Saturday, September 30, 2017

Saturday Fishing Report - 9/30/17

Good morning and welcome to the Saturday Fishing Report. 

This last week of September had temperatures start out hot and then fall almost into line with the averages for this time of year.  We're still running above normal, but it's something.  The water, naturally, is still warm.  And the water is still filled with baitfish for the larger fish to eat.  I walked by a little cove in the rocks yesterday and hundreds of little bluegills freaked out.  The bass are eating good and don't want my measly worms and my fake food. 

Having said that, though, here's how my week shook out...

Sunday - got out early.  Checked the park, but it was full of people, so I went to a spot on the main lake.  Caught one 8" 6oz bluegill I kept, a smaller bluegill, and a little punkinseed, and a whole lot of sun.  Thank goodness for 50 spf or I'd be a crispy critter.

Wednesday - went out a little later in the morning to the park.  Nobody there and I found a place to park that shouldn't get the authorities khakis in a wad.  I ended up on my favorite ledges.  Yay.  I caught two big bluegills - 8" 6oz and 8.5" 7oz.  I also caught a little green sunfish.

Friday - Nice cool morning, so off I went.  Some clouds, too, which is always nice.  Didn't catch a damn thing.  But I saw an osprey.  And I found some gal's smartphone.  I eventually got it returned to her, so it's all good. 

As an aside, how does a gal with ratty clothes, the nastiest set of teeth I've seen in a while, and a crap-ass pickup truck that took 5 times before it started afford a brand new Samsung Galaxy phone?   And when she came to pick up her phone from me, she was holding another smart phone.  Ummmm.  I guess it's all about priorities.  :shrug:

As another aside, I saw a really awesome fishing pole at the thrift store this week.  $15.  It wasn't in the budget, so I put it back.  Which brings me around to a point I want to make - that doesn't have anything to do with financial choices, btw.  If you want to fish, but you can't afford to fish, check out your local thrift stores.  I've gotten two rod/reel combos at mine for under $5.  This one here had a whole bunch of soft fake baits available.  Sometimes they have tackle boxes and lures.  Sometimes you can find coolers and nets and floats and lifejackets.  It's all a matter of keeping your eyes peeled.

And that's it for me this week.  If you can, get out and enjoy the cooler weather before it turns into cold weather.  ;o)

Friday, September 29, 2017

Reading Round-Up

Thanks to my friend, Silver James, for suggesting I do a sort of end of the month round up about the new-to-me/underappreciated books I've read.

September I read two books that qualified.

Bewitch Me by Amelia Blake (9/10/17) - YA Paranormal*#
The blurb:
"A messed-up magic spell, three clueless witches, and a six-thousand-year-old demon. What could possibly go wrong?

My name is Emily Fairchild and in all my sixteen years I never imagined that magic was real. That is until my best friend discovered a mysterious notebook filled with runes and magic spells, and the most popular girl in school turned out to be a real-life witch.

As a result of a horrible magical accident, we’re now stuck with a six-thousand-year-old demon who acts like a twelve year old with a really bad attitude and is trapped in our dimension.

And somehow it’s all my fault. So, until we figure out how to get rid of him, I have to babysit a demon who now lives in my room, reads my diary, eats all my food, and stalks blonde underwear models online.

How did my life ever get so complicated?"


I gave it 5 stars.

My review: Fun read, even if the little sister, Chloe, was so annoying I wanted someone to turn her into a frog. Or a dung beetle. Or whatever. But I liked the other characters and it was nice to escape into this book for a while. I can't wait to see what happens to the gang next.

-------------

Caught In Between by Allison L. Perry (9/14/17) - YA Paranormal*#
The blurb:
"She’s not like the others…

Sixteen-year-old Sadie is a vampire who faints at the sight of blood, trips over her own feet, and can only, at best, be called cute.

As the imperfect middle child in a perfect vampire family, she struggles to fit into a world where she is different from everyone else.

Forced to follow her parents’ wishes by attending University, the local finishing school for graceful young vampires, she soon becomes the laughingstock of her oh-so-perfect class. But when the most popular boy on campus comes to her rescue and calls her “beautiful,” Sadie becomes the target of a group of mean girls who rule the school.

Plagued by a series of embarrassing failures, Sadie is kicked out of University and must face reality: she doesn’t belong with vampires. And when a mysterious elder vampire seeks her out with vague and cryptic conversation, she’s even more convinced that something is amiss.

With no other acceptable choice for her future, Sadie must convince her traditional vampire parents to let her do something unheard of for vampires her age. But questions continue to plague her. Is she truly a vampire? Or is she something else?"


I gave it 5 stars.

My review: This was totally awesome. I could really step into Sadie's shoes - even though she's a vampire - and remember what it was like to be different from the other teens. Sure, Sadie's got some problems unique to being a different kind of vampire - like being allergic to blood - but it was easy to feel a sort of camaraderie with her. I'll definitely be on the lookout for more of this series and more from this author.
------------

Both books were free at the time I snagged them, but always check prices before you buy.  I was really glad I downloaded and read both of these.  So much fun!  I have a couple of SF/Dystopian books I've downloaded for next month.  We'll see how that goes.

Now here's the point where you get to talk.  Have you read anything new-to-you lately?  Tell me about it.

Thursday, September 28, 2017

Thursday This n That

Yesterday, I had a message on my machine from my doctor's office "...I need you to call us as soon as possible" and no reason why.  So I, of course, began the freak out process.  Whatever could it be?  It's not time for my shot.  I haven't had any tests lately.  Was it something to do with my last bill?  Did they stop taking my insurance?  Argh.  I picked up the phone right then and called.  It was to reschedule my appointment in November.  I told her she could've said that on the machine, and she reminded me of HIPAA.  I get HIPAA rules and everything, but I signed that paper saying they could leave a message and another paper saying Hubs can have access to everything.  They know it's just the two of us here - it's not that big an office and I make myself hard to forget (in a friendly way).  Ugh.  I bet next time it'll be the same dealie-bob, even though I told her she could leave more details.  I guess it's just one more thing I'll have to get over.

I mentioned before that I had a business proposition in the works.  Nothing major.  Like I'm not getting a non-writing, outside the house job or anything.  My family owns a business up in Michigan and my brother offered me an opportunity.  I didn't take it as is.  I have too much writing and life stuff to commit to anything so involved.  But I did agree to a modified version.  It'll make me a little scratch and help Mom out tons, with only some spreadsheet work here and there.  As the scratch accumulates, I'll have money for covers and editing, so look out world.  LOL

The great thing about Kindle Unlimited is that I got to watch someone read the entire Once Upon a Djinn series over the course of two days.  Tuesday they started reading WIOH and I watched the graph for that rise, then IDW, then UWC.  They finished WHTF last night.  Which was totally cool. 

I saw a bald eagle yesterday!  I hope this means the migration for them has begun.  We do have the occasional sighting throughout the year, but when they've migrated to here for the winter, we see tons.  Yay!

The cat is doing better.  No barfing since Tuesday and she actually ate a little dry food this morning.  (She's been eating wet, but less than usual.)  Whatever upset her tummy must be over.  :fingers crossed:

Well, that's it for me.  Have at it yourself in the comments. 

Tuesday, September 26, 2017

Tell Me Something Good

Yesterday was a wash.  I woke up late - which is to say around 6 - and frittered away the first two hours on nothing.  Then I remembered that I'd better pay bills or they wouldn't make it to where they needed to be on time.  After paying bills, I did my Monday morning phone call with Mom, which involved some businessy things wherein not a whole lot got accomplished but we did manage to figure out what questions to ask so we can accomplish something soon.  (Part of that business venture thing I mentioned a while back.)  Then I went to Wallyworld and KFC - because sometimes you just need some fried chicken, ya know. 

The rest of the day?  Got me.  I read stuff.  I watched stuff on TV.  Nothing really got accomplished.

This morning I was awakened at quarter after 3 by the sound of Kira puking.  Fun fun.  I still have to clean the carpet.  For now, there are towels over the offending spots so we don't accidentally step on anything.  Yeah, I know, ew, but I am not scrubbing the carpet this early on too little caffeine.  She did this Sunday morning while I was fishing, too.  Both bedroom carpets.  Hubs cleaned up and laid towels.  I scrubbed the carpet when I got home because ew.  This morning, she only got the office carpet, but in several places.  Why on the carpet when like half the house is hard floor, I'll never know.

Not sure what Kira's problem is - and no, she never gets any fried chicken.  I learned that one the hard way years ago.  I'll monitor her today and see if she needs to visit the vet tomorrow.  I dread taking her to the vet.  She's agoraphobic and she gets motion sick.  More ew on top of kitty angst.  Driving down the road listening to mournful meows punctuated by barfing.  yay

I really should invest in that carpet cleaner I saw on sale.  If it's still on sale. 

As you can see, I'm not really Perky Polly this morning.  But that's life.  I probably should go back to bed.  I just don't want to lay back down only to be awakened by the sickening wet cough again. 

Tell me something good.  Maybe if I go back to bed, I can awaken to your good things and start this week over. 

Sunday, September 24, 2017

Sunday Update - Week 38

Well, it's that time again.  Sunday. 

Wish Hits the Fan is out in the world, so I spent some time doing marketing stuff for that.

I got back to writing on Early Grave finally.  Only about 3K more words on it so far, but I think I have the thread picked up again, so it's all good. 

Read two books last week - another Cat Who book and a SF.  I also picked up a couple more free books by new to me authors on Amazon, but I went with a classic instead - The Time Machine by HG Wells.  I can't believe I'd never read it. 

The weather's been too unseasonably hot to go fishing much.  I'm still sticking to places I can get to easily and where I can sit.  That means baking on the rocks and I'm totally not into that.  Plus, the fish are still deep.  Maybe I'll go see if I can drown some worms today.  I need to flush the brain pipes.

The fawns have all lost their spots.  They're like little 'mini-me' versions of the does.  We also saw a buck we hadn't seen.  We're guessing he's a two-year old.  We still have the two yearling bucks - Sym and Oliver.  (Sym because his antlers are symmetrical and Oliver because he was a scrawny orphan.)  They both look good.  We also still have the Sisters - older twin does who travel together.  And we have a scattering of other does.  Haven't seen any of the older bucks yet, but the rut will be starting and they'll stop by to check out the ladies.

Well, that's about it for me.  How was your week?


Saturday, September 23, 2017

Saturday Fishing Report - 9/23/17

Hi All and welcome to the Saturday Fishing Report, such as it is.  The weather took a major turn toward the hot and the fish are still deeper than I can go from the bank.

Having said that, though, I did go out on Tuesday morning.  I fished for a couple hours.  Caught 4 bluegills, one green sunfish, and two small spotted bass.  Nothing big enough to keep, but it was better than getting skunked. 

I'm seeing scads of bait fish and small panfish along the ledges.  I'm also seeing a boatload of turtles - all makes and models.  I'd also like to say it's been a banner year for seeing snakes in the water.  I'm thinking it all has something to do with the flood, but I don't know that for certain. 

Checking out the local fishing reports tells me what I suspect - the fish are deep and they really aren't that interested in the food I'm presenting them because the lake is filled with shad and the bass are gorging themselves on those.

I may go out today because I'm getting cabin fever.  I don't expect to catch anything of note, but like I've said before that's not the only goal of my fishing excursions.  Sure, I'd like to catch fish to bring home and eat, but if I don't, it ain't no thing. 

Well, that's it for me.  I hope y'all have an awesome week and get out into nature at some point.

Thursday, September 21, 2017

Thursday This n That

The other night, I was trying to figure out what to read next.  I'd just given up on the time-travel romance and I couldn't decide.  So, I downloaded some free, new-to-me books.  But reading on the Kindle wasn't blowing my skirt up.  I keep meaning to read some more of that Andre Norton collection I bought years ago, but I never know which ones are parts of series or even what order they're in or anything.  This lead me to a bibliography of everything she'd ever written.  Holy crap, the woman was prolific.  I printed the list out and sat down at my bookcase.  It took me about a half hour to sort through them all and get them in some semblance of order.  I sorted them by series and publication date.  Then I picked up the earliest 'single title' - Huon of the Horn.  But it's a historical with SF/F elements and I wasn't in the mood.  Next up in the single titles was Dread Companion - a straight SF.  So far, so weird.  It makes me wonder if Andre was smoking something.  We'll see if I stick with it.

One thing I did discover, though, is that most of this collection is comprised of first edition paperbacks.  Way cool.  I think a couple might be rare.  Even cooler.

I did this same thing earlier this year with my collection of Mickey Spillanes.  And wouldn't you know it, I don't have all of them or even all of any particular series.  Same with the Andre Nortons.  Ack.

The problem with collecting old books... well, one of them anyway... is that I'm not quite sure in my head which ones I have or which ones I need, so I end up buying by author name and hoping I'm not duplicating.  Unfortunately, this is how I ended up with two old copies of The Illustrated Man and The Martian Chronicles.  Which I discovered when I reorganized my bookshelves a while back.

Oh, well.  They're books.  And they're old.  And I love them.

Heh, I didn't start out to make this an all 'book collecting' edition of this-n-that, but there it is.  Anything you want to add?  Do you collect books by any particular authors? 



Tuesday, September 19, 2017

Cold Turkey

I quit football cold turkey this year.

I can't watch it anymore.  I can't watch a game where I don't respect the players or their institutions.

It's not just the whole kneeling for the national anthem thing - although that's part of it.  It's the outright criminals who have played and are allowed to play.  The wife beaters and the animal abusers and the thieves and the addicts... Ugh.  It's the universities that are so leftist I want to gag.  It's the college athletes I loved who go pro and turn into thugs.  It's the cheaters who are allowed to get away with it and the fans who celebrate the cheating...  Anything to win, right?

Meh.  I'm done.

That first weekend of college ball, which has always been my favorite, was hard.  Me, the gal who would jump between several games all day long on Saturdays and watch the U of M games with abandon, didn't watch a minute of any of it.  And I got a little twitchy.  This was the third weekend and it does get better.  Although, missing Sunday night's Packer game was still hard.

Like any addiction, I didn't expect quitting to be easy.  I still look at the scores sometimes, but I'm weaning myself off that stuff, too.  (Although, seeing that OU had beaten the crap out of the Buckeyes did brighten my day.)  I still follow the Packers on FB, because it's the PACKERS for petesakes.  And the Packers organization hasn't done anything to make me want to gag - as far as I know.* I still wear my U of M sweatshirts.  Think of those as hearkening back to the days of Bo, when the university didn't suck and football was pure.  Kind of an 'in memorium' thing.

I don't know if I'll ever go back to being a rabid fan of football again.  Maybe someday if it ever gets back to where it was.  I don't see that happening.  For now, I'll say no and find something else to do with my fall weekends.  Let's hope I'm over the whole thing before this year's bowl games, or I may need a rubber room and a pile of chocolate to combat the DTs.  ;o)

Update: Yeah, the Packers are out, too.  Bastards.

Sunday, September 17, 2017

Sunday Update - Week 37

Hi there.  Another week has rolled by.  Here's what happened...

Wish Hits the Fan is now live and available for your enjoyment.  Wish in One Hand is still free thru tomorrow.  In Deep Wish and Up Wish Creek are still 99c/.99p thru Thursday.  The hope is that people who picked up WIOH for free will want to purchase the other books shortly thereafter.  Anyway, the books have been selling together over the weekend so far, which is good.  And the ads seem to be doing their jobs and paying for themselves.  One more ad will go out tomorrow and Tuesday.  WIOH actually hit #34 on the Amazon free Paranormal/Urban Fantasy list Friday - an obscenely hard to reach list, btw.  So, it's a win.

I haven't done much of anything else with regard to writing or writerly pursuits - just marketing.

Still waiting on my paperback proof for WHTF.  I paid extra to get it here Friday.  It shipped Thursday.  Not sure what the hell, but if I don't see it tomorrow, I'm contacting Createspace.  Seriously.  

I went fishing once last week.  Caught some panfish, but nothing worth writing about, hence no Saturday Fishing Report.  This coming week ain't looking any better.  Hot and sunny.  Bleh.

The reading has been going pretty good.  I actually read 5 books last week.  Three of those were by 'new to me' authors.  One had no stars on Amazon =o(.  Well, it has one review now.  It was pretty awesome, so if you're interested in YA paranormal, check out Bewitch Me by Amelia Blake.  Also, if you're into those kinds of books, Caught in Between by Allison L. Perry was amazing, too. 

Bow season started here on Friday.  Crossing fingers none of our deer get culled. 

Well, that's about all I have to say this morning.  I hope you all had an awesome week and will have a great week ahead of you.  :hugs: 

Friday, September 15, 2017

Release Day is Finally Here!

Cross posted with Outside the Box...

When I first started writing the first genie book (Djinn-ocide... which would eventually become Wish Hits the Fan) back in September of 2009, I really had no idea where it would go.  I thought maybe I could make a series out of it someday and maybe it would land me an agent and a publishing contract.

LOL, well, we all know where that last part of the vision went, don't we?

I self-published Wish in One Hand in August of 2015.  A little over two years later, the fourth and final book in the Once Upon a Djinn series is available for the general public to read.  Yay!

I'm super stoked that all the books are together.  And I really I hope you all enjoy reading them as much as I enjoyed writing them.

Here they are...

Wish in One Hand

In Deep Wish

Up Wish Creek

Wish Hits the Fan

Not quite sure what's up next.  I'm going to enjoy this for a little while, I think.  All four books together.  Finally.

Whew.


Thursday, September 14, 2017

Thursday This n That

I read something in the news the other morning that said you shouldn't read news in the morning. 

Okay, now that I've let that sink in for a moment, because it sounds like a Steven Wright bit and I like Steven Wright, I'll admit that it's probably a good idea to not read the news in the morning.  Especially right now when everything is so farqued up.

Speaking of farqued up, last night I had someone try to school me in the intricacies of FB in a most condescending way.  I almost replied back and then I remembered my personal pledge to not engage.  And then I remembered that life is too short and she'd been kind of irritating me for a while.  So I AllisonAnderson'd* her. 

Allison Anderson was a neighbor of mine a long time ago.  She was a drunk who would come home after she closed out the bar and turn her stereo all the way up, thereby waking me up and making it impossible to go back to sleep.  (I suspect she often passed out with her stereo on.)  She would also crank her stereo up and leave in the middle of the day when I was trying to write.  And she'd mow her lawn at midnight.  And stand on her front lawn screaming obscenities at her parents who lived across the street. It was her friends who left their motorhome running in her driveway** so that my house filled up with carbon monoxide that one day. Yeah, her.  So, since I couldn't kill her like I wanted to, I pretended she had ceased to exist.  In my head, I walled her away.  No more interactions of any kind.  And then we moved, which was awesome.  And then I heard she'd overdosed and died one night. 

Speaking of horrible people who died, I had a nightmare about an old ex of mine and the next day I learned that his mother was dead.  And I celebrated.  When I told my mother, she said something like 'we shouldn't celebrate when people die' and then she laughed because she knows what I went through with Mama Frankenstein and the monster she created. Seeing the ex's obituary would be icing on the cake, but no such luck yet.

Yes, I am bloodthirsty.  No, I have not based any characters on him.  Don't bother looking.  He ain't there.

Oh, and before I forget, Wish in One Hand is free now through the 18th.  In Deep Wish is .99 here and in the UK through the 21st.  So is Up Wish Creek.  Throw in Wish Hits the Fan (releasing tomorrow) and you can get the entire series for under $5.

What's up with you today?

*I refer to the maneuver of ignoring someone so completely it's like they're dead to me as the 'AllisonAnderson'.

** Yes, I did use the motorhome thing in Accidental Death. If you get that close to being snuffed out, you might as well use it in your writing, eh?

Tuesday, September 12, 2017

Trying Something Fun

Okay, so you all probably know I've been committing myself to reading books by people I'm unfamiliar with and then, if I like the books, I review the books.  I do it here and there throughout the year, and I mark the books on my Reading List with a # so you can see which ones they were.

Over the weekend, I couldn't figure out what I wanted to read.  Scads of hardcopy books on the shelves, scads of downloaded books on the Kindles and nothing was perking my interest.  So, I got an idea.

I went to the Top 100 Free book lists.  First I went to the Top 100 Free of all books, but nothing was blowing my skirt up.  Then I went to the Top 100 Free Paranormal.  I scanned down the list looking for covers and titles that sounded interesting.  When I found one, I went to the page for that book and read the blurb.  If it sounded like something I wanted to read, I downloaded it.  I picked up one right away.

During this process, though, I got a better idea.  Find books with few or no reviews and read those.  That was a little harder because often the covers or titles or whatever didn't thrill me enough to click through.  But I found two. 

The first one I read didn't have any reviews at all at Amazon and the one review it had at Goodreads was 'I liked it'.  Which is sad because it was a fun book. 

You know, it occurs to me this morning, I don't even bother reviewing books on Amazon by current popular authors anymore.  They have thousands of reviews.  Neither they nor their readers need mine.  Unpopular and unknown authors need reviews. 

So, here's my challenge to you all.  Find a book with 10 or fewer reviews that you think you might enjoy.  Read it.  And if you like it, review it.  (I say 'if you like it' because we're doing this to help authors who may be struggling and bad reviews don't help.  And in these cases, bad reviews aren't really helping readers either.  They're already not buying these books, why give them another reason?)

And just in case someone stops buy who needs clarification, I am not advocating giving good reviews to bad books.  Or books you haven't read or anything.  Read it, like it, review it.  Personally, I don't finish books I don't like and I don't review books I haven't finished.

Easy peasy.  You find a book you like and maybe you get a new author to read, and you give them a boost because maybe they're so down about the lack of reviews they're contemplating not writing any more books.  Win win.

Just a thought.  Anyone in on this?

Sunday, September 10, 2017

Sunday Update - Week What?

Hey, Everyone.  Thanks for stopping by. 

It's Sunday morning and I'm caffeine deprived.  But let's see if I can rebuild the week anyway...

I haven't done any writing or editing this past week because I was preparing for Wish Hits the Fan's book launch and all that.  I did get the book loaded for pre-order and all that.  I was really working up a storm on pre-release stuff.  Then Thursday hit and I fell apart and I still haven't gotten back to work.  Today.

I read three books last week - Silver James' Assassin's Moon, Night Without End by Alistair MacLean, and Postmortem by Patricia Cornwall.  All very exciting books. 

Fishing was bleh.  But still very necessary.  Unfortunately, I think fishing on Thursday was what derailed me. 

The fawns are losing their spots and the bucks are losing their velvet and all of the deer are losing their summer coats.  Fall is here even though it's not really yet. 

After dealing with Kira's allergies for years, I decided to tackle them.  I ordered some stuff from Vetericyn - ear wash and eye wash.  (She gets itchy eyes and ears.)  It only arrived a couple days ago, but it already seems to be helping.  I had bought some wound care stuff of theirs years ago for Max and it worked like a dream.  Why I didn't get this other stuff earlier is beyond me.  (Maybe because it ain't cheap, but then again, trips to the vet for eye goo that never really worked well wasn't cheap either.) 

Postcards for the Once Upon a Djinn series arrived.  The first batch went out yesterday.  The next batch will go out later - because some of them are to people in FL and with Irma... Well, we'll see what happens.  I also handed out my first one of these and the gal at the feed store was suitably impressed.  (I already know she's a reader, so she gets swag when I stop there.)  I told her and I'll tell you, if you haven't already bought these books, don't buy them now.  Wait until the 15th, when they'll all be on sale and available.  You can get all 4 books for under $5 then.

Of course, if you want to get them now so you can start reading, they're still pretty inexpensive at $2.99 ea. 

Today I have to finish updating the back matter for AD, NC, and BF.  Then I have to upload WHTF to Createspace.  Then I have to futz with UWC.  And I have some advertising I have to get in by Tuesday for a Friday newsletter.  Address more postcards.  And finally, tonight, I plan to get back to work on Early Grave.

Ugh, I need more coffee.

What's up in your world?

Saturday, September 9, 2017

Saturday Fishing Report - 9/9/17

Hello all, and welcome to the Saturday Fishing Report.  Sorry it's been light, but it's summer fishing from the bank, so you really can't expect too much.  All the fish are dining deeper than I can get to with my rig.

Tuesday - Went out to the main lake near a public boat ramp around 8:30a.  It was overcast and slightly windy and cool.  I almost caught a turtle, but other than that, nada.  I did try out my new camp stool.  Yep, it's a stool.  If you're looking for something light and cheap to sit on, Wallyworld's got 'em for like $9.  Holds up to around 225lbs.  The only issue is if you sit on it for long enough, the bars on either side of the seat pressing into your butt can cause discomfort. 

Thursday - Back out to my go-to spot at around 8am.  It was sunny and cool.  After about an hour it got warm enough to chuck the jacket and the sweatshirt.  Then I had to slather on the sunblock because those ledges are perfect for gathering sunlight.  I caught one little bluegill.  And lost a worm on a Texas rig when it got hooked up on the rocks. 

After I left the go-to spot, I stopped by the park.  The new hosts are there.  I chatted with the gal, welcomed her to the area, and thanked her.  She seemed nice.  Then again, Barney Fife seemed nice when I did the same thing with him at the beginning.  :shrug:  I'll tell ya one thing, the bathroom was WAY cleaner with her around then with those guys.  Not that it was gross, but it needed to be wiped down and all the dead bugs needed to be swept out on a regular basis.  Ew. 

Then I drove around the park.  Only two camping spots were being used in the entire park.  But several were marked reserved.  I grouse about people being in the park, but I recognize that I need them in the park or they'll close the park again.  And I would have a sad.  Fingers crossed the rest of the weekends this season are banner for them in there.

That's it for me today.  Get outside this week sometime if you can and I'll see ya next week. 

Thursday, September 7, 2017

Thursday This n That

Today's bird of the day is a toucan.  I having a feeling that I'll be quietly craving Froot Loops (tm) all day.

I saw a quote this morning that said something along the lines of 'the mistakes you never made are the ones you regret the most'.  I call bullshit on that one.  I don't have any regrets about not moving to Australia - a goal of mine back when I was like 16.  That would've been a HUGE mistake.  And I have absolutely no regrets about never getting into drugs.  Oh, sure, I tried pot when I was in college.  Regret that seriously since its effects on me were extreme technicolor yawning.  Massive, major, 'I will never ever forget that' ralphing. So much so that even a brain injury could not wipe that memory away.  Fun, fun.

This lead, of course, to a conversation in which Hubs and I tried to figure out once again why people do drugs.  Which reminded me a Robin Williams bit from his 'Live at the Met' show.  "Cocaine.  Anything that makes you paranoid and impotent, give me more of that."  I seriously don't get it.  Well, maybe a little.  I was a serious drinker once upon a time, and looking back, I figured out I was drinking so heavily because I was trying to blank out from everything.  I got over it.  Maybe if people spent more time using their brains instead of trying to blank them out, they'd be better off.  :shrug:

Unfortunately, this conversation also led to me mentioning that Lewis Carroll had to be doing some serious drugs when he wrote Alice in Wonderland, which led to me thinking of that silly song from the Disney movie about the momraths.  And now it's stuck in my head.

The fall bird migration has begun here in the Ozarks and we're seeing the travelers in the yard.  So far, mainly warblers.  Yesterday we had a cerulean warbler and two yellow-rumped warblers.  So pretty.  And so small.  You really have to be paying attention to see those buggers.

It's also gotten cooler this week.  Yay!  I'm actually wearing socks and sweatpants this morning.  And a sweatshirt!  =o)

What's up in your this-n-that world today?

Sunday, September 3, 2017

Sunday Update - Week 35

Helloooo.

The coffee is strong this morning and the nicotine is flowing.  And I think I actually slept last night, which is weird as hell.  But enough about that.

Edits for Wish Hits the Fan are done.  Today is for formatting.  If I get it done, I may upload today.  Definitely uploading tomorrow at the latest.  Which means I will be outside the ten day window for setting books to 'pre-order' on Amazon.  Yay!  Then I can forget about it - well, except for marketing and junk - and get back to writing Early Grave again.

Last week, I read The Great Escape (yes, the one the movie is based on) and it was most excellent.  I cried, of course.  Then I read The Black Fawn by Jim Kjelgaard (the author of Big Red) and it was also most excellent.  And I cried.  Then my edits came back and I stopped reading to get this done.  Next up on my reading to-do list is Silver James' Assassin's Moon.  Squee!

I went fishing a little.

In case anyone wants an update on my ankle, it's still there.  The bruising is gone.  It's still a little twingy from time to time.  Thanks to you all for your concern last week.  I'm still taking it easy.  Well, as easy as I can take anything.

Along those lines, we got the weeding done for the year.  Any weeds grow and they get a reprieve until spring.  I really do hate weeding.  But I really do love how nice the yard looks when we're done.  So I guess we'll keep doing it.

We now have 5 fawns in the herd.  This last one arrived with a couple dark colored does and it has almost no spots left.  Wherever they came from, they're ready for fall.

And we lost a baby raccoon this week.  It died of unknown causes in our back yard.  I suspect snake bite, because it didn't actually look sick or injured.  Of course, I didn't do a full on investigation.  Hubs buried it for me while I was out shopping.

Well, I guess that's it for me.  What it for you?

Saturday, September 2, 2017

Saturday Fishing Report - 9/2/17

Welcome once again to the Saturday Fishing Report. 

It was a super sunny week last week, which for me means less than optimal fishing.  I've heard from various local fishing reports that the fish are still pretty deep - well, too deep for bank fishing anyway.  Oh, well.  Part of the lure of fishing - pardon the pun - is being outside in nature letting the wind and the sun and the rain or whatever clear my head.

My ankle's still not 100% so I'm limited to where I can go.  1) not too far a walk from the car and 2) someplace with natural seating of some kind.  Luckily, my go-to spot covers those.  Unluckily, it's also an east facing rock ledge, so when it's sunny, I bake.

I went out to the go-to spot around 8am on Tuesday.  It was a cool morning and there was a nice breeze.  I slathered SPF 50 on and sat on the ledges drowning worms.  Nothing was biting except for the little worm-stealers. 

Hubs and I went out Thursday afternoon from 3-6pm.  I caught a 12" spotted bass on a worm.  He caught a little bitty spot on a lure.  The fish was only about 2" bigger than the lure LOL. He also caught a little bluegill and I caught a little spot.  It was a gorgeous day, so it's all good.

Since it's now Labor Day Weekend, we'll be staying home for the duration. 

Oh, and the next time I go out, I don't need to worry so much about going someplace with natural seating, since Hubs convinced me to buy a little camp stool.  It's lightweight and seems durable.  It also has a strap to carry it over my shoulder, too, so while it is one more thing to carry in addition to my pole, my tackle box, and my go-bag, it's shouldn't be that big a deal. 

In other happy news, the Barney Fife park host was supposedly being moved to another park this past week.  Fingers crossed he's really gone.  Then I can fish in peace again.  I still won't be parking where I was, but now I won't be jumping every time I hear the golf cart making its rounds.  I heard he was rousting other people, too.  Told one gal she couldn't even use the picnic tables in the park unless she was a paying camper.  That's just nuts.  There's nothing anywhere to indicate that's a thing.  I think he was just a sad man who felt better when he was pushing people around.  Or maybe pushing women around made him feel important.  :shrug:  Buh-bye to you, dorkbutt.

Well, that's it for me.  Not sure what next week will bring.  I'm on deadline with my writing again, so I have to focus on that.  And there's the holiday.  Campers... ew.   Get out and about in nature if you get a chance.  See ya next week.  =o)