...and Wednesday...

Another step forward toward becoming my own publisher: I've set up a Blogger-hosted site for Alder Tree Books at www.aldertreebooks.com. It's pretty minimal so far, but I'll be adding more information soon.

Frost again last night, but mild weather today. Here's one more picture from last weekend...



And that's it for the moment.

-GRG

Monday morning...

No writing over the weekend: the weather was too good. A few more nights with light frost, but the basil's still surviving. The first stage of garden cleanup is almost done: not much more to do until the cold kills the remaining vegetables.



Yesterday I sat on the patio watching the birds at the feeders - four house sparrows, a pair of house finches just starting to show their display colors, and the usually small flock of black caps. The later are fast-moving little birds who dart to a feeder, grab a seed almost without stopping, and fly up into the rowan or elm to eat it; then back again for the next. The house finches, by contrast, settled down on the black seed feeder, one on each perch, and stuffed themselves. When they were through they went one at a time to the nearest water bucket for a drink, then left. Meanwhile I sat and watched and read, sipping a glass of local Gewurztraminer, and sharing peanuts with the squirrels. There was a while in late afternoon when all the lawn mowers were through and it was almost silent.

Autumn weekend

Another beautiful Colorado fall day. Here's a touch of local color: the big ash tree across the street is putting on its usual display. In another week it will be mostly bare, but pure gold while it lasts.



No writing so far this weekend, but plenty of garden cleanup. We'll see how this afternoon goes.

Friday again...

I had a little frost the last two nights, but now it's warmed up again. Should be a nice weekend, but we have colder weather coming Monday. I need to get some autumn color shots this weekend before it's over - I'll put something up tomorrow.

I can't remember if I mentioned it before, but my second e-book giveaway is still running on LibraryThing, this time for Flight of the Hawk. (Go to http://www.librarything.com/er/giveaway/list and scroll down - it should be the second item on the list.) You can also download the first 30% of the book free at Smashwords.com - links on the right sidebar as always.

-GRG

Wednesday...

Snow on the mountaintops this morning, and the first touch of frost in my garden. The temperature will rebound into the low 70's by the weekend, but the nights are getting colder -- and longer. I picked the last green tomatoes yesterday before the frost, and the squash and pumpkin vines have finished. Two and a half more weeks until Samhain, and Calan Gaeaf - Winter's beginning in the Celtic year.



I got a little more writing done Monday afternoon, sitting in the back yard with my laptop, watching the Blackcapped Chickadees at the feeder and enjoying the orange and purple of the marigolds and asters. Interesting developments in the story, with more to come.

-GRG

Monday...

Late today due to the holiday. A little writing this weekend, but my chief achievement is pictured below:



And a picture of the whole batch...



Back to the garden cleanup!

...and Friday

Not much new here today, other than that the weather has finally become more fall-like. Just another new picture, then... Another shot from Beltany, with sheep.



-GRG

Wednesday...

Seems like a long week already - maybe it's the allure of the upcoming three day weekend. Today's picture: part of Beltany stone circle in County Donegal, Ireland.



Thinking about stone circles the other day, I started trying to count how many I've visited over the years, and came up with something between 30 and 40. Most of them are listed in Audrey Buhl's A Guide to the Stone Circles of Britain, Ireland and Brittany, an invaluable book for the enthusiast, but I think I've also visited a few small ones shown on the Ordnance Survey maps but not included in his guide. A good few all together, at any rate. The ones that Gwernin has visited, by the way, are all real.

-GRG

E-publishing update

Just a little update - my first 5 books (everything except the new poetry collection) are now available as e-books from Barnes & Noble - one more marketplace! Now, if Smashwords will just complete their negotiations with Amazon before Christmas...

-GRG

Monday morning...

First, today's picture. This one, I imagine, needs little introduction: the tour guide called it "the most photographed rock in Ireland."



It's the entrance to Newgrange, of course.

Why were we in a tour party? Because that's the only way to get admission to Newgrange and Knowth. It's run through the Bru Na Boinne visitor center, and the number of people who can visit during the day is thereby strictly controlled. A much better way of dealing with things than the free-for-all at Stonehenge, in my opinion. Coming early on a wet Wednesday in October, we had no problem getting in.

October it is again, but neither wet nor Wednesday. Autumn is cooling down slowly and reluctantly here, but at least the nights are getting colder. Still no frost, and probably not for another week. The squash and the Brandywine tomato are still trying, but the rest of the garden is pretty much done. Biggest gardening accomplishment for the weekend was re-potting the rosemary shrub, which took two of us to accomplish. This is a plant which I grew from a culinary cutting which rooted, and have had for over fifteen years. At this point it's better described as a bush, and bringing it inside for the winter is not done lightly (pun intended!). Fortunately it can stand a mild frost, so I have a little time yet.

Not much new on the writing front - hopefully next week end (a three-day one due to the Columbus Day holiday) will be better.

-GRG