Still here...

Just been busy the last couple of weeks with assorted celebrations. Need to get back to work writing again...

-GRG

Wednesday...

Yesterday morning. It's finally beginning to look and feel like Winter.



-GRG

Remembering Llewelyn...

Seven hundred and thirty years ago on the 11th day of December...

Where is Llywelyn? Ble mae o?

He was due back eight nights ago.

The low sun creeps across the sky

And still I wait. He cannot die.

Without him, Wales might cease to be!

Ble mae Llywelyn? Where is he?

Where is Llywelyn? Ble mae o?

With banners bright we saw him go.

His scarlet lions shone in the sun—

I know this war can still be won—

and Cymru still can flourish, free!

Ble mae Llywelyn? Where is he?

Where is Llywelyn? Ble mae o?

I watch and wait; my worries grow,

But from the south I get no news.

The English king cannot refuse

To make peace soon, and then we’ll see…

Ble mae Llywelyn? Where is he?

Where is Llywelyn? Ble mae o?

Gwenllian fach, I do not know.

I wish that I could hold you tight.

I walk the battlements each night.

The sunrise lights no hope in me.

Ble mae Llywelyn? Where is he?

Where is Llywelyn? Ble mae o?

Outside Cilmari, in the snow,

Uncomforted, they say he died

In arms struck down. I know they lied.

He must live still! It cannot be!

Ble mae Llywelyn? Where is he?

Where is Llywelyn? Ble mae o?

To Avalon I’d have him go,

Like Arthur, live, and still fight on.

My time is spent. I must be gone.

Remember Eleanor, my dear—

Ble mae Llywelyn?  I am here…

- G R Grove

Sunday...

Had a good time at Georgetown's Winter Market yesterday, reading a couple of poems as part of the Colorado Welsh Society performances. Winter itself caught up with us last night -- a bit of snow, and quite cold today.



I'm back to working on the next book -- looking over the manuscript so far. I've decided to stop trying to plan too closely, and let the story go where it will...

-GRG

Friday...

OK, Thursday night, but...

This afternoon the semiannual Migration of the Geraniums occurred. From their summer splendor in the cold frame...



...which they have now abandoned...



...they made their way to their winter indoor habitat, following their good friends the cyclamen and the rosemary.





Usually this happens in November, but the relatively mild weather has allowed them to remain in their summer home longer than usual, soaking up sunlight. But with sub-zero (F!) temperatures forecast for Sunday night, it was time for the move. Long may they flourish in their winter home!

-GRG

Thursday...

I've just set up a new hardcover (w/ dust jacket) version of Storyteller on Lulu. Same text except I upgraded the map in the front. I'm going to do the same thing for the other books this week. Lulu, btw, is currently running a pre-Christmas 20% off promotion on everything, good through the 14th.

Tuesday...

...and things have been busy. First off, The Druid's Son is now showing as "in stock" on amazon.com, and has three reviews from early readers. Take a look!

Saturday I spent in Cheyenne at the SCA's Hunter's Feast - great food as usual, and no snow this year. It was good to see old friends, and I had fun performing a brief extraction from the next Storyteller book in the bardic competition. All told, an enjoyable day. Sunday and yesterday went in miscellaneous activities, including book bins and updating inventory. Our next merchant event will be the SCA's Caerthe 12th Night January 5th.

I've spent some time looking at the manuscript to date of the next book, and contemplating philosophical issues, e.g. how closely to Togi's experiences have to match what Gwernin hears as stories 500 years later? Should I even try to make things match up in any detail? And what will readers of the two series think if they don't?

More pictures next time...

-GRG

Friday...

...and the end of November. The day started with a moment of mild panic. One the way out the door to take the truck to Greasemonkey before we drive to Cheyenne tomorrow for an SCA event, I discovered the postcard from DMV telling me my vehicle registration was due for renewal in October. Argh! (You get one grace month, and this was the last day...) Not wanting to drive to Wyoming with expired license plates, I changed my plans for the morning. All is now well...

The mild weather continues - usually by now we've had some snow and very cold weather, but I'm not complaining. (No, it's not "global warming", it's just the South Pacific "La Nina" oscillation.) This is the first time in three years the weather has been good enough to drive to Cheyenne for this weekend's event. There's a bardic competition scheduled, and hopefully I'll sell some books as well.

The squirrel's still in the attic, although it goes outside during the daytime. A guy from the construction company that did the roofing job last spring came by a few days ago and looked at the place where it's getting in, and agreed that yes there was a hole... He wouldn't commit to fixing it for free, and if they won't do it for free, I'll get someone else. Or I might yet climb up and do something myself. Or the squirrel may stay there till spring... (no, I don't think that last choice will fly. It's bouncing around in the attic again...)

 -GRG

Thursday...

Still here - just preoccupied with this and that...

New cat picture: it was a cool gray day... Guess who arrived second?



-GRG

Tuesday...

Still no progress with the issue of the squirrel in the attic, disturbing noises of heavy equipment from the alley outside where some part of the neighbor's sewer outfall appears to be being redone, and amazon still isn't offering The Druid's Son for sale. Oh, and an e-list fracas last night which is still on my mind. Difficult to settle down to anything productive under these circumstances. Some days are like this...

Something new for the garden which I got a couple of weeks ago. Still haven't decided where to put it.



 -GRG

Tuesday...

The Druid's Son has now reached amazon.com. It's not available there yet for purchase, but should be soon. (edited to add: it's not available there yet for purchase through amazon) -GRG

Sunday...

A cold morning after last night's storm - winter is advancing upon us. A good day to stay indoors, reading, thinking, and sewing... and working on the next book.



-GRG

Friday...

The seasons turn; with Samhain, the dark half of the year begins. Yet even while the creatures of the earth prepare for their winter rest, this writer is preparing for new work. Yes, it's time I got back to the continuing adventures of Gwernin Storyteller, and the book I laid aside last year to write The Druid's Son, now called The Fallen Stones.

Books can take a long time to germinate, but this one is at least partly written, although some of it may have to be changed a bit. However, my goal is to have it finished and out within the next year. All I will say about the story right now is that it begins with a death and ends with a birth, and much of it takes place in Ireland. Oh, and the first words are: "Taliesin sang it, so it must be true."

Autumn leaves on the apple tree last week:



-GRG

Thursday...

Happy Samhain... lots of things going on, but I wanted to get this pumpkin picture up...



-GRG

Friday...

Oh dear, another week's gone by with no new post. Well, I've been busy - Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday was mostly spent getting the garage ready to bring in some tender plants before the snow which arrived Wednesday night, and incidentally doing my best to evict a squirrel which was trying to take up residence there.(Yes, I eventually succeeded.) Nasty weather yesterday - several inches of wet snow before leaf-drop is not good, but fortunately no power outages, in this neighborhood, at least. Nicer today - 30's F but sunny, which has helped. Still involved with tidying up publishing loose ends for The Druid's Son - got a bulk order today. Yesterday I got the proof copy for the global distribution version and approved that, so (Gods willing) it should be on Amazon etc before Christmas. I've also set up a hardback version, available on Lulu only. All in all, no lack of things to keep me busy! -GRG

Tuesday...

It feels strange not to be writing or proofreading; I'll have to start another project soon. In the meantime, I'm looking for reviewers, and cleaning house (long overdue), and doing autumn cleanup in the garden. We've been having another run of warm weather, common this time of year, but it probably won't last much longer.

A cat picture today: Titus waiting by the cold frame for his fresh catnip (inside the wire cage you can see next to him).



-GRG

Thursday...

Still here, just busy. Weather's gone back to seasonal normal (no snow), but that's OK. I'm still doing what I hope will be the final proofreading pass on the book - hope to have the paperback available on Lulu and copies for sale locally before the end of the month.

-GRG

Friday...

What a difference a day makes... Woke up this morning expecting to see the first frost of the season, and instead saw this...







We'll see what's left when it melts off - which it's already doing - but I think I can safely say that summer is over.

-GRG

Wednesday...

A little more book news: Smashwords has cleared The Druid's Son for premium distribution, which means it should show up on Barnes & Noble, Sony, and Apple in a couple of weeks, possibly sooner. This is very fast turn-around; clearly I did a good job with my formatting.

Gardening-wise, it still looks like we should get a killing frost this weekend, although it's currently 78 F by my back door. I need to relocate a few vulnerable plants, but otherwise the garden is about over for the year. The cold frame is beginning to be very full of geraniums...



-GRG

Tuesday...

Now that I'm (momentarily) not writing, it's time to tend to all the other stuff which accumulated. Garden cleanup is one item, and it's a beautiful day out there (so why am I in here typing?). Time to pick the last of the veggies, since it looks like we may be getting a killing frost soon (Friday night, maybe!).

Garden picture of the day: asters. Go to it, bees, not much time left...



-GRG

Monday...

It's e-published!

Sunday...

In preparation for the release of the new book, I've slashed the prices of all my e-books on smashwords.com. Check out the new prices here: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/gwernin

Thursday...

Updated the graphics and ordered the first hard-copy proof to see how they look. There will certainly be at least one more proof round after I get the rest of the proofreaders' feedback, but in the meantime this will let me see what else (if anything) I need to change. Proof copies are also useful as ARCs for reviewers, so it's not a loss.

-GRG

Wednesday...

Just a quick post to display the back cover copy for the new book:


The printed version will also have the bar code, isbn, etc in the lower right hand corner.

-GRG

Tuesday...

After a couple of days off, I've been back at work on the new book. The proofreaders are busily reading, and so far only finding minor typos. Today I finalized the back cover, and have uploaded the project onto Lulu, pending final revisions of the text file. As soon as I get that, I'll order the first proof copy. Next comes the text reformatting for the e-books on smashwords and the process of feeding that through their converter - say another week, all told. If all this goes well, I should have pre-release copies for reviewers before the end of October!

New pictures next time...

=GRG

Wednesday...

The second draft is finished and has gone to the proofreaders. At this rate I should have the e-book version of The Druid's Son out by Samhain, and the hard copy available before Christmas, on Lulu if not on Amazon etc. Still a lot of work to do, though - finish the map and the other front matter (copyright page, etc), incorporate whatever changes the proofreaders find, finish the back cover design, reformat everything for the e-book version, tweak the hard copy version and get it uploaded to Lulu... etc, etc, etc! Oh, and work on finding reviewers and doing other publicity stuff.

After that I may take a brief break before starting on Gwernin's next book...

New publicity item: business card sized handout for the book:




-GRG

Friday...

Spent last weekend at the Long's Peak Scottish / Irish Festival (aka highland games) in Estes Park, Colorado. We had excellent weather for a change, too. Then Tuesday a weather system moved through and gave Denver twelve hours of much needed slow rain - I haven't needed to water for a couple of days.

I'm still working on the second draft of The Druid's Son. So far I've only found a couple of short sections which needed some rewriting, along with a large number of minor changes. The latter includes things like making sure spelling of names and capitalization of certain words is uniform, checking moon phase / time correspondences, etc. I know there are a couple of sections in the next two chapters which will need revision / expansion, and one or two minor loose ends I need to deal with, but on the whole everything is on track to go to my proofreaders by the end of the month.

Meanwhile the seasons are changing. We've started having distinctly cold nights - this morning's low by my backdoor was 40 F - and cooler days. Tuesday was particularly good in this respect, and I took advantage of the milder weather to make a small batch of chutney with some of my garden surplus (tomatoes, sweet peppers, etc.). The beans have got ahead of me, as they tend to do at this time of year, but I remember from last year that the late season mature ones make great fresh shell beans, so that's OK. Not sure how long we have before frost - probably two or three weeks, but we'll see. Time to enjoy the morning glories while they last:



-GRG

Thursday...

Behind on blogging again, but I've had some distractions. After a few days off, I've started on the second draft of The Druid's Son. Not really rewriting anything, just changing a word here or adding a phrase there. I'm also making a list as I go of things to check, change, add, explain, etc. I don't think I have any major loose ends, but there are a few threads here and there which I think need to be developed a little more or tied off more securely. So far, though, things are looking good. When I finish this draft I'll pass it on to a couple of friends who've offered to proofread it for continuity, clarity, typos, etc. While they're doing that I'll finish the map(s) and the back cover. Then it'll be time for a final draft, and a e-book friendly version to upload to smashwords. After that I'll work on getting it through Lulu and on Amazon etc. I'll also be looking for blog reviewers at that stage.

All in all, still plenty of work to do, but the e-book at least should be out before Christmas, and perhaps proof copies of the paperback as well!

Then on to the next book....

Garden picture today: pumpkin-squash hybrid (they're cross-fertile, so growing them close together results in some strange fruits sometimes).



You can see a normal dark green immature pumpkin in the background, but this fellow has been yellow from the beginning.

-GRG

Some additional discussion re: finishing the first draft, from my LibraryThing discussion thread:

 (WARNING: possible mild spoilers (by some definitions)):

 "As to whether the story worked out as expected - it depends on the time scale. The book I ended up with is a good bit different from what I expected when I started it a year ago, not so different from what I expected a few months ago. Part of the difference is due to my finding a good bit more Roman-related history in the time frame and area I'd chosen than I expected. To simplify extremely, I started with the idea "hero is born, grows up, goes to another country, has many adventures" and ended with "hero is born, grows up, goes to another country". The "many adventures" part, it seems, will eventually require another book...

"I haven't ended with any major loose ends, although I think I'll find a few places which need a little more explanation, but that's OK because although my word count is currently very close to my estimate (103,870 at the moment, with up to 1,000 more to go, vs. an original guess 6 months or so ago of 100,000) the page count is still comfortably below my maximum. On the other hand, there were certainly some bits I didn't expect along the way - as you say, characters (if they're good, well developed ones) frequently have a will of their own. This is one reason I don't write to a detailed outline - I find it more fun this way!

"The afterword, by the way, explains which characters and places are invented (almost all and only a couple, respectively), and includes most of my blog comment re: lack of information on druids in general and British and Irish ones in particular. I wouldn't want anyone to confuse any of my invented druidry with established fact, although from what I've heard about other writers' experiences, it's likely to happen anyway."

-GRG

Tuesday...

First draft of The Druid's Son is finished! Now the revising begins... -GRG

Saturday...

One more chapter to go in The Druid's Son, but the action sequences are over, and this is just the final-tying-off-of-loose-ends, so I've paused to think a little. After that, it'll be time to start on the second draft...

Still a few apples out there that the coons and squirrels didn't get...



-GRG

Monday...

Been doing too much writing in the last week to blog. I'm at 92,386 words and 17.5 chapters - 88% completion of the first draft. Not much today due to some other stuff, but full speed ahead again tomorrow. Last pieces of the plot are coming together - just have to grind it out!

Garden picture from a couple of days ago... yes, we have beans now!



And that's it for today...

-GRG

Tuesday...

Not much actual writing since Friday, but a good bit of looking at maps and reference books and thinking. Conclusions: we know very little about Britain in this period (other than what Tacitus has to say); we know even less about British Druids (i.e. they may have existed, and if so were probably on Anglesey at some point in the 1st century AD, but we have no idea what they were doing there); and we know rather less about Ireland and Irish Druids (if any). Ireland was where it is today; there was some sort of (probably complex) "Celtic" society there, speaking (probably) a Godelic language; there were probably religious / magical specialists of some kind (who may or may not have called themselves Druids) in that society at the time in question; there is a possibility (supported to some extent by archaeological discoveries of Roman material) that Agricola may have sent some sort of military expedition to Ireland, most probably in late 81 AD, with outcome unknown; if he did send such an expedition, they most probably crossed from the vicinity of Galloway (Scotland), as he was operating in that area at that time with the required manpower and naval support; Agricola (according to Tacitus) had in his entourage at that time an exiled Irish noble of some sort who could have served as a focal point for such an expedition. What any Druids (if they existed and were interested) might have had to do this is entirely conjecture.

It's a good thing I'm writing fiction.

-GRG

Friday...

84,765 words and 221 pages. Four more chapters to go. Whew - it's been a week.

Wednesday...

Almost missed blogging again today - too busy writing. Passed 80,000 words - almost 80% complete for the first draft.

Monday...

The last week has been busy. Miscellaneous stuff Monday and Tuesday, writing like crazy Wednesday, Thursday and Friday; our private Lughnasadh celebration Friday night; and Saturday and Sunday at the Highlands Ranch Scottish Festival with the Colorado Welsh Society. Today, trying to get back on track with writing. I've done over 5,000 words in the last week and hope to keep to that pace!

Today's picture: a group of oak trees on the U of U campus in Salt Lake City, where I was on the Cymdeithas Madog Welsh Course two weeks ago.

 

Monday...

Just a brief post to say I'm back blogging, after spending a week on Cwrs Cymraeg Cymdeithas Madog. The course has its own eisteddfod at the end of the week, and I won the top division with a long poem in Welsh which I'll publish presently. The winner gets to keep the Cymdeithas Madog eisteddfod chair for a year. This is the second time I've won; more about that here. I'll take a new picture soon, but in the meantime, here's one from the last time I had the chair:


And that's it for the moment...

-GRG

Thursday...

Haven't been blogging this week because I've been studying Welsh. More about that soon...

Still here, still writing. And glad going to midnight premieres of movies is not my thing.

But I'm planning to be doing storytelling with the Colorado Welsh Society at the Elizabeth Celtic Festival tomorrow - stop by and see us.

update 7/21: I've had to cancel being at Elizabeth today, but the CWS society will still be there.

Hot dry weather continues, but the garden is doing fine - as long as I keep it watered. I picked my first eggplant yesterday - one of the long Japanese kind I like. About eight inches long, nice and tender. I had to move one of the potted tomato plants, because one of the squirrels was picking the tomatoes - bad enough that he ate the ripe one, but picking green ones and then throwing them away is too much. We've had a minor plague of Japanese rose beetles, so I've been patrolling the garden looking for them two or three times a day. In the absence of roses, they seem to like Virginia creeper, so I've been pursuing them there to thin out the population. No spraying - eco-friendly methods only (except to the beetles).

A couple of the bean vines have reached the top of the trellis and are reaching for the sky (fortunately the phone line is out of reach):



Not much writing over the weekend due to one thing and another, but I'm hoping to make up for it today. Over 68,000 words and 178 pages now. Onward!

-GRG

Weather continues warmer than average, but not as bad as it was in June. Squirrels ate half the flowers off my zinnias yesterday and stole my first decent sized ripe tomato. There are a lot more of them around lately (squirrels, not tomatoes) - probably this spring's youngsters being turfed out by mom and looking for handouts. There have also been continued signs of raccoons, although they currently seem to be waiting for the honey crisp apples to get a little riper... Squirrels, however, don't put corn in the birdbath.

Raspberries are about finished, but were wonderful while they lasted.One bean stalk has reached the top of the netting - over six feet up - and I expect to start harvesting green beans in two to three weeks. There's also a female flower on one of the yellow zucchinis. Summer gardens make up for the hot weather!

Honey crisp apples on Monday morning after rain:



Not much writing yesterday, because I was playing with maps, partly because of story matters and partly to start preparing the illustrations for the book. One of the ones I need almost overlaps the North Wales from The Ash Spear - almost, but not quite. Sigh. So I'm drawing a new one... Just to make things clear, in case they weren't, the book I'm currently working on is the prequel set in 60-80 CE, called The Druid's Son. The next Storyteller book (#4), which I hope to have out late next year, will be called The Fallen Stones.

Today more writing and less drawing, I hope. Onward!

-GRG

Wednesday...

Good day's worth of writing yesterday. This morning I designed and ordered some promotional postcards for the new book:



Now back to work...

-GRG

Monday...

Four days now of thunderstorms and showers, with close to an inch of rain on Saturday alone! I am definitely going to have to mow the grass when it all dries out (as it will in a few days), but the garden loves it:



I saw the first bean blossom this morning, and several of the tomatoes are showing color. Won't be long now...

With the cool weather I had a good writing day yesterday. Currently 167 pages and 63,900 words. I need to get a lot more done in the next couple of days before the weather warms up again - writing about winter in North Wales is easier if the temperature isn't 97 F outside! I continue to make new discoveries about the direction and focus of the overall story. I also have two plot challenges at the moment, one of which my hero has to solve...

-GRG

Friday...

Rain at last - thank the Gods! Not a lot of accumulation so far, but oh! the blessed coolness.

First cucumber:



Finished chapter 12 yesterday and have started 13. Almost 63,000 words. And a clear road before me...

-GRG

Wednesday...

Well, the re-writes are over, at least for now, and I can go forward. The last patch is still a bit rough, but I can deal with that in the second draft if necessary. It feels quite liberating to be looking at what amounts to a clean page before me, and only a general idea of what I'm going to write to fill it.

We had some better weather yesterday afternoon - clouds and a few light sprinkles, which cooled things down nicely. Hot again today, but tomorrow is supposed to be better. We'll see - they've been wrong so many times lately that my expectations are not high.

Not much new in the garden, although I planted some marigolds yesterday in spots where the peas had been. Too warm to go out and take a picture, so here's a different one from last week instead. There's now a three inch long cucumber under the leaves at the left end of the picture.


And that's it for today.

-GRG

Monday...

Another hot weekend, especially yesterday when we didn't get any afternoon clouds. The next few days are supposed to be a bit better - we'll see. What we need most is our usual early July "monsoon" - tropical moisture coming up from Mexico to give us regular afternoon thunderstorms.

However, the garden's doing well. I'm still having red (and a few yellow) raspberries for breakfast as I do the early morning watering, which is pleasant, and the mosquito population seems to be dropping off a bit (no rain...). The robins, black caps, and squirrels are finishing off the pie cherries - I don't try to pick anything above my reach, which leaves plenty for them. I've also seen house finches in the evening. The birdbaths remain very popular. Some of the largest sunflowers have started to bloom, which will eventually be popular with all of the above.




I've been researching more than writing the last couple of days, mostly about the 1st century CE Roman army. This is going to lead to some rewriting of the last bit of the manuscript, as I am now of the opinion that our hero couldn't have survived the action as written! Modification definitely required...

-GRG

Friday...

Not as hot here the last couple of days, but the fire situation is still dreadful. Glad I don't live in the mountains or (especially) the foothills - all power and protection to the firefighters!

No rain here, but the garden is doing well - tallest beans are waist-high on the netting, and the corn, from looking like this eleven days ago, now looks like this:



Writing's coming along pretty well, too. I have almost finished the rewrite - just a couple of pages to go - and the manuscript now stands at 61,000 words and 160 pages. Milder weather definitely helps!

-GRG

Monday...

Not a very productive weekend, as the hot weather continues. Denver has now set record highs (~102 F) for 3 (4?) days in a row, and it's not over. We also spent part of Saturday afternoon celebrating the Solstice with the local Druids in Cheeseman Park, where it was far too hot to be enjoyable.

The garden at least is doing well. I water all of it every morning, and parts get extra water in the evening as well, despite the ferocious mosquitoes. Still getting raspberries, although the pie cherries are now past their best, and the beans are climbing rapidly. Too hot to go out and take more pictures, so here's another one from last week:



Almost finished the fill-in chapter for DS - hopefully I can finish it today before it gets too hot. MS currently stands at 59,660 words and 156 pages... 2400 words in the last week isn't bad, considering the interruptions.

Onward!

-GRG

Friday...

The last few days have been hot and busy. I got no writing done yesterday due to preparations for last night's Midsummer ritual, and have spent some of today trying to make up for it. One more episode to finish that chapter, and then onward.

Due to the hot weather (record high of 102 at DIA today, although only mid-nineties here) I was up and in the garden before 6 this morning - watering, picking raspberries again, and then picking pie cherries for a friend. Naturally in the last two activities I had to sample as I went...

One more picture, taken earlier in the week:



...and good night!

-GRG

Monday...

...and already too hot. Denver set a new high temperature record yesterday, sigh. This will *not* help the firefighters trying to deal with the High Park fire.

The garden is doing great. Beans are starting to climb their trellis, raspberries and pie cherries are ripe, onions are burgeoning, and some of the peas are ready for picking. This morning's raspberry harvest:



I got more writing done over the weekend, partly because it was too hot to exercise or garden yesterday. 1,682 words so far in the last week - not great, but there were some "zero" days in there, too. Total manuscript is 150 pages so far, which puts me around the half-way mark. Once I finish this fill-in chapter, I can move on to the last two rewrite sections - then forward!

Another garden picture to finish:



...and then back to work.

-GRG

Thursday...

No post yesterday, as I spent too much of the day arguing with the computer... No writing either for the same reason. However, I got the improved bean supports up today. Just have to find the netting which will hang from the horizontal bar. Hopefully this will prevent a collapse like last year's.



Now to try and do some writing before I run out of afternoon...

-GRG

Monday...

Saturday was hot; didn't get much done. Sunday was much nicer, and we spent part of it at the Colorado Renaissance Fair, seeing some of our favorite vendors and committing shopping. (Favorites include glassblower Jon Bush, Greentree Weaving, and Catskill Moccasins.)

This morning was also nice and cool, and I got a couple of hours work done in the garden, doing initial clean up in and around the squash plot, and later planting the corn. Now if I can just get up early enough tomorrow to finish the squash digging and planting, that phase will be done... As you can see, this unfortunately hasn't left much time for writing. Better luck tomorrow...

Shot glasses from Jon Bush...



-GRG

Friday...

More gardening than writing the last couple of days, as I've been taking advantage of yesterday's cooler weather following Wednesday night's storms and heavy rain. Got about an inch of water here, judging by various containers, so I didn't need to water yesterday or this morning. Instead, I finally got the corn bed prepared. It's a bit late to be planting sweet corn, but I grow it partly for ornament and as a privacy screen, and the warm weather should help it sprout faster. That leaves one more section - the squash bed - and then it will be maintenance e.g. watering, weeding...

I also spent a lot of yesterday and this morning doing some background reading on first millennium AD agricultural practices in Britain - always something more I need to check! Now it's time to write some more - another fill-in section, but this time a whole chapter. The outline for the rest of the DS book is looking pretty solid at this point - my target is around 100,000 words, or just under 300 pages...

Last iris, from Tuesday:



-GRG

Wednesday...

Some additional writing the last couple of days, but not much achieved in the garden due to the warm weather. Last night was the first summer meetup for our Welsh language group - more information on that blog.

The Glamis Castle rose has been blooming like crazy. It's a repeater, too...



That's it for today...

-GRG

Monday...

Writing and gardening continue... Falco caught a mouse in the yard last Friday. I'm glad to say he didn't bring it into the house, though!



Saturday we went to Denver's Capitol Hill People's Fair, which was hot as usual, and bought a couple of lovely batik t-shirts from Grebe Batik. Also I bought a couple more plants at the Cherry Creek farmer's market, and finally got them planted last night:



The old sheet is to give them a little shade for part of the day until they're established.

OK, back to work...

Friday...

Didn't get much writing done yesterday because of watching the Dragon splashdown. Ah well, not something that happens every day! Reminded me of the Apollo missions... Warmer today, and about to warm up more. Have to finish digging that bed so I can plant the eggplants and peppers... then there's the corn... and the squash and pumpkins. This year I am late and the season is early, sigh. First of June and the pink monster rose is already past its peak:



WRT the DS, I'm currently writing some fill-in sections for things I skipped earlier. Not always easy, but necessary. I have by now a pretty good idea of the story arc, anyway... onward!

Tuesday...

Gardening and writing continue, with occasional interruptions. Still revising the DS manuscript, with minor additions and subtractions. Planted cucumbers Sunday evening; extracted leeks; still digging former leek bed / new pepper and eggplant bed. Might get them planted tomorrow. Weather continues pleasantly mild, which is helpful all around. New garden pictures: cucumber bed:

Sunday...

Still working on rewrites to bring the DS manuscript into alignment with the Celtic Calendar. This morning I'm alternating writing with mowing parts of the lawn, having finally got the wheel back on the lawnmower. Bought a lot of little plants at Cherry Creek farmer's market yesterday, and need to start getting them in the ground. The cucumber bed is ready, but I still need to finish digging the eggplant / pepper bed, which is behind because of the overwintered leeks... Leeks and something on the menu this week!

Summer's here...

...roses are blooming: