::sounds a fanfare::
Without further ado, I bring you the greatest gift a writer can ever receive:
Harvesting
I pulled most of the onions from the garden last night. Now they are "resting" (drying a bit) on a screen in the garage. Assuming I can figure out how to store them properly so they last through the winter, I am going to plant about ten time as many next year. They were totally maintainence free and I think they helped keep the pests down.
I have also started to pull my cranberry bean plants. They also have to dry in a dark, dry place for several weeks. (These are the kinds of beans you dry and then put into soup or chili in the winter.)
Alas, my tomatoes have been striken by the blight, though not as badly as some folks I know. I think this is because I planted heirloom seedings, not the kind you can buy in big box stores. I am busy roasting them and making salsa. I’m not sure if I have enough to make spaghetti sauce. I might pick up a couple crates of Romas to do that, if I can get all the other chores done. I have to destroy my blighted tomato plants and sterilize the earth they grew in to reduce the chances of having to deal with this next year.
My eggplants are trying. This is a little north to grow them easily, and the cool, rainy summer we had did not help their cause.
My basil is taking over the planet.
In other Forest news, BH almost has the floor done in my cottage. This has been a huge job. We started with 125-year-old floor boards, of various widths and lengths. He had to sand off 125 years of varnish and grime and figure out how to make them fit into the cottage, given that they had no uniformity at all. Now they are all in place. He should finish the final sanding today, then he’ll put a couple of coats of clear finish on it. We’re still waiting on the roofers to install the slate tiles on the roof.
Because I am so behind on work, we’re going to leave a lot of the finishing touches until next year. Right the goal is to get me in there so I can write!!
If you have no harvest to deal with, check out this article about the popularity of YA literature by author Paula Chase-Hyman. Stop by her blog, too.
WFMAD Day 19 – planting and harvesting
It is finally cooling off here a bit.
In fact, we have the first sign of winter!
That, in this morning’s early light, is the first load of our firewood. It came from land we own in the foothills of the Adirondacks. You might say that we grow our own heat. Once all the wood has been delivered, we’ll rent a splitter and spend a couple days splitting and stacking. This year we have two fireplaces to feed; the monster that heats our house, and the soapstone wood stove that will heat the cottage.
Before we split and stack, I need to finish canning peaches and take care of a LOT of garden chores. The goal today is to write for 10 hours and garden for 2.
Gardens are fascinating places.
Ready…
Today’s advice: "Substitute "damn" every time you’re inclined to write "very;" your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be." Mark Twain
Set…
Today’s prompt: Your character finds strange-looking seeds in an unusual place. (Your job, if you choose to accept it, begins with a riveting description of both the seeds and their location.)
Have her plant the seeds. Focus on the action of planting – make it hard, and a vivid description of the setting. Your choice if you want her to be alone of with another person. As soon as the job is complete and she is picking up her tools, the plant explodes from the ground and reaches full-size in seconds. What does it look like? What has she grown?
What happens next?
Extra bonus points: Do not use adverbs. Any of them. If you find yourself reaching for an adverb, pick a stronger verb instead.
Scribble…Scribble….Scribble!
WFMAD Day, um, err, Day 17, I’m pretty sure
Did you have a good weekend?
The Officemouse and I went to the Regional Farmer’s Market on Saturday. It is a sign how bad this summer was for me that this was the FIRST time I made it to the market this year. We came home with oodles of blueberries and peaches, froze most of the blueberries and made a couple batches of jam. Tomorrow I’ll can and freeze the rest of the peaches.
(Tangent: Remember how I completely lost my mind last summer and picked about a million pounds of strawberries and made a bazillion kinds of strawberry jam? Well, it was a good thing I did because I completely missed strawberry season this year. Needless to say, we still have strawberry jam. But now I can feel slightly smug about my foresight.)
We also got yogurt, milk, and cheese from the BEST dairy farm in Central New York…
Wake Robin Farm!! If you see any of their products in the store BUY THEM. Top-notch quality and taste made by people who care. (That’s Meg in the picture. I was stunned to learn she reads this blog. Hi Meg!)
Let’s get to work before the heat and humidity drive us all to the movie theater.
Ready…
Today’s advice: "You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you." Ray Bradbury
Set…
Today’s prompt: Today you need a coin, preferably a big one like an American quarter. (Are any of you guys living in countries other than the United States? If so, where? And what is the largest coin you have?)
OK, back from tangent. Sorry. Am having focus issues today.
Got your coin? Good.
You are going to do a quick and dirty plot outline with the help of Chance. You can do this with your current WIP or make up a new character from scratch.
This plot outline is going to be basic and fast. Start with a sentence or two, like "She walks in the grocery store."
Then ask yourself the next plot possibility, phrased in a binary way, like "Does she buy the pate?" (See howthat can be answered with a "yes" or a "no"?) OR "Does she steal the pate or buy it?"
Once you’ve written down your plot question, assign an answer to each side of the coin. "Heads: she buys it. Tails: she steals it." Flip the coin and you have your next plot point. Continue with the consequences of that action and set up another coin toss, and another, and another.
Have fun with this. The point is to be a little more open to allowing your story to wander down unpredictable paths.
Scribble…Scribble….Scribble!
why i live here
Here are a couple of early morning shots of one my favorites trees, just down the road from my house. I walk or run past it every day.
Happy Autumn.