Update #2 - June 2026

 Still working on chapter 5 bit by bit. I hope to get it finished, more or less, this week. This book will take as long as it takes.

The weather is jumping back and forth from cool to warm to hot and back again. I have to water things daily. The tomatoes are flourishing, with some setting tomatoes; the cherry type called Sakura has about a dozen already. The marigolds and basil are also doing well. I still need to move most of the geraniums out of the garage; maybe Tuesday morning as I have a vet appointment for Mulberry tomorrow. It's definitely summer weather, but still very dry. No lawn mowing anyway.

Update #1 - June 2026

 Once more, only a little slow progress on chapter 5, once more folding in bits from Neirin's Dark Path in The Ash Spear. Slow progress is better than none at all. The latter part of the chapter will include a story Taliesin told Gwernin in The Well of Wisdom.

Hot weather the last couple of days - 90s. I don't care for July weather in early June, but next week should be a bit cooler. The tomato plants are blooming, and most of the beans have sprouted. Tomorrow should be cooler, and I can pot up the basil plants and the last of the marigolds, then start the geranium migration to the cold frame.

A little wildlife excitement earlier in the week - on two early mornings, Ruay caught two small half-grown rabbits. They didn't seem to be hurt, so I relocated them to other yards. May they be well!

Update #5 - May 2026

 Again, only a little progress on chapter 5. I need to concentrate on writing more. I've collected most of the pieces for this chapter, just need to keep putting them together.

Gardening has been more successful than writing this last week; mowed the back yard and planted one more tomato, also marigolds. We had a good thunderstorm a couple of nights ago with almost an inch of rain, which was good. I'll need to mow the front yard again sometime next week. Most of the tomato plants are blooming. Highs in the 70s and 80s; definitely summer now.

Update #4 - May 2026

 Again, only a little writing, but a few hundred words for the start of chapter 5, and I know more or less where it's going - Ynys Mon, and the dark path (though not for Gwion yet). 

Planted tomatoes this morning now that I think we're through with frost. Eight plants I bought at the farmers' market over the last couple of weeks - 3 Romas, 2 sweet 100s, a Brandywine, a cherry type, and a Cherokee purple. I might get one more of some kind Sunday as I have one more available pot. I still need to plant the marigolds I bought, and perhaps get some basil. Next week I'll mow the back yard, and start the geranium migration into the now-empty cold frame. 

Update #3 - May 2026

 Not much progress on chapter 5 in the last week, although I am continuing to read the Storyteller books and extract pertinent episodes. I have had too many other balls in the air, which sometimes results in making no progress on any of them.

An interesting wildlife occurrence this morning - I had just gone out to water some plants when I heard a squealing noise and looked around to see Ruay coming back from the front yard with something in his mouth. I told him to drop it, and when he eventually did, it turned out to be a small rabbit about the size of my fist. The bunny immediately tried to escape, and Ruay and I pursued it until I caught it. It didn't seem to be hurt, but my problem then was where to put it that Ruay wouldn't find it again. I went up and down the alley, and was finally looking at a nice green fenced yard at a suitable distance from my house when the householder came out to put some trash out. She said they often had rabbits in their yard, so I put it in there and it hopped away. Hopefully it will find some rabbit friends there.

In gardening news, I bought 6 tomato plants at last Sunday's farmers' market, but haven't planted them yet, partly because it's been pretty warm this week (80s) and partly because we have some colder, wetter weather coming soon, with a currently forecast low Monday night in the 30s. Tomatoes are sitting in my old cold frame acclimating and look happy.

Update #2 - May 2026

 I finished chapter 4 ("Arthur's Crown"), which didn't take too much work because most of it was a story lifted from Storyteller. I'm working on chapter 5 now ("The Druids' Island") which takes Gwion et al to Ynys Mon with a young bard who wants to walk the Dark Path. Taliesin told Gwernin that story briefly in The Well of Wisdom, but I'll be adding a lot of background material. Gwion is twelve at this point, so I'll have to allow for changes between this story and Gwernin's first visit to Ynys Mon almost thirty years later
in Storyteller.

The weather has been wild the last week. After a mild sunny weekend, we got rain and four or five inches of snow on Tuesday and Wednesday with a light frost Wednesday night. Yesterday we had a high in the upper 60s, and the next ten days are forecast to have highs in the 70s and 80s. Spring in Colorado. I'll be buying tomato plants this weekend.

Update #1 - May 2026

 Well, I finally finished tinkering with Chapter 3. Now I need to work on Chapter 4. Most of it will be Talhaearn's story about the search for gold for Arthur's crown, but I need to write a lead up to that story, followed by the actual crowning, which will be different from the version in Storyteller. I might get this put together in the next week.

The frost-damaged trees are trying to bud out again, but some of them will have to put in a lot of effort. We finally got some rain this week, which should help, and also means I need to mow parts of the yards real soon. One of our farmers' markets starts Sunday, and I'll be buying tomato plants soon, also preparing to plant beans. And the Swanson's hawks which nest in the big spruce next door are back - a couple of days ago when I was doing my early circuit of the back yard, I heard bird noises and looked up to see a blue jay chasing a much bigger hawk, which took refuge on the spruce. Summer may yet arrive.

Happy Beltane!

Update #4 - April 2026

 Chapter 3 is nearly finished at last, bar a couple of linking bits. I'm borrowing material from the  Storyteller books - Gwion's first harp lesson is much like Gwernin's, and a couple of his interactions with Emrys mirror Taliesin's later interactions with Gwernin. I've also added a story Gwernin tells in The Ash Spear after Taliesin teaches it to him, but here it is told by Talhaearn and Gwion learns it. Chapter 4 will include the search for gold for Arthur's crown as Talhaearn tells it to Gwernin, and Arthur's crowning. Then we launch into more new material, wrapped around stories Taliesin told Gwernin in The Old Gods Endure and The Well of Wisdom. Progress at last.

Last week's snow and overnight hard freeze - mid to low 20s, I think - was dreadful for some of the trees which were just leafing out. Some of the ash trees lost all of their young leaves, and the hackberries were also hard hit, as were the young buds on the oak tree. On the other hand, the silver maples are OK, and the elms didn't even seem to notice. Summer will have to reboot.

Update #3 - April 2026

 A little more tinkering with chapter 3, which I'll be working on today and tomorrow now that taxes and weekly errands are done. I've decided to put the "search for the gold for Arthur's crown" in chapter 4 along with a description of the crowning itself, although not exactly the one in Storyteller. Then I can move on to some new material.

After a few warm days, we are now expecting/hoping for some snow today, followed by a couple of frosty nights. My two rosemary plants, which had been outside enjoying the warm sunshine, are now back in the garage with the flourishing geraniums. Most of the trees are either leafed out or budding - the oak tree is always the last - so I hope the snow won't be too heavy, much as we need the moisture. Spring is not over yet!

Update #2 - April 2026

 A little more progress on chapter three, tweaking the first bits and adding things which have occurred to me. However, I'll also be removing the bits where I was planning to insert Talhaearn's and Emrys' search for the gold for Arthur's crown, so I'll have probably a lower word count than I did a week ago. That's writing.

Spring is progressing slowly, with some of the trees leafed out quite a bit while others are still thinking. Only a trace of morning frost earlier in the week. I've brought my two rosemary plants out of the garage; we might get a bit of light frost this time next week, but they're tolerant. This is being an early spring, but still very dry. My normal frost-free date over the 29 years I've lived here has usually been mid-May.  Farmers' Market starts May 2nd, when I'll have to decide if it's too early for tomato plants!