Update #2 - October 2026

I'm still working on chapter 9. Most of the outline is in place, but it needs filling out, and I have to think more about Taliesin's thoughts as well as his actions. He is eighteen now and a Master Bard, and is in the process of getting revenge on the master who mistreated him as a boy. His actions are straightforward, but his memories and emotions are complex. This is in a way one of two pivotal chapters in the whole book.

After a warm week with highs in the 80s, the weather is about to change, with a possibility of light frost here Thursday and Friday nights. This will be hard on the remaining marigolds, morning glories, and basil, and it is time to move the geraniums indoors, but the tomatoes are mostly dead, and the beans have finished blooming. By Denver standards this will be a late frost. The ash leaves are turning gold, and the big hackberries to my south are dropping theirs on the wind. Winter is slowly approaching.

Update #1 - October 2026

 Still slow progress on chapter 9, but I know where it's going now. I should finish it this week. The chapter title is now "Justice", and Taliesin says at the end, “There is not much in this world that I hate, other than injustice.” To which the local Prince's lawyer says dryly, “Then you have erased one example.” Things should go faster after this, as the next chapters are centered on stories Taliesin has told Gwernin. 

After a cool week, the temperatures are back to highs in the lower 80s, but this is not bad combined with lows in the 50s or 40s. The last tomatoes are finally getting ripe, although there's no likelihood of frost for at least another week or so. Leaves are starting to turn on some of the trees; we're well into autumn. 

Update #4 - September 2026

 Slow progress on chapter 9, but progress. I've had to think about what needs to happen, and who needs to be involved. At this point, I have part of a chapter and several bits of the rest of it which need to be expanded. This is not the way I usually write, but this is not a usual story. 

Autumn is progressing - overnight lows in the 50s and sometimes in the 40s. The sweet 100s have been getting ripe faster, and now and then one of the Romas. I haven't needed to water every day due to occasional thunderstorms. Looks like we might have another two or three weeks before the first frost.

Update #3 - September 2026

 Still working slowly on chapter 9, adding and occasionally removing bits. Taliesin is conferring with the local Prince's chief lawyer about the details of his acquisition of the local farmstead where he worked as a boy. Emrys has not come along with him on this mission, and I'm not sure if Talhaearn has. He is about to interview someone who can be in charge of the farmstead if he gets it, since he will not be living there himself. He intends to call the farm "Tre Taliesin", the name of an actual village in that area which I visited once.

The seasons are changing drastically. Highs in the low 80s and 70s, overnight lows in the 50s, and this morning 45. We celebrated Equinox yesterday evening, surrounded by thunderstorms but with only a sprinkle of rain. I don't expect to need window fans at night now, though I haven't put them away yet. I'm more likely to be running the furnace instead. There are still green Romas and sweet 100s, but they are not ripening much; I actually bought some at the farmers' market this morning. Definitely autumn.

Update #2 - September 2026

 Very slow progress on chapter 9 - too much else going on last week. I'm rereading some of the earlier books for details. The chapter title has changed to "Repayment" based on something from chapter 5.

Yesterday was like a left-over scrap of August - a high of 90 or so, and a too-warm night. I'm hoping that's over now. Autumn is encroaching on the garden - green sweet 100s and romas, but not much ripening; lots of purple-podded beans, but no scarlet runners; not many marigolds still blooming. The rest of this week should be highs in the upper 70s and low 80s, overnight lows in the 50s or lower. Things are coming to an end.

Update #1 - September 2026

 Slowly working on chapter 9 ("Vengeance"). After winning his Master Bard status, Gwion has changed his name to Taliesin, and asked King Arthur for title to the farmstead where he was living when Emrys and Talhaearn found him. This chapter is all new material, and will show how his plan works out. It's going slow as I have to sort out a lot of things, but I hope to get it done in the next week. After this will come his dark path experience, which will be a mixture of new and older material.

After a few cooler days, it's been a warm weekend - highs in the lower 90s again. The purple podded beans have been setting, but the scarlet runners haven't, partly because the accursed beetles kept eating their flowers. I have some green Romas, which might get ripe this month, and some green sweet 100s as well, but September begins to be chancy for ripe tomatoes. I managed to mow the front yard, or at least the shaggier parts that still had grass. Some of the back needs attention now.

Update #5 - August 2026

 Decided not to tinker w/ chapter 6 after all, and have now finished chapter 8, bar a little more editing. Gwion has won his Master Bard status, changed his name to Taliesin, and asked King Arthur for title to the farmstead where he was living when Emrys and Talhaearn found him. The next chapter will show him taking ownership of that land - new writing for a change.

After last Friday (100+), the weather is finally cooling off - lower 90s and upper 80s, with nights in the upper 50s. A good change! The purple flowered beans are setting again, and so are the Romas. 

Blackberry has had an exciting week. On Wednesday she got out of the back screen door, which I had left ajar. I heard her meowing a lot as I was doing my morning circuit of the yard, but she stopped when I got back to the house. I think she panicked and went to hide. I found her eventually hiding by the north yard fence, and managed to catch her. Then yesterday she got in the bedroom closet when I was hanging up a t shirt, and got to spend over 2 hours in there while I went to the farmers' market. I hope she doesn't think of anything else exciting to do this week!

Update #4 - August 2026

 Most but not all of chapter 8 done, but then I went back to tinker with something in chapter 6. Weather looks better this week, so hopefully I'll finish with both of them. Then on to all new material in chapter 9.

I'm hoping the past Friday was the last really hot day this summer - 100 degrees by my back door and 102 or 103 in the area. We're now seeing medium to low 90s, but need some cooler nights. I did get a good thunderstorm downpour Saturday. Tomatoes are not doing great, nor are the beans. Looking forward to September!

Update #3 - August 2026

 Finished chapter 7 - now working on chapter 8. This is mostly another jigsaw piece, using a story Taliesin told Gwernin in The Old Gods Endure about his first bardic competition, when he won his Master Bard rating. But there's more new material at the end: Gwion changes his name to Taliesin, and asks King Arthur for a boon. This will lead us up to the next chapter, called "Galanas", which will be all new material. The cooler weather the last few days means my brain is working better.

Speaking of weather, we had three days in a row of heavy thunderstorms, amounting to at least 3 or 4 inches of rain in total - more than we got in the last month and a half! I haven't had to water anything for three or four days, although that will start again in the morning. Aside from the sweet 100s and the cherry, the tomatoes have stopped setting. I picked all the ripe or almost ripe ones, so hopefully the nocturnal outdweller (well, the raccoon...) will find a different salad bar! 

Update #2 - August 2026

 More beastly hot weather, but a little progress on chapter 7. I've put the jigsaw pieces together and edited them enough to tell the story from Gwion's point of view, but they'll need more editing. I've had computer problems as well, and am currently working on my new desktop rather than my aging laptop. This is why I have two computers, tied together with Dropbox.

I have dozens of ripe small tomatoes now, and some Romas, but no large ones - one of the Cherokees died abruptly and the other and the Brandywines keep developing blossom end rot. I guess this is why having several varieties is good! The beans are not doing well at all - maybe they will set a few when the weather gets cooler. To be honest I grow them mostly for beauty, but it would be good to get some fresh seed. 

Three more days in the 90s, then hopefully some cooler weather with thunderstorms. May it be so!