puny cucumber

From my garden last week. It's been a rough summer and I haven't gotten much, but this little cucumber was quite delicious. I put the penny in there for sizing help.

adopting pups

This story made my heart swell:

https://www.yahoo.com/beauty/heartwarming-story-widow-took-home-oldest-least-adoptable-dog-shelter-173943755.html

mossy rock

I saw this mossy rock area when I was hiking this past weekend. It's so lovely! It seems like the perfect spot to sit and rest for a bit.

hold on, the weekend is coming

Only one more work day before the weekend! Hold on, hold on -- the respite is coming!

hiking, recovery, and getting stuff done

Went for a grand hike yesterday that depleted my energy, so I ended up napping and sleeping until this morning. Mists at the top of the mountain really obscured any view, but it was still a lovely hike (that also burned loads of calories). I did get to see Ponyo last night, too, which was gorgeous. Such gentle, exciting stories.

Today is for attacking all the things that need doing. Laundry, bills, and those worrisome tiny things you put off until the last moment. They should take five minutes, but take 2 hours because you need one piece of paper with a date on it and you've stuffed it somewhere 'safe', which means it is safe from everyone including yourself and you have no idea where it is.

I've got the laundry on the line to dry. It is sunny and breezy, for once not raining, so that means I'm going to have sheets that smell of fresh air when I sleep on them. My dreams are going to be fantastic when I breathe in Sunday afternoon sunlight and wind all night.

What shall I do this Sunday?

-- work out (done!)
-- eat waffles (done, and done, with blueberries)
-- laundry (not done)
-- pay bills ( not done)
-- reorganize closet which is a mess (not done, haven't done for three months, probably won't do)
-- write and/or edit (not done)
-- procrastinate by hopping about on the internet (done, extra done)

40% off sale at Dreamspinner

Go and get some summer reading!
https://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/
The code ELIZABETH is also on the front page. :-)

I suppose it would be too gauche to remind everyone my stories are there? No, no, not too much at all.

What are you waiting for? Go read!

I spent the morning waiting for my car at the shop today. Reading material of your own choosing is *essential*.

squash, squash, and more squash

It is starting to be that time of the summer again. Zucchini and squash are bursting out all over. It's getting hard to keep up with it. No matter how much I eat, there's more squash.

Here's a photo of a friend's bounty from her garden. I helped pick.

What better way to bring up my story Operation Wild Thumb in the Simmer Anthology? Because that story is all about overgrown squash. I can't believe another summer has come and is going.

https://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/books/simmer-5594-b

what to do with the unwanted monster?

A little bit of a bummer. I'd experimented with writing a horror story (not romance!!) and it got turned down, so I have a scary story with no home. Horror isn't really my forte, but I enjoyed the process of stretching my writing abilities into something I'm less adept at. I'll definitely try again within the horror genre, and in the meantime let the story sit for a bit. Aging a story means when I get back to it, I can always give it a stiff edit that'll knock it into better shape.

it is the age of the cook out

July and August are definitely high time for cook outs. I've been going to them every other week or so. I even went to one today, a Wednesday, in the middle of the week! I am not even a little bit tired of cook out food. There was a gorgeous fruit salad today full of blackberries and mandarin oranges. Also, there was ice cream.