Gone Away . . .

Work in Progress

Library of Congress

These snowy days have been perfect for making some good progress on the Civil War novel (working title THIS WAS THE WAY OF IT.) And I've at last gotten a handle on the personality of one of the most difficult (unsympathetic) characters -- to the point that he's talking to me like the others are.

The novel is fiction, of course. But it's based on real people and real incidents in my county. I've spent the past few years getting a grasp on the various versions of what happened -- and there are various versions, believe me. In the end, I simply had to go with what seems to be accepted by most folks as the probable truth and tweak it here and there to make a good story

I've just finished a chapter set in a Rebel camp  and I spent a lot of time on the internet, looking for the little details that will bring the story to life -- like these tents with chimneys topped with barrels in the picture above from an informative site HERE.

I hadn't realized how many photographs there are from the era -- these are from various collections in the Library of Congress. Itinerant photographers made this a very well documented war and these photos provide a wonderful resource that helps me to visualize the people and places I'm writing about

Some of these photos make me smile -- look at those four guys showing off! And others -- like the picture below of an apprehensive looking, very young soldier with his Bowie knife -- break my heart. 

These are the stories I'm trying to tell -- not the dry facts of battles and skirmishes, but the effects of this conflict on the people -- soldiers and civilians on both sides.

Don't ask when it will be available -- don't even ask when it'll be done. When the characters have finished with me, I reckon. At this moment they're crowding around me and jabbering in my ear, eager to tell me just what was the way of things back then.

And It Snowed Again on Wednesday

 It cleared Wednesday afternoon and the tmps went to zero in the night.  
And Thursday saw a heat wave, soaring to around 9.

Working on Our Life List

Garden Dreaming . . .

Winter weather advisory, the radio guy just said. 

Time to pull out the seed catalogs and think about the garden.

I have a nice little starter clutch of wish books here: John Scheeper's Kitchen Garden Seeds, R.H. Shumway's, Johnny's Selected Seeds, and, my favorite, Seeds from Italy.

I'll probably give the radicchios and endives a miss -- they are usually too bitter for our taste.  Though I am certainly intrigued by Escarole Bionda Cuore Pieno (Blond Full Heart) of which they say "You cannot have chicken soup without it."

Cucumbers are a must -- mainly the long skinny Chinese Suyos. I grew them on trellises last year and we feasted on cucumber and onion salads with a light dressing of sesame oil and rice vinegar. (My mouth is watering as I type this.)

But what's this? Mexican Sour Gherkin. Tiny little fruits (not particularly high yielding) that look like watermelons and taste like citrusy cukes. It's this sort of weird thing I'm often tempted to grow, just so I can taste it.  At this time of year, my zeal usually exceeds my grasp on reality. . .

And speaking of reality, why do my bush beans never yield like this picture from Schumway's?  (They use charming old timey engravings as illustrations .)

Oh, look at the unique Turkish Orange Eggplant -- which can be grown as an ornamental. Tempting . . . .

And purple eggplants and lavender and white and green and purple with white stripes . . 

And surely it's time I planted a Pawpaw -- I've never tasted one in my life. I did plant one maybe twenty years ago but it had been mislabeled and turned out to be a persimmon . . . which is nice but I still need a Pawpaw.

Garden dreaming . . .

Instead of Snow...

Home Alone