The Last 122 Days

Confession time.

On June 1st I boldly announced that I was going to dedicate the next 122 days to writing a new novel.  That I was going to write one thousand words -- every day.  Oh sure, I threw in the caveat that some days I would write more and some days less.  But my goal was to have the first draft finished by the end of September.

Well, it's September 30th (thirty days hath September...) so that means -- TIME'S UP! Time to see how that worked out for me.

June was spectacular.  The words flowed.  I was in the zone.  Couldn't wait to get to my keyboard every day.  I was in love with the people coming to life on the page and turned out over 22,00 words. Ninety two pages.  Things slowed down in July.  Forty two pages, 9800 words.  August.  What the hell happened in August?  Completed chapters were scrapped and started over.  Twenty pages, 4800 words.  What??

September?  Don't even want to talk about September.  Not. One. Word.  Nope, not one.  Zero, zip, nada.  I've been stuck in Chapter 24 all month.  A couple of the people have started doing stuff I don't like.  To the point I don't want to write about them anymore.  That's bad.  Something tells me I'm going to have to do something drastic to one of them.  Teach them a little lesson.  Let them know who's in charge here.

So yeah, I've hit the wall.  But hey, at least my desk is clean.

On another note...I'm having a book dilemma.  Of the reading kind.  I have two library books waiting to be read, one I waited quite a while to get.  But today I picked up Doctor Sleep.  Stephen King.  My hero.  One of the very few authors I collect in hardcover.  And I want to read it sooooo bad.

One Thing Leads to Another

Have you ever read the children's books If You Give a Mouse a Cookie or If You Give a Moose a Muffin or If You Give a Pig a Pancake?  The whole premise of the books is that one thing leads to another.  Something like (and I'm making this up, not quoting from the book) -- If you give a mouse a cookie, he'll want a glass of milk to go along with it.  And if you give him a glass of milk he'll want to see the cow where it came from....

Cute books, wonderful illustrations...my point here is not to promote kiddie lit but they came to mind as I went about my day yesterday.

If you start cleaning the house and look out at a beautiful autumn day, you'll want to do something outside and save the inside cleaning for a rainy day.  And as you're looking outside, you decide it's high time you finally get around to washing the windows.  And when you go outside you realize it's a beautiful day to hang a load of laundry so you strip the bed and throw the sheets in the washer.  And when you start on the windows it's apparent you need the dust buster to suck up the bugs congregating in the corners.  And when you go into the shop in the garage to fetch it, you remember you haven't finished the patina and polish on the stained glass you soldered the day before.  And you really should take that dust buster and vacuum the car.  And it's a beautiful day to wash the car.  And damn, the garage really really really needs a good sweeping.  But you go back to the windows and hope to hell you don't fall off the ladder and break something before your trip to Italy.  And you finally get the bird poop off the big picture window that has been there ALL summer.  And then it's time to make dinner so you go in the fridge and decide the shelves need a wipe down.  And the centre island is covered with stained glass patterns you need to cut out and a parcel you have to pack up and mail and the CD player and Italian lessons you haven't got around to listening to yet today.  And then there's all the tomatoes from the garden on the counter that you really should do something with before they go bad....

Well, you get the picture.  So there's only one thing to be done.

I need a good cloning.

On another note...I love YA fiction.  Many times you get a much better read than some of the best selling adult fiction out there.  Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs is one such book.  The story is blended with awesome vintage photos giving the reader a much more in depth feel for the peculiar children.  And not a vampire among them.

Addressing the Seasons

NOOOOOO!!  Summer, don't go.  We miss you when you're not here.  Yes, we bitch when it's too hot and complain when it's not hot enough.  We curse and shake our fists when it rains on the day we planned the big BBQ, then turn around and bemoan the lack of rain means no campfires.  But we love ya, Summer.  Maybe because you never overstay your welcome.

And now your cousin Autumn has arrived. She's a wet old thing, isn't she?  Wet and dreary.  No, not every day.  Some days, Summer, I even like her better than you. On a really perfect Autumn day, she's actually my favourite season.  The colours.  The bite in her crisp air.  The sunshine that warms you but doesn't make you sweat.  Sweater weather. 

But you hung on to the end, Summer.  Yesterday, on your last full day with us, you gave me sunshine.  So I spent the day putting you away.  Pulled the flowers and took down the umbrella on the deck.  Stored the patio furniture and stowed the planters.  Picked the last of the tomatoes and cucumbers and shut off the fountain.  Then I sent the gnomes into the shed to begin their long period of hibernation, knowing they'll emerge when cousin Spring shows up, as jolly and plump as when they went in.  Sure, their paint may be a little more faded and chipped when they emerge but that's okay. 

And I have something to say to you too, Autumn.  Here you are, your first day here, and you're raining.  I mean, really, really raining.  A little over the top, don't you think?  But I'm all right with that. For the first time in forever I have nothing on my calendar.  Zero, zip, nada.  No appointments, no commitments, no errands.  So rain all you want and get it out of your system.  I'm happy to curl up with a book, cut some glass, clean a cupboard.  Just don't make it a habit.

'Cause Autumn should smell like apples, not wet dog.   

 

How I Spent My Morning

Ever tried collecting a urine sample from a dog?  That's what I was doing first thing this morning.  

My girl is scheduled for some doggy dental work next week.  Because they have to do that under a general anesthesia some preliminary blood and urine tests had to be done.  Yesterday my vet called to say there were some problems with the results and could I bring the dog in to discuss it.  

Now let me preface this by saying that my dog is a healthy happy active eight year old.  So it didn't make much sense to me, or the vet, that the blood tests showed she was anemic, her red and white blood cell counts were low, she wasn't producing enough red blood cells and her urine was dilute.  So what were we looking at here?  Kidneys?  Spleen?  Leukemia?  She had just had a complete physical and was pronounced healthy but now the vet was questioning herself.  So another complete physical. My dog does not like anything coming remotely close to her butt.  The thermometer was not a high point of her day.

Everything checked out.  Hmmm, did the lab mix up the test results?  Take some more blood and run a quick test in the office.  That's normal.  

And now your mission, should you chose to accept it...No water for 12 hours then collect a urine sample.  So armed with a little tray and sample bottle we set out for an early morning walk.  The first time she squatted I tried to shove the tray under her from behind.  She gave me a "wtf do you think you're doing?" look and continued on without so much as a squirt.  Next squat I tried putting the tray under her from the side and only succeeded in hitting her legs.  Now this is a dog who will sniff, sniff, sniff, squat and squirt 80 times on an average walk.  Today it was full steam ahead.  

Finally I managed to get the tray under her and collected...about four drops.  And then we found our rhythm.   She has this interesting way of lifting her back end while balancing and walking on her front legs and peeing at the same time.  Made for nice clearance to get the tray under.  After four more squats I had what I considered to be a suitable amount of pee.

Back to the vet we went.  It tested fine.  It's looking more and more like the lab screwed up.  But better take some more blood and send it off.  Poor girl.  Worse yet -- who's the dog who's been pronounced healthy but has some fairly serious issues going on?

All this before my morning coffee.

   

The List

I have got to get my butt in gear.  As soon as this final summer heat wave ends it's time for me to get back to the purge.  Which was the whole reason for this blog in the first place.  Given that it's over 30 degrees out there and I just donated a pint I'm allowing myself to be lazy for the rest of the day.  But now that it's down to crunch time, I better find a place in the shade and get started on the list.  You know the one I mean -- the dreaded 'to do' list.

It's such a feeling of accomplishment when you get to tick off or stroke out an item on the list. Conversely, those other items -- the ones that never seem to get taken off -- glare with haunted house eyes that follow you everywhere.  And I'm afraid I've taken a couple of steps back over the course of the summer.  Things are mysteriously organizing themselves into piles again.

There are two major reasons to call this crunch time.  One is that I'm expecting my reno dudes to call me any day now to say they are getting ready to do my flooring.  Carpeting out / cork flooring in. Before that can happen, however, someone (namely me, unfortunately) has to paint the whole damn joint.  Yuck.  I hate painting.  

Major reason number two?  I'm heading to ITALY!  Yah, baby!  Oh, not for about six weeks, but you know how fast six weeks can disappear when you're procrastinating.  Even bought myself a new suitcase...London Fog...70% off.  It's small, it's light, it has four wheels and it expands.

The dog should just about fit.

"If I fit in the suitcase can I go too??"

Harvest Time

This is my idea of cleaning out the fridge. When I can no longer eat one more sauteed, sauced, stir-fried, stuffed, or grilled slice of zucchini; when I can no longer stand opening the fridge and seeing the sea of green on the shelves, I go into baking mode.  Zucchini pineapple loaf. Zucchini coconut loaf.  Zucchini cheese muffins and mini loaves.  And plain old zucchini bread.

And it has to happen when the mood hits. Unfortunately for me, it hit today when the temperature outside is somewhere between friggin hot and really friggin hot (that's somewhere between 27 and 30 degrees celsius for those of you unfamiliar with the ''friggin" scale.)

It took one Doors album, two by George Harrison and one Tom Petty record to produce eight loaves, four mini loaves and a dozen muffins.

Tomorrow I'm going to harvest the tomatoes and make sauce in the slow cooker, a much more civilized way to cook in this heat.  The recipe calls for it to simmer 12 - 15 hours.  That would be like listening to my entire Beatles collection.

And if anyone knows what I can do with all the cucumbers, I'd love to hear from you.  I've got some Led Zeppelin waiting.