Writing, a Doe and Bugs

The act of putting pen to paper encourages pause for thought, this in turn makes us think more deeply about life, which helps us regain our equilibrium. ~Norbet Platt

Yeah, I suck at titles... lol...

I got my weekly writing tips newsletter from Holly Lisle. This week she answers the question, "Why write fiction" with this (in part):

Reality was a caveman freezing.

Fiction was that same caveman wondering, "What if a god were to give us the magic of fire?"

And then telling his imagined story to someone who saw past the gods and figured out a way that a man might capture fire, and touch the realm of gods in the doing.

Fiction---good fiction, anyway---is dream made flesh, given purpose and drive, and set on a quest to show us the best in us and to give us the power and the tools to dream beyond reality's 'merely good enough' to a vision of what is truly great...

...and then to give us the stories of men and women of character who in turn inspire those of us who dare to reach for the truly great within ourselves.

Inspiring... thanks, Ms. Lisle. I do like her newsletter -- it's never very long, comes weekly, and usually makes me feel motivated and happy.

Yesterday we had a huge doe (a deer, a female deer) in our backyard. My DH hasn't cleared back there this year (the way things grow here, it'll be a forest by next spring) so there was plenty to eat. She just walked along munching on all the saplings, maple and oak appeared to be her favorite. She saw and heard us, but didn't appear to be overly spooked. It's pretty amazing how large they are -- especially their ears, which are a bit like satellite dishes.

Since my garden is pretty well caput anyway, I didn't mind having her there.

Speaking of my garden, my summer squash is infested with squash borers. The bases of all three plants is rotted and covered with frass. I sprayed the pogees out of them with some natural pesticides I have (used about half a bottle to make sure it soaked in really well and got those buggers) and then covered the base with dirt. The plants may not make it, but I don't want any babies surviving. :::grumble:::

I may mark summer squash off my gardening list next year, too. At this rate, all I'm going to plant is beans and cucumbers...

Not a lot planned for this weekend. Hopefully it'll be peaceful and stress-free. Wishing you all the same!

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You Are an Amaretto Chocolate Cherry Cupcake

You have a deep desire to leave your mark on the world. You want to change things for the better. You are an object of fascination for many. You shine brightly and boldly. You are youthful in spirit and appearance. You refuse to grow up! To be honest, danger excites you a little. You believe that anything that is worth doing has some risk.

What Exotic Cupcake Are You?

Maybe 25% right ...

Tuesday Tidbits

What do they think I am? Dumb or something? Why, I make more money than - than - than Calvin Coolidge! Put together! - Lina Lamont in "Singing in the Rain"

Quiet day yesterday. It was nice... didn't get as much done as I would have liked, but even so it was relatively without drama. So it's all good :-)

Brandy asked if anyone nearby had an abundant tomato crop to share. My SIL is getting a few, and she brought me four on Sunday. They were yummy... but I'm still sad I can't make sauce. Between the deer coming and chomping them down to only a few inches in June, and the lack of water and high heat, etc., my poor plants are pathetic. DH is going to rig some kind of ongoing watering system for me next year, because going out once a day to water just wasn't enough.

Brandy also mentioned that her summer squash plants were thriving and then just up and died... this happened to me once a few years ago, and it was conveniently when my friend, Michele, to visit. SHE told me it was squash vine borers -- something I'd never heard of. She was right.

Brandy, if your squash plants wilted for a few days before they just died, if, when you pulled up the plants it looked like their stumps had rotted or were spiderwebbed and not solid, you probably had squash borers.

Since then, we look for the moths and kill them on sight. Here's what the moth looks like:



And if we see "frass" (it looks like wet sawdust) at the base of our squash vines, we'll use a knife to dig a hole into it and spray Neem or Pyrethrin spray until it's soaked then wrap it in old pantyhose or bury it in dirt... that may be why the old-time gardeners would mound dirt around the base of their squash plants as they grow -- it helps defend against the buggers.

I watched "Singing in the Rain" with DD yesterday -- I'd promised her a movie -- and I'll leave you with her favorite song because it always make me smile. I tried embedding it, but everyone decent has embedding disabled -- that really annoys me. *sigh*

Anyway ... Have a great day :-)

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You Are Wise

You are a prudent and rational person. You try not to do anything you regret, and if you do, you learn form your mistake. You are educated or at the very least knowledgeable. You have a perception that most people lack. You've learned to be vigilant in your life. You are pretty much always on guard. No matter how old you actually are, you are quite seasoned. You are experienced and worldly.

The Changing Leaves Test

Mostly right.

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