October 2023 - Update #4

No writing in the last week either - weekend errands plus an intensive on-line course I'm taking with the Anglesey Druid Order took care of Saturday and Sunday; problems have reappeared with my laptop, which I like to write on while looking out the garden window; Wednesday was errands again, plus moving my geraniums from their summer home in the cold frame to the garage; today more garden work - moving rosemarys inside and four frost-tolerant plants to the empty cold frame, and harvesting the last of the current tomatoes and some still-healthy catnip (the latter to dry). Probably frost tonight, then snow Saturday night and Sunday, w/ a forecast low of 13 F Sunday night. Winter is on the doorstep. Next weekend we'll celebrate Nos Galan Gaeaf.
 

October 2023 - Update #3

 Our retreat is finally over, and I hope to start writing again. Certainly I made no progress for the last week though - prepping to hold it at my house had kept me very busy, and I spent most of the weekend managing the Zoom sessions. After that it took me a few days to recover. Next year we expect to be back at La Foret, with more room and facilities, and that should be easier. We will also be a week later in October - the third weekend rather than the second, in part to avoid some conflicts which developed this year. Since we'll be so close to Samhain, I'm hoping our overall topic will have some aspect of that season.

Before next Wednesday I'll also have some end of the season garden work to do as well. We've had several light frosts, but things are about to get colder, so it's time to move the sensitive plants into the garage for the winter and harvest the rest of the beans.

On with the work!

October 2023 - Update #2

No writing this week - I've been prepping for our annual Rocky Mountain Retreat. It should have been at La Foret conference center, where this picture was taken, but our cabin reservations got screwed up; instead the Zoom sessions and ritual will be at my house. This has required a lot of prep on my part.

I've also been creating a Power Point for a presentation I'll be giving Sunday morning. Since I'd never worked with Power Point before, I had a bit of a learning curve. Fortunately it works a lot like Publisher, which I use for ADF's quarterly magazine, but I had a busy 3 days.

Looking forward to having time to write again in a week or two!
 

October 2023 - Update #1

 

Again, no appreciable progress with my writing in the last week. There have been too many distractions, and I'm still stuck in the middle of chapter 2. Next week is unlikely to be better, but after our Rocky Mountain retreat I hope to get the story moving again. 

In other news, I picked most of the nearly-ripe tomatoes yesterday. We haven't had frost yet, but it can't be long - maybe tonight.