Sunday Update - 2026 Week 14?

 Well, crap... it's Sunday again, isn't it?  Since I can't figure out what day it is most of the time, you shouldn't be surprised that I'm not sure what week it is.  Anyway...

Nope on the writing / editing.  I'm having stern talks with myself.  I may banish myself with my Kindle and my notepad to the spare room until I finish editing the damn book I should've finished editing months ago.  I think the main problem here is I'm stuck in the 'I suck and I hate this book' mindset, so it's hard to make progress on something you're pretty sure stinks.  And if you suck, how can you fix something that stinks?  :shrug:

Yep on the marketing.  Not a banner week, but still, something is better than nothing.  No clue what's going to be on the block for this week.

No reading.  Seriously, I don't think I even picked up my book last week.  Derp.

No baking happened, but I did make ham & bean soup yesterday.  It turned out really yummy and it used up the last of my Easter ham, so yay.

I was pretty active this past week - mostly with the deck garden.  I did take two hard-target walks for 1.75 miles.  I also did some cleaning and furniture moving.  I'm also trying to eat better - more salads, less crap.  Unfortunately, I stepped on the scale yesterday and had gained two pounds.  Derp.  Weight: 179.4

As for gardening, I have all my produce seeds/plants in the ground now - potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, and green peppers.  We'll see how those go.  I realized yesterday that I fucked up with Pedro.  I was supposed to cover him with dirt while he was still small - to encourage root growth.  But I was so pleased with Pedro's growth, I totally forgot to mound him in dirt.  He is pretty spectacular.  I'll mound the other potatoes.  

I spent some time shopping this week - Tractor Supply and Wallyworld.  I do love Tractor Supply, and they had dirt 'buy one get one 50% off', so I had that going for me.  Yes, I am a redneck.  Wallyworld was Wallyworld.  

Oh, I saw Beauregard the Broad-Winged Hawk twice this past week.  One time, he flew beneath the smoking room windows, so I got a really close view of him.  He's pretty awesome.  On another bird note, the Barred Owls have been hanging out close to the house, so we've heard them hooting for a few nights/mornings in a row.  This morning, one of them must have been in the yard because the hooting was really loud.  Awesome.

And that's about it for me.  I need to figure out what I'm going to do today and try to avoid sitting in front of the TV for the majority of it.  A walk is in order, definitely.  The rest?  Time will tell.  Have a great day wherever you are.  

Thursday This n That

 I forgot what day it is.

Tuesday, we voted in the municipal elections.  One measure on the ballot failed by one vote.  ONE vote.  Never let it be said that your vote doesn't matter.  It does.  If we hadn't voted, it would've changed the outcome.  (And we'd be paying more in property taxes this year, which we do not need.)

Why do people vote to raise their own property taxes???  I mean, yeah, I could see if it was something important, but this wasn't.  

Yesterday, there was a squirrel in the yard that was acting like it was having a stroke or something.  We didn't go anywhere near it, but we kept an eye on it from the window.  First, it was just laying there in the sun underneath the hickory tree.  The next time we looked it had moved into the shade.  The next time it was back in the sun.  Then Hubs saw it from his bathroom window and another squirrel had walked up on it and they were jumping around at each other, after which it went right back to laying under the tree.  A little while later, it was stumbling toward the water pans and got itself a drink.  Then it was right back under the tree - about a 15 foot distance - where it was digging with its front paw and then eating what looked like some kind of root.  After dinner, it had moved to the backyard and was again eating some kind of root.  By then, it was looking decidedly better.  I wonder if those roots have medicinal properties.  Anyway, the next time we looked, it was gone.  Either it got better and went away, or the fox got it during its dusk rounds through our yard.  Still, it was all very weird.  

What does one do for a messed-up squirrel?  I'd call a rehabber, if we had any anywhere near us.  The only good one I know of, though, is in OK and they can't take out of state animals.  Bummer.  I thought about going out there with a net and catching it, but then I'd be violating some wild animal ordinance or something.  Around here, the wildlife better get better on its own.  I just wish the critters would stop having medical dramas on my lawn.  If they're going to die, they need to do it in the woods and far enough away that I don't see it.

Okay, time for me to go take a walk... which is what I was getting ready to do when I realized I hadn't posted today.  Derp.  Have a great day, wherever you are.  Peace out.

Monday Update - 2026 Week 13

 Yesterday was a holiday, but let's face it, I can't blame Easter for my totally forgetting to post.  I'm late today because I overslept because cat-antics wouldn't let me sleep and then I was up until after midnight.

Let's not talk about writing, eh?  Although, I did think about writing.  For some reason, a story I started years ago but never finished popped into my head late last night and wanted me to write it RIGHT THEN.  But I was trying to get to a place where I could sleep, so I ignored it.  I take the fact that stories are demanding to be written as a good sign, but so far, that's all it is - a sign.  

The big marketing a whole series thing last week went okay.  It looked better than it was because I had three books being downloaded, but per book, it wasn't great.  Today, Song of Storm and Shroud is up for a 5-day freebie.  (SONG OF STORM AND SHROUD - an epic fantasy for kids and adults alike - is free today through Friday. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09W745M6P)  Unfortunately, I woke up late and haven't really done any marketing beyond posting to my pages on FB.  :shrug:  I'm tired and unmotivated.

Not much reading this week.  I really am a toad.

In baking news, I made applesauce bars (B-) and raisin-apple bread pudding (A-).  Plus, I baked the ham for Easter (A+).  

On the activity front, I took two walks for about 2 miles. I also did stuff in the deck garden - moving pots, etc.  Last night, I moved a bookshelf and all its books, so that was active.  (Sawyer was being turd and using it as a springboard to get onto the TV shelf.)  After all the ham I ate yesterday, I'm not going to weigh myself, but when I weighed myself last Tuesday, I was at 177.4.

Ah, the garden.  It's rolling right along, as you could see from my post last week.  I did plant more carrot seeds to replace the ones that pooped out on me.  The feed store has their tomato plants in, but I have to wait until I'm flush again before I buy those.  Later this week... I hope.  None of Pedro Potato's kinfolk have come up, so I'm getting ready to plant more taters.  :fingers crossed:

Other than that, not much going on here.  I did mention I was a toad, didn't I.  

Pedro Potato and The Produce Posse

So, I went out yesterday and took pictures of where my garden is at right now. First off:

Pedro Potato!

Next:

The Pepper Quartet

And then there's...

The Carrot Gang

I'll leave the pics of the trees for another day. Needless to say, there are a lot of pots on my deck right now. LOL

Instagram?

 I've had an Instagram account for years, but I could never get it to work because it was expecting me to post from a smartphone (or some such nonsense).  This morning I got one of those notifications that people were following me on Instagram.  I went over there with the thought that I'd try using it again.  Lo and behold, it actually let me post something.  Wow.  

So, anyway, if you're on Instagram, I'm at https://www.instagram.com/b.e.sanderson/

I can't guarantee I'll post anything with any regularity, but there it is.  

B.E. Sanderson... slowly moving into this century. Heh.

As an aside, what ever happened to Pinterest?  I had an account and deleted it when they turned into turds, but I never hear about it from anyone else anymore either.  Are they even still a thing?

Marketing Monday - Series Bonanza - A Model Curse

I'm trying something different today.  I'm marketing an entire series.  My A MODEL CURSE series definitely hasn't gotten the love it deserves, so all three books in the series are free starting today and running through Friday.  It's snarky.  It's got a heroine who breaks the rules by being slightly unlovable.  Although, frankly, I do love her, but that's because I know her and she's really a good person deep down.  She's shallow and vapid and self-absorbed, with a foul-mouth and bad habits, but she's also got a big heart.  Once you read the books, you'll see how she got the way she is and how she grows to show her real beauty.  

The book is written in a very conversational style - my conversational style - so don't come into this with your Strunk and White in hand.  It's for fun.  It's for escape.  Oh, there is a deeper message behind it all, but I don't beat you over the head with it.  If you get it, great.  If not, I hope the ride is still enjoyable.

Anyway, enjoy.  The books are free, so why not try them?  What have you got to lose?

Marketing copy:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08MTFRD71
A MODEL CURSE - the entire series - is free for a limited time. Now through Friday, get the whole damn, fun, snarky, paranormal suspense story totally free. (They're always free with Kindle Unlimited. This is so everyone can play.)

Sunday Update - 2026 Week 12

Hello.  I'm up obscenely early for a Sunday, but that's on the cats.  They didn't like last night's food, so they're being turds.

I thought about writing and editing this week.  That may be a sign that I'm jones'n for it.  Shhh, don't frighten the gumption away.  Marketing went crickets on me.  I only moved 15 copies of UNEQUAL.  :shrug:  Tomorrow starts a 'series bonanza' - something different I'm trying - wherein all the books in the A Model Curse series will be free for 5 days.  I've already set up tomorrow's post on that.  

I started reading a book.  Woot.  I'm about a quarter of the way through Leadership by Rudy Giuliani.  

No baking.  I did make a really tasty sweet & sour chicken dish, even if the breading on the chicken did go pear-shaped* on me.

On the activity front, I was a little active this week.  It was mostly garden work - removing detritus from the outside beds and working on the potted plants on the deck.  We did walk once, though.  Go us.  I haven't weighed myself.  Weight: Fat

The potted plants seem to be doing okay.  I'm not sure if I mentioned that 3 out of my 4 pots worth of tiny carrot plants died, but the 4th pot is doing good.  I will be thinning that this week and replanting the other pots with new carrot seeds.  I have 1 tiny potato plant coming up, which thrills me no end.  The repotted green peppers are all doing well.  All six of my redbud trees have leaves.  The redbud I thought was dead is trying, so yay.  Both of my remaining dogwood trees have tiny leaves.  The three mystery trees are all doing really well.  I'm no longer sure that one is a black cherry, but I'm getting more sure that one is a buckthorn.  We'll see.

I did try to do some carving this week.  I was really getting into it when the gouge slipped and I perforated my thumb knuckle.  That'll teach me.  Of course, I wasn't wearing the safety gloves.  I hate gloves when I have to actually do anything with my hands.  Of course, I'll be wearing them the next time I carve, because while I am sometimes foolhardy, I'm not stupid.  Live and learn.  Thankfully, it wasn't a large perforation and I'm a good clotter.  I'm just waiting to be 100% sure it won't open back up before I go back to strenuous hand activities.  

Other than that?  :shrug:  I hope you had a good week last week and that this coming week is amazing for you.

*a British phrase that I appreciate, so I'm gonna use.  What's English if not an opportunistic language that rummages through the pockets of other languages looking for spare phrases and shiny euphemisms?