hour after I got home, carried it into the house, down the stairs and into the studio.  We are now set up and ready to do some glasswork.

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Went to needlework, but — I grabbed the wrong bag off the hook, so I had the Invisible Project to work on. Still, it was nice to just sit and chat. Home now, and V. tired.

I expect I’m not long for a vertical position.

Tomorrow, I hope to write like the wind. I’ll check in as can.

Everybody have a good evening. Stay safe.

Old brains for new

The Long Back Yard.  For those who don’t know why I do this:  The daily picture of the Long Back Yard is what the Long Back Yard looks like when I wake up.  Yesterday’s picture was not a photographic or an uploading error.  Thank you.

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Something a little different — Steve Miller and Sharon Lee signing Plan B at Mr. Paperback in Skowhegan Maine in 1999.

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All righty, then! That was Monday.

1,830ish new words written; the WIP now stands at 127,250ish. I have eight scenes left to write, and I know what they are and I just want to keep on going, but — why do brains get tired? Definite design flaw. I want a refund. I had used to want a new brain, but I’ve finally figured out how to (mostly) work with this one.

Tomorrow? There will be no writing. I have A List.

pulls list out of sleeve
AHEM
1 Take trash and recycling to curb
2 7:45 go to PT
3 Go to grocery
3a Stop home and put groceries away
4 Go to Augusta
4a,b,c Run a stack of errands that have piled up since last week
5 Come home
5a Eat something
6 Go to needlework
7 Come home and faceplant

Wednesday through Sunday, however, I got nothing. Fingers crossed that I will be able to type a provisional –end– by Sunday night.

Re: being tired of a book in progress: Writing a book is an enormous undertaking; a stupidly complex project that takes way too long (NOTE: I do not speak here for the people who write 58 books a year and laugh while they do it. I am not them.). As with any other large, complex project, like, say, building a boat, there are times in the process when you just wanna throw your hammer out the window and walk away. Not because you think what you’re building is useless or dreadful (though there are those moments, too), but just because it’s taking So. Damned. Long.

Writers have a far different relationship with their books than readers do, starting with the disparity in the time it takes to write a book and the time it takes to read that same book.

And that’s Monday at the Cat Farm and Confusion Factory.

How’d everybody’s day go?

In which the plan changes, and changes again

The Long Back Yard

The toilet is fixed. Steve Symonds deserves a twenty-five flower parade.

I would like the record to show that I? could never have fixed this myself. A hacksaw was involved.

‘nough said.
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Sunday. Cloudy and cooler than it’s been tending.

Got up early because that’s when I woke up. Oatmeal for breakfast. Chicken breast for lunch if it happens to have thawed. If not, something else.

Wrote, oh? 700 words this morning. Given the timing of breakfast, it’s probably not too early to start investigating the idea of lunch. I will do my duty the cats first, in the interests of going back to writing after lunch.

Yes, I am pushing, but I’m at the stage where “almost done!” is driving the writing engine, and, as I may have mentioned once or twice: I’m really tired of this book.

I put up the “Roman” curtain over the window in the front door, and while it’s better than what was there, I’m not convinced it’s actually what I want for the sliders in Steve’s office. If the tie-ups were longer so I could actually adjust the shade to the height of my choosing, which you would think would be the point of this design, I might be convinced. As it is — meh.

I watched two? three, maybe? episodes of Spy Family last night and it is not for me. May try another title this evening, if I don’t faceplant first.

I am aware that I am taking way long with the Agent of Change readalong — I plead illness. Also, yes, I, too, am reading Conflict of Honors. Things will happen as they happen at this point. Total chaos for the win.

How’s everybody doing today?
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Steve Miller, The Empire State Carousel, Fennimore Farm Museum, Cooperstown NY, June 21, 2023.  Photo by Sharon Lee.

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Change of plan, because weather and also brain wants a rest.

So! Wrote just a smidge over 1,000 words today. WIP now at 125,440ish.

You know how you’re sick, after you’re well again, you have to do all the things you let slide? Yeah, that would be my realization today. If there’s eight feet of snow on the ground on Tuesday, I’ve got to get the trash to the curb, so I went out while it was still warm(ish) to load the toboggan with trash bags and fill up the recycling bin. So, that’s ready for Tuesday morning, no matter what.

Also, I missed changing out the cat boxes, ref “sick” above, so that will be my next trick, after which I get a shower, sweats, and ice cream in my blanket fort.

This means I can write tomorrow, and get the trash out before I have to be at PT on Tuesday morning (boy, am I gonna be in trouble with the therapist), with the least possible amount of exertion, and, hopefully, no crazypants.

I’ll just say my good-evenings now. Kind of a weird day, but, some days are weird.

Everybody stay safe.

Long day

What went before:

Saturday. Sunny and warm. Snow is melting apace.

Breakfast was, as planned, the leftovers from yesterday’s chef salad scrambled with two eggs, which made for a pretty big meal. Not sure what lunch is. Cheese and crackers? Could be cheese and crackers.

Got to work early despite having to stop and fix the toilet in Steve’s bathroom. I should say, mostly fix. It’s stopped the constant running, but the float seems to have sprung a leak, so there’s still a little water running out of it. I’ve been resisting calling a plumber, becau$e, but that may be a false economy.

Wrote about 700 words, and taking a break because that last scene reduced me to, um, tears.

It occurred to me that there ought to be heated mats to go under desks, and there are, byerlady! So — retail therapy FTW — a mat for Steve’s office, a mat for the studio — a mat for my office? Oh, why not?

After shopping, I’ll go back to write some more until lunch time, after which it’s track changes, which, with the application of a bit of elbow grease, I may finish today, and wouldn’t that be nice?

Also? Despite having been doing nothing for days, the desk in my office is once again overflowing with stuff. I hope the goblins haven’t found another way in.

I bought a very nice “beginner” demonstrator pen from JetPens — it arrived yesterday. My only beef is that it’s a cartridge pen, but there’s getting to be some days when I oughtn’t be left alone with a bottle of ink, so there is that.

I can’t really tell you much about this pen, since the packaging is completely in Japanese. I can say it’s a Pilot pen, and it’s name appears to be kaküno. Writes nice and smooth; very light in the hand. I haven’t dropped it yet, so can’t report on its durability. Cheap, too. Under $15US. I got the medium nib, because that’s the way I roll. If you’ve been thinking about trying a fountain pen, this might be worth your time to explore.

Thanks to everyone who suggested anime worthy of watching. I remember I was looking for Spy Family the day Steve died… This is not to lay blame or to invoke the Sad, but to say that I had apparently thought we’d enjoy it, and while I have Crunchyroll, I might as well have a look-in.

And, yes, I am talking about trivialities while the world is on fire. The only thing I can do at this point, is what I always do, and be a witness for civilized behavior.

deep breath

How’s everybody doing today?
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So, yeah — cheese and crackers and an orange. That’s lunch, innit? Am drinking “figgy pudding” tea from my Christmas teas. I had not been sanguine, going in, but it’s quite tasty and delivers the warmth that the rest of the meal lacked.

On the writing front, that’s +/- 1,340 new words. WIP stands at +/-124,785.

As soon as I’ve finished my tea, I will do my duty the cats, then clear a space on my desk so I can track me some changes.

The cats think I ought to take a nap, and they’re probably not wrong…
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Toe bean break:


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Yeah, I should’ve taken a nap. OTOH, the track changes are done and returned, and! I managed to turn off the water running into the toilet, go me.

I had made a comment the other day in my rant about the cost of Sssses and the prevailing wisdom of adding a “third” S to perfectly good words. Sometimes, in fact, the prevailing wisdom only adds one extra S.

Example: Chaos’s

That? Is an ugly something or other.

In my day, believe it or don’t, when you had a situation where you needed to show that Chaos was being possessive, you indicated that by this: Chaos’

Which looks much better to me than all these random Sssses wriggling all over the page.

All that said? I’m tired, and Rookie is insisting that it’s Happy Hour, so it must be time for me to wash the pots ‘n pans.

Everybody have a good evening. Stay safe.

I’ll check in tomorrow.

Some are born to greatness

The Long Back Yard:

Saturday. Late getting up. Sunny and cold.

Firefly joined me on the couch last night and went to sleep really hard so I stayed with her and finished my book. Then I got up and wandered out to my office which was so bright that I thought I must have left the light on.

But no, it was the Moon. What a beautiful, beautiful moon, and the world turned black and white.

Shadows black and magical across the snow filled yard.

I sat on the cats observation table for a while and communed with the moon, which meant I didn’t get to bed until after midnight.

And here we are.

This was dictated via my phone
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So, today I’m taking down the decorations; have a couple of errands in the afternoon. Any writing will likely be of the Sitting with the Manuscript variety. Also need to swap out the cat fountains, in anticipation of which the dishwasher is doing its thing.

How’s everybody doing this morning?
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Decorations down — I nearly forgot the window star, but remembered it when there was a box with nothing in it.

Errands run. I have a grinder on loan, thanks to the generosity of Carmela Patriotti. Ordered in dunch while I was putting the taken-down decorations away. Dishwasher emptied and now it’s time to swap out the cat fountains, after which I do believe I may collapse on the couch and avoid the news.

All that said, I’ll just say my goodnights now.

Everybody stay safe, be careful, hug the people you love.

I’ll see you tomorrow.

Today’s blog post title brought to you from the man who wrote Shakespeare’s plays, from Twelfth Night:  “Some are born to greatness, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.”

Firefly helped me take the tree down:

Thursday. . .

The Long Back Yard

So. Thursday. Grey and on-and-off snow showers. Yes, that means I now have a icy driveway with a coating of snow.

I went to bed more or less at my regular time, and got up more or less at my regular time. Tali came to keep me company while I sat with the Happy Lite, and after breakfast, all three of the cats hustled me back to Steve’s office, with three very high tails: Oh, Good! Mom’s gonna work!

Breakfast was — all together now! — oatmeal with peanut butter and chocolate chips (Note to self: get more peanut/almond butter). Lunch was chicken in butter masala over rice with grapes on the side (Note to self: get more chicken breasts). Before anybody gets too excited the sauce came out of a jar, but I quick defrosted the chicken and browned it, so, yay! Cooking.

I had to name a ship and a Scout Archivist team, so I only wrote about 700 new words, though part of that was:

“Is that humor?”

Jen Sin thought for a moment. “Do you know? I’m not certain.”

Next up is putting away dishes, washing pots ‘n pans and writing some notes for the next section of Agent of Change. I’ll post a link when it’s up.

How’s everybody doing today?