Update #2 - December 2024

 Slow progress again - still plodding intermittently through chapter 19. Not a busy weekend ahead, so I hope to finish it soon, before I get bogged down again with holidays and Oak Leaves. The weather looks better too - no snow in the forecast for a while. It will probably wait for Christmas / New Year's. The last snow storm was very cold, but we only got an inch or two, most of which disappeared after a couple of sunny days.

Happy winter holidays to anyone who reads this. At least I'm getting my Thursday posts done on Thursday this week! :)

Update #1 - December 2024

 Slow progress, but that's better than none. I spent one morning rereading part of Flight of the Hawk, the second Storyteller book, which takes Gwernin and Neirin to Scotland. This was because Fráechán was asking Neirin about Druidic ceremonies he had seen among the Picts. This chapter (# 19) is called "A Little Teaching", and Fráechán is preparing Neirin and Mael for a visit to Oweynagat. 

The weather has been mild this week for December; most of the previous snow which isn't in shaded places has melted, although we may get a little more Sunday night. I spent yesterday taking Ruay to the vet for his annual exam and booster shots -- important because he spends part of the day outside, and sometimes, er, interacts with one of the neighborhood cats (not in a friendly fashion, let's say!). Then I spent most of the rest of the day doing assorted errands. I'm hoping
today will be more productive, writing-wise.

Update #4 - November 2024

 Finally started getting a little writing done this week. We got a little snow yesterday - maybe a couple of inches following some rain - so there's no temptation to do yard work today. So far I've got about a third of chapter 19 ("A little teaching") done, and have an idea of what needs to be in the rest of it. After that Gwernin and friends will be moving on to Oweynagat in the next chapter.

Rowen and I and a couple of friends celebrated an early Thanksgiving last weekend at her house, so the friends could celebrate today with their family members. Among other things we had roast duck, and I made a cheesecake. Good food, good wine, good company. May everyone reading this have as pleasant a Thanksgiving today!

Update #3 - November 2024

 Another week without much writing progress. I decided I needed a database of character names from my books, and especially from the last three involving Ireland - The Fallen Stones, The King's Druid, and what I've written so far in The Well of Wisdom. I am trying not to use the same name for different people - at least important ones. Common names for secondary characters are less of a problem. I realized a while back that I'd used the name "Fedelmid" for both Togi's chief Druidic teacher in Ireland and Fráechán's magical teacher and predecessor as Archdruid, but since there was 500 years between them, and it was a popular name in early Ireland, "borne by mythological and historical figures, kings, saints, and many exalted ancestors in genealogies", according to the Oxford Dictionary of Celtic Mythology (one of my name sources), so that's okay. I hope to make more progress on chapter 19 soon, once that's done.

In other developments, my neighbor on the south asked Sunday if he could take some branches off the fence-line elm tree which was overhanging his power line due to the snow, and I said, take what you want, I'm thinking of having the whole tree removed, and could you take some branches off on my side which are on my lines while you're at it? The upshot was that he took the whole tree down in pieces, and I have been spending a couple of hours a day reducing big branches into smaller pieces for large item pickup Monday. I'm going to have all the firewood I need for quite a while!

Update #2 - November 2024

 The last week was somewhat chaotic, to say the least, which is why I'm writing my Thursday post on Saturday. Last weekend involved three days of snow shoveling in order to get out of the drive and attend the last farmers' market on Sunday, and another day's work removing a lot of the plum tree which was blocking the front walk due to the snow having bent it over. After that I tidied up chapter 18, and got a little writing done on chapter 19 - about 700 words. 

Then on Wednesday evening my furnace developed problems (it was doing something called "short cycling", where it repeatedly tries to start and then stops), and it started to get rather cold in here. I managed to schedule a repairman for Friday afternoon. Thursday I went out and ran various errands, including buying a second little electric heater like the one I keep in the bathroom. The repairman arrived as scheduled on Friday, rapidly diagnosed the problem (a gadget which tells the furnace if it is getting enough air had died), located, fetched, and installed the replacement part, and did a complete evaluation of the furnace using a bunch of high-tech instruments. (The rest of the furnace checked out fine.) This all took a little over two hours, and was not inexpensive, but now the house is warm again, and I can try and figure out what day it is <grin>, and hopefully start writing again!

Update #1 - November 2024

 I didn't mind dark days when I lived in Juneau, but now I miss the sunlight when I don't have it. A little of it this afternoon is nice. We've had - 7? 8? 9? - inches of snow over the last couple of days, with more in tomorrow's forecast. Winter has come down on us like a wolf on the fold, after the last 3 or 4 dry months and a mild autumn.

I more or less finally finished chapter 18 Tuesday, although it will need a little tweaking. In the latter part of it, Fraechan tells us a little more of what happened to him during and after his last creation of the Druid Fence. It was worse than what he told Gwernin et al in The Fallen Stones, and he only survived due to King Suibne's folk aiding him and taking him back to their camp, and later to their rath for healing. King Diarmait would have left him to die on the hillside after his magic failed.

I should get more written soon, when I'm not shoveling snow!

Update #5 - October 2024

 Heavy frost this morning and 25 degrees F. Rather appropriate for the night before Samhain. I was sad to see frozen morning glory blossoms, but they had a good run. 

Very little writing in the last week. I've had some other priorities, including a last minute emissions test and getting license plate tabs for the truck, as this was the end of the grace month. They've changed the system again, sigh, but next year I can do it on line again. Preparation for the Retreat resulted in my being later than usual. I've also spent time preparing for this morning's frost. I should finally get back to serious writing soon.

Update #4 - October 2024

 First frost here this morning. 30 degrees F, light frost on roofs and a little in the middle of the yard, thin ice on the high birdbath, but to my surprise the morning glories are still blooming. They should have a few more days, but that will be it - our usual Halloween snowstorm is due Tuesday or Wednesday. 

I finally got a little writing done yesterday afternoon -  only 175 words, including some editing, but it's a beginning. It will probably take me a while to get going again, since I had about a two months' break due to Oak Leaves and our Rocky Mountain Retreat, including writing a book review and creating a PowerPoint presentation for the Retreat on prehistoric rituals in British and Irish caves and passage tombs. The latter subject is actually quite pertinent for this book <grin>. 

I also have to make sure place descriptions match those in The Fallen Stones, since Gwernin is going back to the North, along the same route but in a clockwise fashion this time. In the process he's meeting people we've seen before, and finding out what has happened with them in the last six years. Fráechán is traveling with the group, and we're hearing more about his experiences, too. And Gwernin's twelve year old son Ianto is developing unexpected talents. All in all, things are getting interesting.

Update #3 - October 2024

 No writing in the last week either, but our October Rocky Mountain Retreat is this weekend, and after that I can get back to Gwernin and company <grin>. The last month has been busy, busy, busy, but I'll have pretty much free time to write until mid December, and I'm looking forward to it.

Autumn is definitely here, and we are approaching Winter's doorstep. Leaves are turning gold and falling, especially on the ash trees. I may have the first frost tomorrow night, so the geraniums and rosemarys will go back in the garage today. Some of the morning glorys may survive the weekend, but I wouldn't bet on it. Garden cleanup will probably start soon.

Update #2 - October 2024

 Again, no writing progress, sigh. Some work on my presentation for the October Retreat, and am beginning to panic on that front. When it's over, however, I expect to get back to Gwernin and company. At this rate I might publish the book by Samhain next year...

On the other hand, we're having pleasant autumn weather - mild to warm days, cool to cold nights. No frost yet, and I hope it doesn't arrive over the retreat weekend, as I don't want to bring the geraniums in before I have to - they are happy in the cold frame, and two of them are blooming.

Update #1 - October 2024

 Another week with no writing progress. I might get going again around Samhain, sigh. Finished the winter issue for OL, and started gathering material for the spring issue. Two more issues to go...

The weather has been nice, although last night's low was 39 F. Morning glories are nervous...

Update #4 - September 2024

 No writing progress this last week. The weekend was busy - Autumn Equinox celebration, last Anglesey Druid class, and of course farmers' markets in the morning. Then the first half of this week I was busy writing a book review on Anthony Murphy's new book Fourknocks: Archaeology, Astronomy and Mythology and tweaking a couple of other things for Oak Leaves. That's almost finished, but now I need to develop a presentation for our October Rocky Mountain Retreat on Sacred Darkness which is coming up in three weeks. After that I can finally get back on track with Gwernin and company... Clearly this book won't be finished this year - maybe by Beltane.

After a couple of cool days and nights, the weather is warming up again as it often does at the end of September here. At least the cool spell wasn't cold enough to produce frost this time as it does some years, although I had a low of 40 F one morning, and the morning glory blossoms were more purple than blue for a couple of days.

Update #3 - September 2024

 Very little writing in the last week - I've been spending mornings doing yard work and/or more stuff for Oak Leaves. There probably won't be much progress for a while since I need to read and review a book, followed by preparing my presentation for our October Retreat. This coming weekend is already busy - in addition to the farmers' markets, we'll be celebrating Autumn Equinox here Saturday evening, and Sunday afternoon will be the last of the 12 classes I've been taking with the Anglesey Druid Order. Maybe I can sneak in a few words after that - some of it is cut and paste descriptions from The Fallen Stones, plus possibly a little more from
The King's Druid as Fráechán and Taliesin tell us things Gwernin didn't previously know.

The weather is definitely turning autumnal - 42 F today at sunrise, and more cool weather coming. I actually turned the furnace on briefly this morning to make sure it was working. The time of overnight window fans has come to an end, although I won't put them away yet.

Update #2 - September 2024

 Not much progress on Well of Wisdom in the last week, as I've been busy with layout for Oak Leaves due to having received the last submissions I was expecting. That is mostly done now, bar the proofreading and the last couple of articles, so maybe I can go back to my writing this week, where Gwernin and his friends have reached King Suibne's home. We'll now see what has developed there in the last 6 years since The Fallen Stones. 

The weather has settled in as autumn, with a few hot days followed by milder ones and cool nights - my morning outside temperatures have been around 50 F at dawn. Ruay has been enjoying his outside mornings, although of course he gets less time on farmers' markets days. And I have blooming morning glories here, there, and almost everywhere in my back yard - some consolation for no vegetable garden this year!

Update #1 - September 2024

 A cool, cloudy, damp morning after last night's rain. The seasons are definitely changing - one of the Virginia creeper leaves outside my bedroom window is showing color. Too wet outside for yard work today, so I should get a little more writing done. 1,049 words so far on chapter 18, mostly last Thursday and Friday. 

The weekends start with trips to the farmers' markets, and Sunday afternoon was taken up by the on-line class I've been taking with the Angelsey Druid Order. Monday through Wednesday I did yard work in the mornings, and I also spent a lot of time doing layout for Oak Leaves magazine. That is mostly done until I get the last couple of articles I'm expecting, so I plan to work on my own writing today <grin>. And I also need to work on preparation for my talk at our October retreat, the subject of which this year is Sacred Darkness, and read the new book on Fourknocks that I just got from Anthony Murphy in order to review it... September is always a busy month for me, but more so than usual this year!

Update #5 - August 2024

 Milder weather, and I finally got a little writing done. I finished chapter 17 (at last!) and have started chapter 18, which will take Gwernin and company on the road again, heading west on the way to Cruachan and Oweynagat. They are taking Fráechán with them as one of their bardic company, rather as they did in The Fallen Stones, since Druids are becoming less popular but bards are always well received, especially Master Bards such as Taliesin.

No mundane problems this last week, for which I thank the Gods. Looking forward to September and cooler weather. At least the days are getting shorter; Ruay now wakes me up at 6:15 a.m. rather than 5:30!

Update #4 - August 2024

 Once again, not much writing progress due to various distractions plus hot weather. I went out Saturday morning to start the pickup for our weekly farmers market run, and when I turned the key, nothing happened. Not a light, not a crank, nothing. I checked under the hood, and everything looked OK. My local garage is closed on weekends, so I waited till Monday. Talked to them and to my insurance, and after a lot of phone calls and texts, eventually had the pickup towed to the garage. The tow truck guy confirmed the battery was dead, and jump started the pickup to get it out of the driveway and into the alley so he could load it. I didn't want to take a chance of it stalling on the way to the garage, and I knew my insurance should cover it.

It was indeed just the dead battery, although they found and fixed another unrelated minor problem. That took care of most of my week, as I was too stressed to concentrate on writing. I also spent a fair amount of the mornings on yard work to make sure the city inspector who had cited me for tall weeds last month would be happy when he finally got back to take another look. (He was.) So all and all, I hope to finally get back to work. The weather should be cooler this week too, which will help.