Snow!

Denver is under a blizzard warning today, and I'm at home. Not much snow so far, but it only started here about an hour ago. I may add more pictures to this post as the day goes on.

12:15 local time - lots more snow.


Later in the afternoon... ... and 6 pm local time.

p.s. I've added a weather sticker at the bottom of the page.

More coldframe...

Titus has discovered the catmint in the coldframe. He really likes it... Yes, he's sitting in the pot. Fortunately catmint is tough!

The water bottles are there as a temperature regulator, btw.

Tomatoes in the coldframe - 2009

It's that time of year again. I spent parts of the last week starting tomato plants from seed. Almost all have sprouted now, and are in the coldframe, which I've had open yesterday and today thanks to a bit of warm weather. That will be changing tomorrow, but at least the seedlings are off to a good start!

Book stuff: I'm working on maps for Ash Spear. I think it needs a general map of central Britain and a more detailed map of Gwynedd, where a lot of the action takes place. Photoshop Elements is my friend, though I still find myself swearing at it occasionally. After that I have to create the back cover - description and layout. By the time I finish that I should be getting feedback from my proofreaders, and can start on final text revisions. Still on track for a mid-June Lulu release, which translates into Amazon etc. sometime in July.

Yes, it's been a while...

... and no, nothing's happened. I was busy last weekend with second-draft changes in The Ash Spear before printing some copies for my proofreaders. Also I've mailed out the three copies of my first poetry book as part of my on-going promotional give-aways on LibraryThing, which I suppose I should have mentioned here sooner. I've also entered some pre-release information about Ash Spear here.

More blogging soon, I promise.

-GRG

Arwyddion cyntaf y gwanwyn / First signs of spring

Dim eira am fwy na wythnos nawr, a mae'r tywedd wedi bod yn cynnes ac yn sych. Roedd Chwefror 'ma un o'r pedwar sychaf yn fwy na can mlenydd. Dw i'n meddwl bod yn mynyddoed wedi cael digon o eira, ond mae pethau dim yn edrych yn dda am y ffermwyr. Mae'n rhaid iddyn nhw cael gwlybanieth y gwanwyn er bod yn posib am y gwenith gaeaf cael ei dyfu.

DDoe rhoais i ddwr i'r coed a'r rhosynnau yn yr ardd. Mae ychydig o twlips yn dod i fynny, ond dim crocis eto. Mi fydd amser i ddechrau y tomatos yn fuan.

Dw i'n gweithio o hyd ar yr ail draft Y Pren Onn - mae e'n ddod yn dda.

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No snow for more than a week now, and the weather has been warm and dry. February was one of the four driest in more than one hundred years. I think the mountains have got enough snow, but things are not looking good for the farmers. They need spring moisture for the winter wheat to grow.

Yesterday I watered the trees and roses in the yard. There are a few tulips coming up, but no crocus yet. It'll be time to start the tomatoes soon.

I'm still working on the second draft of The Ash Spear - it's coming well.

-GRG

Eira newydd / Fresh snow

Gawson ni tipyn o eira neithiwr - bron a ddwy modfedd a hanner - a mae popeth yn wyn y bore 'ma. Doedd dim olion yn yr ardd pan es i allan yn cyntaf, cyn i'r codiad yr haul, ond welais i olion y cadno yn y lon. Nawr mae lawer o olion traed colomen a gwiwer - a olion traed cath eto, wrth cwrs. Tynnais i sawl lluniau - bydda i'n postio un yn hwyrach... A dyma un.
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We got a little snow last night - about two and a half inches - and everything is white this morning. There were no tracks in the yard when I first came out before sunrise, but I saw fox tracks in the alley. Now there are lots of pigeon and squirrel tracks - and cat tracks too, of course. I took some pictures - I'll post one later... and here's one.

-GRG

Quiet day

Yesterday was cold and gray, a good day for writing. Last night we had a little powdering of fresh snow and a heavy frost, but today's sunlight will soon remove that. This morning I'm celebrating finishing the first draft of Ash Spear; tomorrow it's back to work on revisions. But I should have more time to blog regularly now.

-GRG

I've done it!

The first draft of The Ash Spear is finished, a day or two sooner than I expected: 116,000 words and 310 pages, plus appendices.

Now I get to start on the revisions ;-)

-GRG

Only two more...

Only two more chapters to go before I will have finished the first draft of The Ash Spear. In the meantime, check out my chat on LibraryThing.

Update

I've finished chapter 28: only three more to go. It feels very strange to be approaching the end.

Numbers on the side-bar as always.

-GRG