Mycetism Monday

mycetism ~ fungus poisoning

Monday again, eh? And so soon, too.

*sigh*

Last week was pretty darned cold. How cold was it? It was so cold we got frost one night and it pretty much killed the hanging plant I got for mother's day last weekend.

Frost! With only one week to go until June. I know Canada has a reputation for being cold and all, but this is ridiculous! I'm just really glad I haven't bought any annuals for my front garden yet. Maybe next weekend.

And in true Canadian fashion . . . Saturday was so cold I was wearing my NaNo hoodie and contemplating turning the heat on, and Sunday was warm enough that I had the deck door open.

I have only myself to blame.

A couple of weeks ago it was so warm that I finally broke down and bought some capris length leggings to wear for my work outs. I wore them once and just about froze when the weather turned cold again.

So then last weekend was enough that I was thinking of transitioning to skirts instead of pants and I got the urge to paint my toenails. They're a nice subtle shade of pink, but they've been covered up ever since the polish dried because it turned even colder than the preceding week.

This week is supposed to start warming up (between rain showers) but I'm not going to take any chances. I'll stick to wearing layers and I'll avoid freshening up my toe polish.

Fortunately, although last week was cold it was bright and sunny, so my orchid is doing well. I have another bud open, bringing the number of blossoms on the bloom stalk to eight. EIGHT! And it looks like the last two buds will be opening this week.

I can't believe I'm going to have an orchid with ten blossoms on its bloom stalk. Just call me the orchid whisperer. :-)

Mulctuary Monday

mulctuary ~ punishable by a fine

The big news, for those of you who haven't liked my author page on Facebook yet, is that I have finished the edits on Lucky Dog. Finally. It is now in the hands of my editor and I fully expect her to return it to me in (electronic) shreds, wondering why it took me two years to finish this drivel. ;-)

Okay, maybe it's not quite that bad, but I did have to pretty much re-write the last half of it. But I managed to cut a little over 11,000 words from it, bringing the total wordage to just under 91,000. And I think it's a better story for it.

Now, unfortunately, I need to start thinking about a cover. The picture I wanted to use is unavailable, so I'm starting from scratch. I'm sure one of the stock photo sites will have something similar, it's just a matter of finding it.

If you're in Canada, you probably have the day off today, celebrating the birthday of Queen Victoria.

It's the twenty-fourth of May
The queen's birthday
If we don't get a holiday
We'll all run away.

Okay, so it's not really the 24th of May, it's only the 18th. Somewhere along the line it was decided to celebrate the queen's birthday on the third Monday in May, no matter what the date was. I'm resisting the urge to check Google to see if she really was born on a Monday. ;-)

Last night a few people were setting off fireworks. When I was a kid, I remember Victoria Day was the holiday that had the massive fireworks displays, and Canada Day was barely given a nod. I'm not sure when they switched places, but now Canada Day is the one that's heavy on the fireworks. Of course that didn't stop my asshat neighbors behind us from setting off some last night. After midnight, I might add. I looked up the town's bylaw regarding fireworks and discovered that the cut-off time is 11 p.m., however they'd already stopped so I couldn't make a complaint. But you can bet I'll be ready for them in July for Canada Day!

And finally, because I know you're curious, my orchid has opened yet another blossom. It brings a smile to my face every time I go into the kitchen. And there are two more buds on the end of the bloom stalk - is it possible I might end up with nine blossoms? That would be so cool!

Now . . . if I could only figure out how to get my African violet to bloom. :-D

Molariform Monday

molariform ~ shaped like a molar

Where do I start? *shakes head sadly*

Let's start with the weather, which kind of skipped over spring and went straight to summer. We had a few record-breaking high temperature days towards the end of the week. And with the nicer weather we have the birds returning to serenade us. Like this guy:

This tree is at the very back of our yard. And in this tree is a robin, who apparently has an app on his phone that lets him know when sunrise is, because even on overcast days he starts his damned chirping at sunrise and keeps it up until mid-morning. I swear if I had a sling shot I'd be using him for target practice!

Can't spot him? Let me help:

Chirping should not be allowed in the morning until I've had a coffee!

Last week was pretty unremarkable. Mostly what I did was edit Lucky Dog, which you can read about HERE.

Sunday, of course, was Mother's Day, which was kind of a mixed bag for me. I was all set to have a relaxing morning of painting, only to discover I had everything I needed . . . except the actual paint. So after a family brunch, we stopped at Staples where I picked some up, and for a $5 donation to the Special Olympics, I received a Mother's Day gift bag that had a really nice message pad and a can of cinnamon coated almonds.

My pleasure in the gift lasted until I got home and tried one of the almonds. I think the cinnamon must have been mixed with cement, because I bit into one and broke a tooth to the point where I don't think the dentist will be able to save it. And we were having corn on the cob for supper. *sigh*

Still, it wasn't all bad. I had a visit from my little Ellie-beans and got to read her a story:

And remember my old friend, Blackie the squirrel? He left a Mother's Day present for me in the front garden:

So it looks exactly like the tulips in my next-door-neighbor's garden. It's the thought that counts. Right? ;-)

And I got a bit of a chuckle out of Dante's unique solution to the "Nook War" he and Taz are waging. They both like the book nook and neither are willing to share.

And finally, my orchid has six - count 'em - six blooms open! And there's still more buds on the end of the stalk! So beautiful!

So all in all, I'd say the good out-weighed the bad yesterday. At least that's what I'll keep telling myself until I visit the dentist. ;-)

Mnemonist Monday

mnemonist ~ one from whose memory nothing is erased

Last week I did something I haven't done for ages - I picked up a paint brush and painted a picture. It wasn't a very good picture, but it helped me remember how much I used to love to paint. It was very relaxing too. So I decided that it was something I should try and make time for more often, and I've designated Sunday mornings as my "art time."

And no, I'm not going to post a picture of my painting here. There were a couple of parts that were okay, but for the most part it really wasn't good. What I'll do is turn the sheet over and do a different painting next week. Water colour paper is too expensive to waste. ;-)

Instead, I'm going to show you a picture of my messy cat(s).

This picture was taken last evening. After the mess had already been picked up earlier for vacuuming. They really do like to have their favourite toys where they can see them. Taz is quite proud of his tissue paper nest, and he quite likes pink. Every once in awhile I'll spirit away a few of the really shredded pieces (but only when he's not looking) and replace it with a couple of new sheets. And they all love to burrow through the tissue paper to find a toy. Now, if I could only train them to put the toys back in the basket when they're done.

Last week a friend and I went on our monthly thrift store run. Pickings were a little on the slim side - a pair of black jeans to replace a pair I'd worn out, a couple of books, and a tea mug. I read one of the books yesterday - Incantation by Alice Hoffman, and quite enjoyed it.

Then Saturday was the annual book sale at Saint Peter's Church. This is an event my daughter and I look forward to every year and we were lined up with a handful of other bibliophiles at 8:30 a.m. waiting for the doors to open at 9.

While we did pick up a few books, we showed a great deal more restraint than in previous years. This was due in part to the sheer number of books we each possess. Good thing we don't live under the same roof anymore. And it was also due to the over-pricing of the collectible books this year - very disappointing considering the poor shape the books were in.

The edits of Lucky Dog are going well. I'm at the halfway point and I think if I stay away from the games and stop futzing around so much, there's no reason I can't get this round of edits done this week and hopefully send it off to my betas on the weekend.

I finally got around to updating my writing blog. If you missed the post you can find it HERE. One of the things I did was change things around on the sidebar on the right a bit. I have a place for what I'm currently editing as well as novels waiting for edits. It would be nice if I could find a way to have the editing bars reflect the work I've done editing, but I haven't quite figured that one out yet.

And look! Count 'em - the orchid has four blossoms now.

And call me crazy, but I think I'm going to have two more open this week. Awesome sauce! :-)