The Words! The Words!

Apart from a quick trip (early morning, pre-coffee) to the garden to pick tomatoes, cucumbers, and zucchini (those unstoppable squashes) and some time spent sorting out Josie's re-arrangements and putting them where I think they belong, I've spent the day swimming in words--trying to finish up the last pages of content for the new website.

 Oh, and catching up on some overdue correspondence--emails, alas. I know how nice it is to get a handwritten letter--but my handwriting has deteriorated into illegibility. And I get impatient--the keyboard is so much quicker. These days the only actual letters I send are condolence notes. Sad, but true. 

Anyway, I'm on the home stretch, condensing and revising material from past classes into a very brief, fairly idiosyncratic, writer's guide.  Stuff past students have found useful--basics like setting, characters, dialogue, and plot.

Now I have to proofread. My head is swimming but tomorrow I have Josie and we'll blow bubbles and play with play dough and I'll be the voice for her many different stuffed animals.

Two quick Josie stories from Monday: We were upstairs in my workroom and I was ironing some napkins (don't judge) while she was drawing at a desk that is now called her office. I finished my ironing and turned around in time to see her reaching for a permanent marker. She'd already liberated a goodly number of my pens and pencils, so I said she couldn't have that one. 

She glared at me. "Meema, turn around and do your ironing."

In other news, she tells me she has a baby boy in her belly and his name is Margo. 

Looking East--Morning and Evening

Morning . . .

.. . .  and evening. . .

Time to Make the Pesto

The basil in the garden was flowering so it was harvest time. I pretty much cut off the top two-thirds of each plant, leaving plenty of smaller bits to come on and fill out. 

Washed free of dust kicked up by the weedeater and smelling heavenly; now to pick the leaves from the stems. One batch requires 4 cups of tight-packed leaves . . .

Also four or five garlic cloves, 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese, 1/4 cup sliced almonds, and 3/4 cup olive oil.

Making a Garden

After no garden last year, I am getting a great deal of pleasure from this year's effort

Yes, the blight will eventually come for the tomatoes, the cows may get out and trample the corn, the deer may rediscover us . . .

But for one brief shining moment, things are looking good.

Josie the Ballerina

On Friday I wore my ballerina dress.

Meema said I looked like a fog fairy. I'm not sure there is such a thing but Meema said that on some mornings the fog fairies dance between the sky and the ground.

Meema says a lot of stuff. She also said the I am the Lone Re-arranger because I like like to get things out  and move them around.

 I do move stuff around but it's because the things want to be somewhere else. They tell me this.

Meema said maybe I could be the Lone Put-er Backer. 

I said Maybe later but right now I have to go get some more toys out. 

In the afternoon, Meema blew bubbles and I popped them.

My ballerina dress had to get washed because of yogurt. But it was okay because I have extra clothes up here.  We also played a game called What are some things that start with the letter B?

We made a long list and the first word was BUBBLE. Then we did BOB and BOY and BOOK and BLUE and BUG and BAT and BIG and BRONTOSAURUS and BABY and BACK and BOTTOM and BOOTY and BUTT.  We did lots of other letters too.

We did G is for GIRAFFE and I said What about G is for JOG? Meema said J was for JOG and that words didn't always follow rules.  

That's okay. Neither do I.

July, July

A Domain of One's Own

When I'm not spending the day with Josie or working in the garden, I'm busily generating content for the new/updated website. My web guy has created a prototype look for the home page that suits the starkness of the Crows cover as well as providing a fresh new look. So I'me reworking old stuff, writing new stuff, finding photos in my files that complement the new pages, and generally trying to make the new site a nice place to visit.

I've done the HOME page, which, of course, is all about And the Crows Took Their Eyes. I've done the ABOUT VICKI page and a page titled HISTORY--the history behind the story in Crows and where I departed from known facts for flights of fancy. Also some of the books and resources that helped me.

There'll be a page for GOODWEATHER NOVELS with a reflection on the changes in the county I write about, as well as a brief synopsis of each novel. 

Now I'm doing a page called ON WRITING. (Thanks, Sandy P., for the suggestion!) I'll be using some of the content I share in my classes and workshops--a writer's toolkit, the basics of writing a novel, writing dialect, writing historical pieces.  None of this is the last word on anything, rather these are questions I've been asked and the responses I've cobbled together.

I think there'll be an ARCHIVE which will lead to the LORE and the RECIPES  and the FAQ currently on the old website. That may be overkill but then no one has to pursue any of it.

I remember when I was first introduced to Laurie R. King's novels. I was so impressed with her writing and her mind that I went to her website and spent hours, maybe days, reading every scrap of information there. A wide and spacious domain, indeed.

It'll be a while before my own domain is ready for viewing but rest assured, I'll be inviting you in.

A Roving Eye at Home

Josie Has So Many Things to Do

After breakfast (pancakes) we went down to the garden because Meema said the zucchini needed to be picked for goodness sake  before they got too big. I took Dolly but I put Baby in Meema's basket. She said NO when I wanted to put in some other friends and some good rocks I found on the porch.

I am much quicker than Meema.

The zucchini were there all right and we picked four. One was giant-sized and Meema said she would cut it up and put it in the chicken bucket for the chickens.

There were some nice little ones and Meema sliced up and cooked one for my lunch.  She said I was probably too little to eat zucchini but I did, some of it. I also had cheesy noodles (penne, not farfalle this time,) and some little tomatoes that I picked. 

I can fit a lot of my finger puppets on this car.

They like to go for a ride.

Then I made oatmeal for everyone on my stove.

Later Meema and I made play dough from a recipe Miss Beth gave us. I helped put in the ingredients and helped stir. When it was all cooked and had cooled down, I kneaded it. This is an important part of the cooking.

I showed Meema how to make cookies. It is a little tricky. You roll and roll and roll a little ball and then you smash it down flat. After you smash it, you turn it over and it is all smooth. 

We made lots and lots of cookies and Meema got pretty good at it.

Later we went outside and I watered my scarlet runner beans and Meema's plants too. Plants have to have water, just like people. 

I will be back up on Wednesday and it will be Family Dinner Up. Wednesday is my favorite.