The AH Coffee Shop and Reading Room 09

Somehow Tuesday became Saturday. To my surprise the fencing crew (touché!) woke me up backing their trailer into the backyard to install the chain link we've been trying to get done since March. They already made one mistake locating an anchor pole [rolls eyes]. The company owner is not on-site to supervise, so guess I'm tasked with keeping these guys out of trouble.

Next story in the Barstow series just received its "NEW" tag and will be online tomorrow. Struggling slightly with a FFF+M sex scene in a subsequent story, trying to tamp down power imbalances. Re-written it three times already.
 
I'm getting caught up on the gardening. All the raised beds are clear and accessible for now.

I found a horn worm on one of the tomatoes and executed it without a trial. I only found the one, and it could have accounted for all the damage on one plant. I saw some damage on another plant that may have been from a horn worm, but it was limited and I didn't find the culprit. Maybe a bird or the wasps got to him, but I'll have to keep an eye on the plants.

The earliest cantaloupes have reached ~full size. I'll have to keep my eye on them, too. A similar variety last year went from almost ready to overripe very quickly.

I may be starting to figure out the gladiolas. All of the plants I carried over from last year originated from thirteen corms that my daughter gave me about fifteen years ago. Initially the batch included some fancy colors that have either disappeared of become rare. Now most of the corms I have produce one of three colors.

Last year I started paying attention to things I did that selected for color. It looks now like all of the fancier varieties are less robust than the ones that produce the three main colors. The corms are smaller, there are fewer side shoots, and they tend to be ready to plant later. So, when I preferentially plant large corms or corms that are already sprouting I select for one of the robust varieties. When I started getting more corms than I could plant, the fancy varieties were thrown away.

I bought some new ones this year, and I'm tagging all the fancy varieties so they get planted next year. So far I've tagged four varieties: a variegated purple, variegated pink, scarlet and crimson. There's a variegated orange that I've had before and haven't seen this year. Still hoping.

Later today I'll plant broccolini and slicing cucumbers in nursery pots for fall crops, and I'll pull off an ear of sweet corn to see how they're doing. I know they're getting close.

My WIP is progressing. I'm probably two thirds of the way done, and it's already long for the category. I'm pantsing this one more than usual. I know more about where I'm going than I do about how I'm getting there.
 
Yeah, you're right. The pinned threads used to scroll past the bottom of my usual window. But I also can't tell you what's gone.
 
I finally got around to cleaning up the garlic.
garlic.jpg

That's should be almost a year's supply for the two of us. Most of what you see are commercial-sized (it's an 8-inch bowl). The variety is Spanish Roja. I don't see it in the grocery store very often, but it was grown here commercially back when most of the food available here was grown here.

I need to sort out the small ones. They don't keep as well, so they need to be used first.
 
I finally got around to cleaning up the garlic.
View attachment 2556237

That's should be almost a year's supply for the two of us. Most of what you see are commercial-sized (it's an 8-inch bowl). The variety is Spanish Roja. I don't see it in the grocery store very often, but it was grown here commercially back when most of the food available here was grown here.

I need to sort out the small ones. They don't keep as well, so they need to be used first.
Are those hardneck or softneck garlic?
 
We had a flock of five doves at the patio fountain yesterday. Doves rarely come to the house, and I wonder if that's a sign of how dry we've been lately.

I've reached the point in my WIP where I have to plan the end. I'm not writing it yet, but the road for getting there needs to be clear.
 
I got my last chunk of my novel submitted this morning. Working on trying to save another WIP, my first foray into BDSM. But I think I will gtry to get my fall courses set up before I write any more.

Weather looks good here as long as you don't expect to breath the air. Oh well.
 
Well. The fence project hit yet another setback. This time, despite being wrapped for shipping and storage, half of the top rails - the 20' pieces - were bent and therefore unusable, the rest scratched-up. And the supplier shorted their order. So no fence. These were special ordered for color, so there's no telling how long before replacements are shipped. Plus - the crew dug the post holes, and only set half the posts before they left, leaving us to cover the holes so the neighbor's small dogs don't get curious and fall in.

Talk about snakebit.
 
I've finished a first draft on a new story. I'm satisfied with the characters and their interplay, the events, and the general content of the sex scenes. I'm confident that the revisions will bring it to the proper focus, and the story as a whole will live up to my expectations of what it should be.

I'm also convinced that the story will get clobbered. I'll submit it anyway (unless the writing hits a snag of which I'm currently unaware). Maybe I'm becoming less twitchy about reader response.

No, it's not going into a lightning-rod category. I'll just leave it at that.
 
Another morning and more weeding to be done. I can't believe how hot and wet (and not in the good way) this summer has been. There's been no let up on the weeds and I just can't keep up with them.

I've got a fresh pot of coffee brewing and the teapot is hot. There are donuts on the counter and some left over blueberry pie.

I'll be over in the corner working on my story. Got about 1,000 words done yesterday and hopefully the same today. It should be ready for the Winter Holiday Contest in time unless RL events overcome everything ...
 
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