Tag: life after the apocalypse

Adventures in jewelry

What went before ONE: So that’s scary. I got up to walk around the corner and get something out of the printer, and — one of my earrings fell out.

But that’s not the scary part. I found the earring, but I can’t find the back — yanno, just one of those tiny little silvery lock things? Looked everywhere with my friend Mr. Flashlight, looked inside my shirt, looked, yeah, everywhere, because who knows when it went AWOL and I just hadn’t moved my head sharply enough to dislodge the ring?

Finally wound up vacuuming the whole house, and still no certainty that I found it. It’s not the loss of the backing I’m worried about; it the loose piece of metal on (possibly) the floor with four floor inspectors on-paw.

Argh. Now I get to breathe deeply and try to get back to work.

And I say again — argh.

What went before TWO: Six hundred sixty-one new words today.

Didn’t finish my scene, and also didn’t find the back to my earring. The WIP is now +/-52,400 words and the little piece of silver is on the knees of Bast; I’ve done everything I can.

I hear there’s supposed to be a splendid full moon tonight. Of course, it will be cloudy here in Central Maine. Honestly, you could make a calendar.

Speaking of calendars — one of our needlework members is newly arrived in Central Maine from Arizona and she was remarking on how late it stayed light here. Which — official sunset is 8:30, but it’s not really DARK until 10/10:30. Turns out in Tucson, sunset is at 7:30? In JULY? How is that even a thing? And then I remembered back in 1999, when I had to travel to the San Antonio Worldcon, and I’d gotten up at Maine Rising Time, and — it was still dark out. On account the sun don’t be rising in San Antonio until 6:45, Texas Time, and at home, where we do these things normally, the sun rises at 5 am, but it’s light enough to drive at 4.

So, that’s the news and babbling from hereabouts.

Tomorrow morning, I have errands and an appointment with the chiropractor, where, this being the end of my second two-week adjustment plan, I’m hoping to receive good news. Tomorrow afternoon, I hope to complete today’s scene and maybe start another.

Everybody stay safe; I’ll see you tomorrow.

So. Friday. Cloudy and damp. Once again the call is for rain. We Shall See.

I have been to the grocery, the post office, Reny’s, Day’s, and the chiropractor. I tried to stop at the latte truck, but they weren’t open when I went by at 8:30ish. Probably just as well.

Consultation with the chiropractor has produced a schedule of weekly visits, stretching out to every three weeks. First session of the new schedule being next Friday (unless something goes bad before that). And we’ll see how that goes. Fingers crossed.

Took on a crazy flowered shirt at Reny’s, as well as sox, butter chicken sauce, jasmine rice, and hangers, since I apparently have a hanger-eating gremlin infestation in the laundry room.

At Day’s, I acquired new backs for the earrings that I lost one back to, yesterday. The new ones made a very satisfying CLICK when I shoved them onto the post, so I have some confidence that these will stay where they’re put.

The butter chicken sauce and the jasmine rice will join the last pork chop in the joyous celebration of lunch. Honestly, I don’t know how people can be enthused about eating three times a day, every day, 365 days a year. Hoping that the slight weirdness of today’s lunch will renew a flagging interest in food. I’m trying to stave off the part where I’ll take anything — ice cream! a doughnut! — as long as I’ve eaten something.

Once I finish this dispatch, I will throw a load of shirts in the washer, make (and eat) lunch, then get with writing.

How’s everybody doing today?

. . . I found it all on my own

What went before: Today’s writing was tweaking what I wrote yesterday. Maybe, a net gain of 200 words, when all’s said and done. Tomorrow! A new scene.

Everybody have a good evening; stay safe; I’ll see you tomorrow.

Thursday. Cool and damp and said to be fixin’ to rain. Windows open, because? Anybody? Yes? Yes, you there in the orange sleeveless tshirt. Correct! Because cats.

Tuesday night, I got about four hours sleep, mostly due to Trooper needing All The Cuddles, and None of the Cuddles on about a 20 minute rotation. Last night, I collapsed early and was let to sleep for damn near nine hours, and honestly, I could do it again, right now. This not being feasible, I’m taking on caffeine.

Breakfast was tomato and cheese on anadama bread with a side of grapes. Lunch will be fish, because I have once again fallen off the fish wagon. It’s been a real eye-opener, how close Steve watched the menu and made sure of the rotation of various foods.

Among yesterday’s few accomplishments, I ironed my finished project and put it in the embroidery book, and! I chose my new project, which is pictured below.

Today, aside from the making and eating of lunch, and the various duties that attend a cat parent, I do intend to write. That’s is — one good intention at a time.

Who else has good intentions today?

Today’s blog post title brought to you by Stitch

The new project:

Embroidering the tale

Wednesday. Cloudy, and cool, but high humidity. The windows are open, because — cats.

Breakfast was naan and hummus with a side of grapes. Salad for lunch with my pork chop.

Been to the chiropractor, now home; made myself a mug of iced peppermint tea (which is becoming a go-to), ate a pineapple ring (want another one, but so far holding out against tooth decay), and am fixing to place my completed embroidery project into my book, after which I will need to explore my project box to see if I have any more kits.

Stripped the bed, and the sheets are washing.

Made an appointment for a Monday haircut, which is none too soon. Flipping the coin on leaving it “long” or whacking it all off.

To-Do includes washing the bathroom rugs, so I guess while that’s happening I’ll steam mop the floor and the kitchen floor, too, why not?

This afternoon, I need to read what I wrote yesterday, and maybe write another few new words.

No, the excitement never stops. You can see why so very many people want to embrace the writing life.

How’s Wednesday treating everybody?

I finished my project last night at the needlework meeting:

Last Blog of a Tuesday

There is a photoblog of Rookie’s Gotcha Day Celebrations here.

Not to overshadow Rookie’s Celebrations (which — everybody wore themselves out and they’re napping now. I have been informed by His Gotchaness that there will NOT be fireworks this evening, so — OK, then)

As I was saying before I got caught in my own parenthetical — not to overshadow The Celebrations, but! I have finished writing my scene at +/-2,080 words, which brings the WIP entire to!

+/-51,490 words.

And there was MUCH rejoicing.  Also ice cream.  Because, by damn, I earned ice cream.

Here, have a celebratory snippet:

“Jen Sin!” Catie’s voice was sharp from directly overhead. “He has a knife!”

“Well of course he has a knife,” Jen Sin said, astonishment sharpening his own voice. “He’s not an idiot.”

Rookie’s Gotcha Day Morning Report

Tuesday, July 8. Rainy and cool.

On this date in 2024, Ellen Richmond kindly gave me a ride to the Tradewinds Market in Clinton, to a meet in the parking lot, where the deal went down, and a black kitten, with wide eyes and a great deal of surprised good humor came home to the Cat Farm. He weighed about 4 pounds on arrival. His name was Rook Thunderpaws.

Today, on the first anniversary of his Gotcha Day, Rookie (as he’s called more often than not) weighs a whopping 12.25 pounds, making him the largest cat in the household. The windows have been opened so that he may do a proper inspection, he and Tali have already competed for possession of the spring, and he supervised my taking the trash to the curb from the viewport overlooking the driveway.

I will be updating on festivities a little later, but I woke up knowing where a scene I’ve had in my head for at least two years goes, and having to do research on: the Tactical Defense Pods; Jen Sin’s age; and formal language re Scout issued weapons. I also need to eat breakfast.

Therefore, I’m jumping off the internets for a few hours, to eat breakfast, write my scene, correct my other scene, and do my duty to the cats.

Here’s a picture to get you in a celebratory mood:

A pirate’s life for me

Monday, sunny and already too warm for my taste. We are once again standing under a Heat Advisory, though I haven’t gotten any city notices about cooling centers being open.

Breakfast et, one’s duty to the cats dispatched, trash staged, banking done, have appt to see the chiropractor, then plan to stop at grocery before I come home. Station air is ON.

Spent yesterday introverting. Today may be some more of the same, though I will at least be sitting with the manuscript for a bit.

The cats don’t appear to like the Sensitive Stomach blend of cat food, though everybody will eat it, grudgingly. Except, of course, the Actual Guy with the Sensitive Stomach, for which said food was purchased.

TOMORROW is Rookie’s Gotcha Day. He tells me he wants to do a podcast, but I’m really not sure about that. Maybe he’ll be satisfied with a photoshoot.

So! How’s everybody doing?

Today’s blog title brought to you by Sail North, “Row”

Pictures from the past:

Marscon Writer Guests of Honor 2003
Hanging around Waterville 2016
Steve’s High School Reunion, Westminster July 2023

All my friends know the low rider

Saturday. Sunny. Predicted to be much warmer than yesterday, so the windows are, sadly, closed, and we’re on station air.

Breakfast was half a blueberry muffin and cottage cheese. Lunch is as yet undecided. I have pork chops that I need to bake, so I could do that at lunchtime, rather than this morning, and freeze two, instead of three. That might actually be the way to go. Turkey burger chili can happen tomorrow, when the ‘beans are calling for really hot, and I will definitely be hibernating in the coolth.

Other chores on the day include answering emails, taking the clean dishes out of the dishwasher, swapping out the cat fountains, one’s duty to the cats, taking a walk, doing back exercises, and, well, writing.

Since my best writing time is between lunch and coon cat happy hour (and, if I’m honest, after coon cat happy hour til, oh, 10-ish, but I really don’t think I’d better go Fully Nocturnal; things are weird enough around here), the Current Plan is to clear chores/appointments in the morning, and after lunch, to write, even if the chores aren’t done. There will, after all, always be chores.

Speaking of chores, I Have Viewed How-Tos on YouTube and am confident that I can keep the shower and surrounding bathroom up to spec without killing myself, so *that’s* good. God She knows that I have vacuum cleaners. And dust cloths. The only thing that’s still a Puzzle are the basement stairs. I think I can handle the cordless vac on the terrain, but there was something amiss with the cordless vac, pre-BaltiCon, which I will have to investigate, now that I’m home.

. . . and John Fogerty has just informed the Listening Audience of Classic Vinyl that “Down on the Corner,” was inspired by Winnie the Pooh, whom he imagined busking on a city corner with his band, Winnie and the Pooh Bears. Strange man, John Fogerty.

I do believe that’s All The News.

What music are you listening to this morning?

Today’s blog post brought to you by War, “Low Rider.”

Friday Afternoon

Odd day. Wrote +/-1850 words after throwing out the words I wrote yesterday, which, yes, sounds like a waste, but in fact was not because if I hadn’t written those words, I wouldn’t have known they were the wrong ones, and forced the boys in the basement to Do Better. What I need to do now is piecing so I can see the Big Picture, so to speak. I’m not unhappy with what I’ve done so far, and very glad I had a whole day to bear down.  Today’s labors brings the total WIP to +/-47,760 words.

I’m pretty tired from all that bearing down, so no more new words today, and honestly? I may leave the piecing til tomorrow, too.

In Writing Adjacent News, I’ve applied for a place as an author in the Bangor Book Fair, in December. I have very little chance of being accepted, but, yanno, none if I don’t fill out the form.

I see that the credit union is replacing my credit card with a Whole Nother credit card (not just a renewal of the existing card), come August, which means I need to move the things I have on auto-pay somewhere else. What fun. Also, it looks like I need to find if I have any so-called “rewards” on the existing card and, if so, clean them out, as the new card will not have rewards, but it will have a very respectable 9.9% interest rate.

I also have some mail to answer, but I keep losing the list until I’m too tired to write a coherent letter. Maybe if I put it under my tea mug, I’ll see it first thing tomorrow. It’s a plan.

I had a turkey burger and baked beans for lunch, and I have discovered that turkey burgers are limp and hard to manage, and also don’t taste that great. I still have three of the dern things, but I figure they can be broken into pieces, since they want to do that anyway, mixed in with other things and thereby made to taste better. I mean, I do know that you can’t have chicken and mushroom dumplings every day, but I had expected a little better from the turkey burgers.

It’s been a cool(er) and breezy, so I have the windows in my office open, and I’ve been enjoying the company of all four cats most of the day.

. . . and that’s the report from the Confusion Factory.

Hope everyone’s had a nice Friday and/or holiday.

Friday Census and Proof of Life:

Books and brushes and dumplings, oh my!

BUSINESS FIRST: The Uncle wishes everyone to know that there are still signed copies of Diviner’s Bow available from his website. Signed books make wonderful gifts!

The preview is showing Fair Trade because the link takes you to a catalog page where all signed Lee-and-Miller editions are gathered into one happy place.

Here’s the link.

#

Wrote +/-1060 very drafty words, which I am not adding to the Official Count until the scene is finished. Which it ain’t.

So, questions on Tali’s preferred brush. It’s called a Safari brush, and is a soft, two-sided rubber brush. There are Tricks to using it. I use the brush, then I take a towel and just smooth it over the cat to get the last of the loose fur out. Tali likes both the brush and the toweling, which are both very gentle operations.

What’s so special about dumplings? someone asks. No, not Bisquick dumplings. Chinese steamed dumplings, stuffed with chicken, or pork, or veggies, or combinations thereof. There are also sweet fillings available, but today I went with the savory — chicken and mushroom. Very good; I expect I’ll be a return customer.

The food truck court is right around the corner from a house that Steve and I seriously considered buying, Some Time Back.  We decided that a house that had three steps between the kitchen and the dining room, and three steps from the living room to the bedroom, one step from the bedroom to the bathroom, and two steps down to the sunroom, might not be so good if one of us got sick. Nice house in many ways, including having a separate office wing,  and an attached garage, but the stairs were a deal-breaker. But, man, what a location, twelve years down the road.

In more personal news, Ashley has left me; she has discovered that she’s allergic to cats. This means I’ll be doing my own housework (poor writer; like she hasn’t been doing her own housework for 50 years), which isn’t necessarily a Completely Bad Thing. I’d been looking for stuff to hang a Schedule on, after all.

Also! I will be taking a Social Media Free Day tomorrow in order to Concentrate on the WIP. For those who worry about me not having enough fun, I do have turkey burgers, and buns, and baked beans, so that I can be appropriately festive.

Everybody stay safe; those who are picnicking or otherwise celebrating — have fun!

Let’s check in with each other on Saturday.