So while I was cleaning stalls this morning the hay supplier called from Wisconsin and wanted to bring down a load for us. Said he'd be here at noon. Gary said yes, we need it.

He didn't arrive until 2 pm. Extra big load, 200 bales. OK, we can take all those, except we have to be at the library staff party at 5:30. So we stacked hay, and stacked hay. The temperature was 70F, which is very warm for November. It felt like June as long as you didn't look out the arena door at the bare trees. When we got too tired to throw bales up four levels, we stacked the rest on the floor. Pushed the wagon out of the arena, fed everyone, and rushed in to get cleaned up.

We made it to the party at exactly 5:30. It was fun, but I think we were both groggy.

Tomorrow I'm doing horse chores and then writing all day. Period. Gary has to go to school, so I'll be here alone and should be free of distractions at last.

Oh one other thing. While waiting for the tardy hay delivery, I went through some weaving stuff that was stored up in the barn loft. I wanted the sock loops I knew were there. These are waste from commercial tube sock manufacturing, and look like fluffy versions of those loopers we all used to weave into potholders in cub scouts or whatever. I had about a bushel of them leftover from a project years ago, and they were stored up there. Well, mice had nested in two of the bags. What a mess. Still, about half of the loops were salvageable. The third and fourth bags were pretty much OK. All will have to be washed before using, but that's no big deal. Since I have a rug warp on the loom, and am currently weaving a rag rug out of old jeans, I want to make some bath mats. Sock strips are perfect for that. They soak up water just like a fluffy towel, and weave up into a padded fabric about a half inch thick.

Tags: farm, weaving, work
Current Location: Home in the oak grove
Mood: exanimate

The good thing about today: had a nummy dinner with friends visiting. Gary made his famous spaghetti and meatballs, friends brought a super salad, we had home made focaccia with caramelized onions on top (my recipe,) wine and apple cider and some green tea someone brought that looks like a petrified moose turd but you put it in a glass pot and pour boiling water over it and it slowly opens up and blossoms into an elaborate floral sculpture underwater, made from tea leaves. Dessert too: Gary's chocolate chip zucchini cake.

And all the usual chores too, plus we replaced the boys' water trough because it was leaking. The bad thing: I'm getting farther behind because I'm being so careful writing.

So, for anyone who has been waiting patiently for more NaNo output from me (and there will be more, I promise) I offer a story written a couple of years ago, to fill in the gap:

Rabbit Food by Altivo Overo. This is furry and has a transformation in it, but no werewolves. ;p

Oh, and it got up to nearly 70F today I think, and the sky is still clear and there are stars for the first time in what seems like months.

Tags: cooking, farm, nanowrimo, weather, writing
Current Location: Home in the oak grove
Mood: exanimate

Good grief, is it over yet?

Boy am I glad I took next week off. I'll need it to catch up the lost time on NaNo. Guild newsletter is done, finally, after a long wrassle with uncooperative graphics. Not ideal, but it's done as it gets for this purpose.

Friday was short-handed, which didn't help. Gary is still working on an assignment that won't die for school, meeting again and again with his professor and then again and again with the group for whom he is supposed to be creating the map. Yet another meeting tomorrow, at our house, which means cleaning and cooking and all that.

I wanna start weaving that new warp, but NaNo has to come first. However, sleep has to come before that, in spite of a howling wind out of the south that has raised our temperatures back into the 60F range today.

Tags: nanowrimo, spinning, work
Current Location: Windy oak grove
Mood: sleepy

I think I'm still not recovered from Wednesday.

In the interest of avoiding writing, or editing a guild newsletter that I need to get done, Argos finished warping his loom this evening. I'm sure he'll have something to say about it tomorrow. There are more photos, for the curious. The entire 32 inch wide warp (320 individual threads, which isn't a lot for something that wide) is now threaded, sleyed, tied, and tensioned. The header has been woven, and the loom is ready for the actual weaving process now.

We got a new garbage disposal installed today. In the eleven years we've had this house, we have replaced nearly every appliance, including the heating and cooling system. I believe only the water softener is still original at this point. Oh, and the well pump. I don't want to replace that one. We already had it pulled so they could replace the gaskets, though. That was expensive enough. We don't actually use the garbage disposal much, but since we do use the dishwasher, and it drains through the disposal, when the old one died it had to be replaced. In general it doesn't make much sense to grind up food waste and dump it into your septic system, so we compost kitchen waste instead.

I'm flattened, though, so I think I'll go be flat (in bed.)

Tags: farm, weaving, writing
Current Location: Home in the oak grove
Mood: exanimate

Argos philosophizes on order and chaos here as he finishes up getting the warp threaded onto his loom.

It was that day again. What more can I say? Did barn chores early, ran off to a Weavers' Guild meeting in Woodstock, then ran to work after staying too long to watch a slide presentation on silk production and weaving in Nepal, Assam, Bhutan, and China. As usual, Wednesday was much too long. No Nano counts yet, though I hope to get some done before falling asleep. If not, tomorrow is a half day of work when I should be able to catch up at last.

If anyone is getting impatient to see just what's going on, the introductory chapter is posted here.

Tags: weaving, wednesday, work
Current Location: Home in the oak grove
Mood: tired

The snow leopard I bought a couple of weeks ago arrived in today's mail, and he's a cutie. Also very soft, and a perfect size for lap sitting. His name is now Neige Paw (yes, bilingual punning is intentional) and I think he'll fit right in here. He's already claimed a couple of spots other than his own.

Nano status
Current word count: 4379
Target count would be: 5001

Still behind, but not badly. I can feel the wind filling the sails now.

Tags: nanowrimo, plush
Current Location: Home in the oak grove
Mood: accomplished

Under the full moon, which is brilliant tonight...

Off to a rough start last night, the first chunk of text, though probably usable, needs heavy editing and isn't a suitable opening. Met today's quota with a better opening chapter. I'll post it tomorrow morning, probably and start publishing the link here for those who are curious enough to look.

Current word count: 2682
Target count would be: 3334

As always, I strive for quality, not just quantity. ;p Better a little slow now than floundering later, and I'm off work next week to make this thing move along.

Also pulled together my contributions for the Authors and their Novels staff party on Sunday. You may remember I was to create a multiple choice quiz on the topic.

Here are the questions:

1. Which of the following successful novelists was NOT a woman?

a. George Eliot
b. James Tiptree, Jr.
c. Samuel Richardson
d. George Sand


2. Which of these “trilogies” really does have exactly three books?

a. The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien
b. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
c. Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset
d. The Wolves of Time by William Horwood


3. Who was the original author of the unfinished novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood?

a. James Fenimore Cooper
b. Edgar Allan Poe
c. Agatha Christie
d. Charles Dickens


4. Which of the following authors continues to appear as a byline on new work, despite being quite dead and buried?

a. Isaac Asimov
b. V. C. Andrews
c. Frank Herbert
d. All of the above


5. Samuel Richardson (1689-1761) is often credited as the “father of the modern novel.” His epistolary novel, Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded was parodied as An Apology for the Life of Mrs. Shamela Andrews, later credited to which well-known novelist?

a. Mark Twain
b. Daniel Defoe
c. Henry Fielding
d. George Sand


6. The Brontë sisters, Emily, Charlotte, and Anne, are easily confused by most of us. Though Charlotte was the most prolific of the three, she did NOT write which of the following novels?

a. Wuthering Heights
b. Jane Eyre
c. Villette
d. High Life in Verdopolis


7. A number of 20th Century American novelists have won the Nobel Prize for Literature. Which of the following did NOT win this award?

a. Saul Bellow
b. Willa Cather
c. John Steinbeck
d. Pearl Buck


8. Which of the following authors is generally believed to have been the first to submit a typewritten book manuscript to his publisher?

a. Henry James
b. Bret Harte
c. Francis Parkman
d. Mark Twain


9. The Science Fiction Writers of America awarded its first Grand Master title to Robert A. Heinlein in 1977. As of 2008, 25 authors have received this award, and only three of them were women. Two are very well-known authors today, Anne McCaffrey and Ursula K. LeGuin. Who was the third?

a. Andre Norton
b. Marion Zimmer Bradley
c. Kate Wilhelm
d. Elizabeth A. Lynn


10. Which of the following mystery writers is most often acknowledged as the first woman to succeed in the field?

a. Agatha Christie
b. Dorothy L. Sayers
c. Mary Roberts Rinehart
d. Amanda Cross

( Answers under cut )

Tags: authors, books, nanowrimo, writing
Current Location: Home in the oak grove
Mood: busy

Well, mostly. Thanks to the end of daylight silliness time, the day started an hour earlier by the clock than it would have otherwise. I wasn't sleepy any more and got up. Got lots of regular and not so regular things done, including planning dinner ahead using the crock pot, cleaning stalls, and picking up my show entries from the gallery as today was the last day of the show in Woodstock. What I didn't get started on until quite late was writing, though I spent some time pondering character names and where to start. Nonetheless, I have over a thousand words down now and probably will add more before giving up for the night.

The nearly full moon that was hidden by clouds last night has been visible tonight in the gaps between clouds, extremely bright and large. As we were putting horses to bed for the night, a flock of geese passed overhead making quite a lot of noise. It was already quite dark, and I couldn't resist bursting into song: "Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings, These are a few of my favorite things..." All it got me though, was a dirty look from Gary. "Not my favorite," he said. "It means snow is coming soon." I kept quiet rather than pointing out that I like snow too, at least at the beginning of the season. Right now it's too warm for snow in any case.

Argos has the loom about halfway threaded now, and I expect he'll start weaving within a day or so. Yet another potential distraction from the writing job at hand. Funny how my opening volley depicts the protagonist of the story sitting at his desk and trying to focus on a writing assignment while his attention wanders all over the place. Or maybe not so funny.

Anyway, it's November. The Beaver Moon (time to set traps) is coming in just three days. Meanwhile, I need to get busy writing.

Tags: farm, nanowrimo, weather
Current Location: Home in the oak grove
Mood: sleepy

The Vigil of All Saints, All Hallows Eve, Halloween, whatever we call it, it's here. In recent years I haven't paid it much attention in fact, other than to avoid the trick or treat stuff. That's because here in the US it has become just too litigious and dangerous. I prefer not to be accused of having handed out the candy with the needle in it, or the little bags of sand, or whatever. And I prefer not to buy into the commercial success of prepackaged candy makers.

Years ago, when I lived in Michigan, we could still hand out apples at the door. Now you wouldn't dare. Everything must be commercially wrapped and sealed. No homemade cookies or brownies, no more of grandma's fudge. The costumes are rarely homemade or original as far as that goes. Most are prepackaged from the big discount stores. The fun of the event has gone, at least on the public face of it.

On the other paw, Gary is in Chicago this evening (or was,) performing the Dark Morris to dance the sun down. Tonight begins the reign of the Hunter, the Horned God, the Wild Hunt. The Lady will not return until Beltane. Certainly the world outside the house looks the part now. After a week of rain, most of the leaves are on the ground, rustling ankle deep where the wind hasn't removed them. The sky was leaden this afternoon, and though the sun set promptly at 5:46 or so, there was an eerie gap in the clouds on the southwest horizon that continued to glow with reds and oranges like the fires of the underworld. That lasted nearly 45 minutes, much longer than it should have. I'm not very superstitious, but I took extra care to be sure the barns were properly closed and everyone was safe indoors tonight. I won't be comfortable until Gary gets back, which will be a couple of hours yet.

NaNoWriMo begins at midnight, and at 2 am the clocks go back to 1, making this an extra long night. At the moment, it's an extra black one out here in the countryside. The moon is near full, but the clouds are too dense for it to illuminate anything. Perhaps there will be some gaps later, to contribute to the spooky atmosphere.

Whatever you do to celebrate, be wise and safe.

Tags: farm, holidays, weather
Current Location: Home in the oak grove
Mood: anxious

Argos is experimenting with sectional warping, one of several common methods for getting a new warp onto a floor loom. This technique requires additional specialized tools, including spools, a spool winder, spool rack, tension box, and a warp beam divided into sections by pegs or posts; but it has the advantage that a weaver working alone can beam a wide and/or long warp without tension difficulties. It also eliminates several steps in more conventional hand warping, particularly the tedious process of pre-measuring all the individual warp threads while keeping them all parallel and untangled. There are five photos in the sequence. To view them all, click through the thumbnail on the right.

Tags: geekery, weaving
Current Location: Home in the oak grove
Mood: artistic