Slow recovery

I came down with a cold a week ago, and it became one of the worst colds I can remember. No fever, or chills. But a total wipeout in terms of energy, and a cough that won’t quit, no matter what I use to treat it with.

Meanwhile, my job is to keep writing my new novel. 🙂

Don’t you love it? This new book is about some of the creeks up the coast of Vancouver Island. They have names like — Cat’s Ear, Sir Donald, Dead Man, Perseverance. I’m not sure who came up with these names, but they have really drawn me in. Now I have to come up with a story about them.

Fun, eh?

Welcome to 2023

Thank you so much for being part of my community in the last year;— for buying my books in all formats, for being a patron of the blog, for leaving positive reviews on the books and for recommending them to others.

I wouldn’t have this career without you, so thank you and I hope you’ll continue to join me for the year ahead.

So much for quitting the bad habits. 🙂

How did your creative goals go in 2022? Please leave a comment and let me know.

Happy New Year

I just wanted to take the time to wish you all the best for 2023. We are heading into a brand new year and all things are possible. I spent part of the last day of 2022 going through what I had accomplished throughout the year. The list was good, it buoyed me up to read it.

Then I turned a page and tried to list all that I hope to accomplish and finish in the new year of 2023. That list was no longer, but contained a few things that had been on last year’s list but never got complete. I’m okay with that. I feel I gave it my best effort, so if a few things fell off the table, I’ll just give it another try this coming year.

We went with our daughter and two grandsons, aged 5 and 8, to see the light show at the world famous Butchart Gardens for New Year’s Eve. Here are a couple of photos from our visit.

Lights that look like butterfly wings in the dark
Trees captured by the lights.

What did you do for New Year’s Eve?

First Skiff of Snow

I can’t believe it but we’ve already had our first skiff of snow. It started yesterday, snowing, then raining (melting the snow), then sunny, and back again. We have the strangest weather that blows through. Then it snowed again, then stopped. Here is what I found this morning

The amazing thing is it didn’t melt overnight, because the ground is not frozen yet.

We have some micro-climates around us. Today it was pelting rain on the uphill side of the house. But when I looked out the window of the same room, toward the downhill side, it was sunny and clear. Rained like that for about an hour, but clear out the other window.

How do you explain that? I can’t. 🙂

Did You Go to the Fall Fair?

If there is a fall fair near you, I highly recommend you go. It’s outdoors, so safer from Covid, the weather could turn to autumn at any time but right now it’s probably not as hot as it was, the animal pens are so much fun. And the food! Elephant ears, anyone? Plus handicrafts everywhere.

We went to the Saanich Fair on Vancouver Island yesterday. It is one of the longest running fairs, dating back 154 years. The local farmers all participate– draught horses, cows, llamas, goats, sheep, poultry of every kind from tiny quail to large crowing roosters! It was quite a sight.

Chainsaw carver creating an eagle from a chunk of cedar.

There were thousands of people. The rides ranged from a giant swing that would probably make me puke if I went on it, to cute bumper cars and ‘the sizzler’- seats that twirl round and round as they swing by. The craft tables hosted a lot of handmade shawls and scarves of angora. Some of that wool was so soft, you couldn’t even tell you were touching it.

Lots of fun. What fair do you go to? The summer isn’t officially over until you’ve been to the local fair!