All kinds of projects

After months of procrastination, an outstanding and generous job of formatting and designing by my friend Erin, and some last-minute hurdles at CreateSpace,

my NaNoWriMo 2009 is finally being made into a free proof copy. I should have it by the end of this week.

Erin also provided me with an e-book version.

I found a free novel writing software program - yWriter5. It has a lot of neat features that theoretically will make NaNo 2010 much easier. I'm testing it out by converting my Scriptfrenzy screenplay into a novel. I loaded the whole thing in and then started redoing it. So far my word count is -237. Yep, -237. Taking out all the screenplay formatting leaves a void.

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It seemed like such a simple plan; get the closet doors out of the garage and reinstall them in my room. I moved half the stuff in the garage, hauled out the doors, washed them off and dragged them inside. They were the wrong ones. Start over. Right doors, only half the hardware is missing. Off to the hardware store. Three times. Finally, all the hardware is attached. I shoved the bed out of the way so I could swing the door out far enough to pop the wheels into the track. There was a sickening crack. I had splintered the bedside table. 3 trips to the hardware store, one minor injury, a casualty (the table), a lot of frustration and the use of every swear word I know in every possible combination. All in all, a typical do-it-yourself project. All that was missing was a six-pack of beer. The upside of the casualty is that I rearranged things and now have a small writing desk in my room so that I can work undisturbed by television, music or phone conversations.

I finally got around to playing with the watercolors I bought over a month ago and the book on watercolor painting I got from the library. This is my second attempt at a cloud. It looks better than the first cloud(damning with faint praise). The example in the book added mountains. I added lava because I wanted to play with the iridescent paints.

The garden is coming along nicely. So is Puppy. Her surgery was a complete success and she needs no further treatment. We have started going to the park again. She isn't allowed to play in the water yet, but she's happy just to be outside. Her stitches come out on Friday.

Solstice, Plants & Pudding

I began this morning by following a house down Kipling Street. This was followed by a series of mishaps in the kitchen; nothing serious, just vexing and messy.
I came home and made a variation of my Great grandmother Eva's Peach Pudding. I call it Blackberry Creamsicle pudding ( I'll get the recipe onto Cakes & Wine. Eventually.) Messiness continued as I learned that the pudding does not travel well in a picnic basket. It was delicious though. Our Solstice ritual was lovely, albeit a bit sticky.


If we were still playing Shadowshot Sunday, this would be my entry.

The garden continues to flourish. These iris were planted about five years ago. This is the first year they've bloomed.

This tiny blue flower is the latest of the Faery Meadow mix to bloom. It's a California Bluebell.

Fancy pink poppies.

Mini reflecting balls.

Ganging Aglee isn't always a bad thing....

I was a bit miffed when there was a scheduling snafu for Puppy's vaccination appointment. But, if had gone as planned, we wouldn't have been at the park in time for me to take this:

egret and dragonfly

Or this:

Very red dragonfly

Or this:

dragon nymph/damsel fly

We might also have been caught in the torrential downpour currently going on outside. Puppy hates being caught in the rain and thunder even more than shots. So everything has worked out fine.