Monday night...

Just a jack-o-lantern picture.



Needed the tripod for this one!

Nos Calan Gaeaf Da eto!

-GRG

Monday...

And hard at work writing after a most productive weekend. I did take time out last night to celebrate Samhain (one night early). Our Samhain pumpkin:



Being as it's a pie pumpkin from my garden, we baked and ate it. I've have pictures of my Jack-O-Lantern pumpkin up in a day or so.

Nos Calan Gaeaf Da i chi!

-GRG

Friday...

Conditions here are drifting back toward seasonal normal now. A lot of the snow has melted, but by no means all:



Back to writing...

-GRG

Thursday...

No post yesterday because I was offline all day due to a power outage. Denver had its first autumn snowstorm, and it was a big one:



I think we got about 8 inches here, though it's hard to be sure. The several days before had been warm and sunny, and I spent them frantically preparing house and garden for what we got. One of Tuesday's last tasks: potato and beet harvest:



No writing yesterday as I had intended because no power. I could have used the netbook, of course, but wasn't sure how long it would be before I could recharge the battery. A few years ago after a late spring blizzard I was out for three days... Thankfully, only 22 hours this time!

-GRG

Monday...

Busy again in the garden yesterday and today. Our first big winter storm is due tomorrow night, with possibility of 4-8 inches of snow and lows Wednesday night in the teens (F), so I've had a lot to do the last few days in putting the garden to bed and making the garage ready for those geraniums etc. which are too tall to fit in the cold frame. Almost done now - I'll bring them inside tomorrow, pick the beets and batten down a few other things. Wednesday should be a good day for writing, and I'm looking forward to getting back the Druid book!

-GRG

Saturday...

Been a busy week, more with the garden than with the book. New pictures presently - just wanted to say "I'm still here!" We might have snow Wednesday...

-GRG

Monday...

Hmm, running late today and it looks like I forgot Friday. Ah well, still here, busy, etc. Weather is changing - high around 50 F day, currently 42 F and partly cloudy, so I'm expecting a hard freeze tonight, which should take care of most of the rest of the garden - everything but the beans is already harvested anyway.

No additional writing the last two days but I spent some time yesterday and this morning researching what was actually going on in Roman Britain during late 1st century CE - actually fits in pretty well with what I've written so far. Time to get some more forward progress now on the story...

This lot's from last week:



Back to work...

-GRG

Wednesday...

More writing, more gardening, more fine autumn weather - nothing much different. Roses are still putting on a fine show:



Word count on the new book is now 24,247 words. I'm still arguing with myself about the title, but in the meantime here's a cover mock-up I'm using on LibraryThing:



The stone circle is Drom Beg in Ireland.

-GRG

Monday...

After two nights of mild frost, the vegetable garden is pretty much done for the year. I haven't harvested the last of the beans yet, and the potatoes and jerusalem artichokes are still to come (I'll dig them after we have a killing frost), but otherwise it's a time to admire the rowan berries and the remaining roses and asters, and start the last clean-up. Cadfael rose:



and Glamis Castle rose:



Still plugging along on the new book. Word count's up to almost 22,000 now. As I mentioned on LibraryThing, I've posted a teaser for comments.

Back to work...

-GRG

Friday...

A touch of frost last night. I was expecting it, and harvested most of the rest of my vulnerable crops (peppers, eggplant, squash, tomatoes, basil, and the last cucumber). Not much damage that I can see so far except to the zucchini leaves, but the next few nights are supposed to be colder. Still haven't picked all the beans - we'll see how that goes.



Writing continues to go well. I'm up to 19,000 words now - about 50 pages. Steady does it, or as the Welsh proverb has it, "contestant tapping cracks the stone."

-GRG

Wednesday...

Autumn color is starting to develop on some of the trees, especially the ash trees, and on the Virginia creeper. Garden harvest is coming to an end, with possible frost this weekend. Weather's finally cooling down a bit, too, which is welcome.



I'm still knocking out 1,000+ words a day on the new book most days. Yesterday was a bit of a strain, because Welsh classes started again, which meant I had to write in the afternoon instead of my preferred evening slot (when there are less distractions, such as lawn mowers, weed whackers, etc.). Still, I managed it. I'm amazed at how smoothly it's going - it's just a matter of pushing myself to turn in that regular 1,000 words. And some sections are more tiring to write than others.

Back to work!

-GRG

Monday...

The asters are at their peak bloom now, and the bees are going crazy. I have to remember to water them early, before they fully open, so I don't disturb so many bees.



We were busy Saturday with ADF at Front Range Pagan Pride, and Sunday I was writing. Still good progress on the new book. In fact, I'm going to go work on it now...

-GRG