Hiatus 10

Princess Miyuki!

Hiatus 9

From the mouths of babes!

Not sure if this will qualify for the blog hiatus, but it's relevant to my writing space, so maybe.

I am a frequent chauffeur to my three girls (ages 5, 5, and 7). They know I like nature and fields, and every time we pass a field, one of them inevitably says, "oh mommy, you DEFINITELY don't ever want that field to get destroyed" which is kind of odd and specific, but of course I agree. 

A few months ago, as I was cleaning my office, I came across a tiny slip of paper. In my 7yo's handwriting, it read, DESTROY THEM. Well, technically it said "Duastoy them" because she is learning to spell. I was suitably surprised, but couldn't help but think, what a great motto. I mean, for editing a mss that is way too long. 

I flipped it over, and on the back, which I realized was actually the front, it said, "My mom loves fields please don't". 

I keep it on my desk. Whenever I am discouraged about editing, I see "DESTROY THEM" and with that wisdom, I slash all those unnecessary words. Because really, it is a great motto.  

Hope your December will bring lots of good things, Janet.

coming out of hiatus hibernation to let you know

that the amazing, awe-inspiring, and downright terrifying Barbara Poelle has a book coming on 1/14/20.

Funny You Should Ask is a collection and expansion of her columns in Writers Digest.

People are already talking about it!

Am now officially linked to @Bpoelle forever in metadata which I think is the publishing industry equivalent of putting a ring on it? Her advice is spot on and so, so funny, and avail for preorder now.

--Holly Root

So my amazing agent wrote this book. You should buy it you, guys, because it contains all of @Bpoelle's awesome advice but the book is unlikely to flagellate you with stinging nettles or tell you to write faster because it needs a new handbag. Win-win-WIN!

  -KaetheSchwehn

"How much vodka went into this?"

    --Ingrid von Peepenskeeven

"Why am I not in it?"

 --Felix Buttonweezer

 "Entirely too much jocularity."

   --Miss Picklepuss

"I'm getting this right now! She's even funnier than you are, Janet"

--client

"Yes!! I've enjoyed Ms. Poelle's column at WD for a long time. Definitely on my TBR. Should be on yours too, writer friends."

--Colin Smith

Hiatus 8

Ferdinand!

Murielle!

This is Ferdinand (the black cat) and Murielle (the seal point). They are seven year old Devon Rexes and are a bonded pair, which makes them like an old married couple. They sometimes share each other's food, they sometimes cuddle, they sometimes get a little frisky, but mostly they bicker and ignore one another.

The Devon Rex is known for having fur but not hair the way a bird might have down but not feathers. That makes them super soft, like petting velvet.

Hiatus 7

My familiar, Pepper, demonstrates the proper use of a treadmill. After doing my two miles, Pepper leaves her comfy bed (located under my desk) to use the treadmill. I had no idea why until I felt the treadmill bed after use and discovered it was warm. And therefore an ideal place for kitty-cat lounging.

Pepper!

Hiatus 6

Tucker!

Here is a photo of our cat, Tucker. He is a sweet if not terribly bright kitty. He's a Ragdoll and isn't supposed to go outside due to the breed's supposed lack of fear/survival instinct, but Tucker sealed his destiny by continually hanging from the inside of the window screen on the second floor and yowling like he was dying. That was three years ago. He's been an inside/outside cat since then.

Tucker's happiness was originally measured by the pieces of house insulation he brought me in lieu of real prey. I'm positive his stalking and pouncing was beyond disrepute as he hunted the big, fluffy yellow bits of insulation from our neighbour's home renovation and left them on my front step. He was quite the sight as he loped across the front lawn dragging a piece of yellow fluff between his paws the same way a lion drags an Impala. He'd place the fluff at my feet and then flop onto the floorboards in a purring post-hunt glow. Looking at his expression in the photo, I'd swear he needed a cigarette.

Now, though, it isn't so cute. Tucker (or Tucker-with-an-F as my husband affectionately calls him) has graduated to bringing rats in through the cat-door. One rat got away away from Tucker and snuck up on me when I watching TV. I freaked out, ran around like my hair was on fire and armed myself with the only things I could think of - oven mitts and a broom - before sprinting to the front door and flinging it open in preparation of flushing the rat out of the house. My son and two of his friends were coming up the steps. They stopped cold when greeted by a middle aged woman with wild hair and wilder eyes, but when I shrieked at them what was happening, my son and one of the boys jumped into action and we flushed the rodent outside after a concerted and extended effort. The other boy hid upstairs the entire time. Can't say I blame him. 

We have since removed the cat-door. Tucker-with-an-F has adapted, as have we after he pooped on the dog's bed when he was left inside too long. Lesson learned. That said, the dog's still trying to sort out what the point of the lesson was in the first place. But I digress...

God speed with your requested fulls. 

hiatus 5

Here are my two favourite views from our house. The first is from our deck towards the city. We're considered inner city where we live as it's only a short 10 minute drive to the city centre 🙂 The tower in the distance is a well known feature of the city, although I'm not sure many Reiders have been here.

The second is from my desk (which sits under a window). The honeyeater pictured is one of a parade of birds who frequent the bird bath (which is an old satellite dish). The ones who come often I name. This guy is Ugly. I also have a bee hotel on the old tree stump - you can see the top of it in the photo. The majority of our native bees are solitary and live in plant stems, tree hollows and burrow into clay, so our Air Bee & Bee has lots of hollows for them to move into.