FF: Yellow Iris

Mei-Ling Says “MY book.”

In case those of you who read the WW wondered, the yellow iris did indeed bloom, as did several more purple. But it’s hard to get Mei-Ling to hold still for a picture, so she won the top model contest this week. However, there is picture of the yellow iris at the end.

For those of you unfamiliar with this column, the Friday Fragments lists what I’ve read over the past week.  Most of the time I don’t include details of either short fiction (unless part of a book-length collection) or magazines.  The Fragments are not meant to be a recommendation list.  If you’re interested in a not-at-all-inclusive recommendation list, you can look on my website under Neat Stuff.

Once again, this is not a book review column.  It’s just a list with, maybe, a bit of description or a few opinions tossed in.  And it’s also a great place to tell me what you’re reading.  I love seeing the tapestry of what people choose.

Completed:

Memory by Lois McMaster Bujold.  Audiobook.  Very closely tied to the events in Mirror Dance.  This might also be called “Miles Grows Up,” because he does a lot of reassessing his goals and priorities, as well as solving a major crisis.  I quite liked.

Death in a White Tie by Ngaio Marsh.  I’m not sure I ever read this one.  Very exciting to have a “new “book by a long-gone author.  I quite enjoyed.

In Progress:

Komarr by Lois McMaster Bujold.  Audiobook.  Nice use of two different narrators, each of whom has information the other would really like to have.

Death and the Dancing Footman by Ngaio Marsh.  I think I read this one a long, long time ago.  Nonetheless, quite enjoying. 

Also:

Finished the most recent Smithsonian and give it a thumbs up.

Yellow Iris, Backdropped With Purple

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By Purest Chance

First Iris

Spring flowering took a few baby steps forward the past week.  We now have three purple iris blossoming, and will probably have both purple and yellow flowers before the end of the week.  The first blue flax has opened.

The tomato seeds I planted still aren’t doing what I’d hoped they’d be doing by now.  I think this is due to the much colder than usual nighttime temperatures.  By purest chance, I have a comparison.  The evening of the day I planted the tomato seeds in my outdoor starter bed, I found a seed I’d missed on the kitchen table.  Rather than putting it back in the envelope, I put it in the pot of basil I have on my kitchen windowsill.

(Yes.  I am familiar with John Keats’s poem “Isabella, or the Pot of Basil.”  No fear, no one was harmed in the planting of this basil.  I was simply t lonely for a plant to watch, and started this one over the winter.)

Anyhow, the indoor seed sprouted within ten days.  The sprout has grown, and is even thinking about producing a true leaf.  Of the seeds planted outdoors, only one or two have sprouted, and the seedlings have remained small.  This is quite counter to my past experiences with starting seeds in this bed.

Why do I start the seeds outside?  I’ve started seeds indoors many times.  However, probably because of our extreme shifts of temperature, the young plants don’t take well to being “hardened off.”  Until this year, I’ve had fairly good luck starting tomato plants in this one sheltered corner outside.  I haven’t given up hope yet.

Why do I grow plants from seed?  The varieties I’m trying are not widely available as bedding plants.  They’re grown from heirloom seeds, of plants that have been shown to do well in the higher summer heat we’ve been having these last few years.

On that note, I’m off to the planet Sphinx where Spring is moseying along through its fifteen and a bit Terran month cycle, the crown oaks are changing their foliage, and the treecats are getting ready to have kittens.

Take care!

FF: Aware

Roary Peeks Into the DreamForge

I’m aware my website link was broken.  I think we have it fixed now.  Thanks very much to those of you who let me know, as I don’t go to my website very often, except to update.

For those of you unfamiliar with this column, the Friday Fragments lists what I’ve read over the past week.  Most of the time I don’t include details of either short fiction (unless part of a book-length collection) or magazines.  The Fragments are not meant to be a recommendation list.  If you’re interested in a not-at-all-inclusive recommendation list, you can look on my website under Neat Stuff.

Once again, this is not a book review column.  It’s just a list with, maybe, a bit of description or a few opinions tossed in.  And it’s also a great place to tell me what you’re reading. 

Completed:

DreamForge Anvil, issue eleven.  This one has a solarpunk theme, which is very challenging for short fiction in particular because there needs to be a lot of setting detail for the story to work, and this leaves less for characters.  Several pieces met this challenge to my grumpy level of expectation.

And done with the Nebulas for another year.

In Progress:

Memory by Lois McMaster Bujold.  Audiobook.  Very closely tied to the events in Mirror Dance.  Denial of his infirmities has long been a way for Miles to power through.  Now he must face he can’t deny everything.  A new challenge may be his way.

Death in a White Tie by Ngaio Marsh.  I’m not sure I ever read this one.  Very exciting.

Also:

The new Smithsonian.  So far, my favorite piece has been a very well-explained article a trend to recycle organic waste, producing methane and other useful by-products.  Solarpunk is here in reality as well!

What a Spectacle!

Spectacle Pod Near the Temple of the Toad

One of the many wildflowers (some would call them “weeds”) that Jim and I let go in our yard is the spectacle pod.  Named for its seed pods, which look somewhat like a pale green set of opera glasses, these roughly foot high plants grow with very little encouragement and no need to be watered.  They start flowering about this time of year with blossoms lasting for about a month.  Then they produce seeds that the birds enjoy.  Finally, they wither into something ragged and brown that we pull.

After we pull the spectacle pod plants, we often put the dead plants in an out of the way corner of the yard, so the birds can continue foraging for a while more.  The seeds can be eaten by humans as well.  I’ve tried them.  They’re somewhat spicy but, not (to my tastebuds at least) particularly yummy.  I guess they’re best “for the birds.”

Slowly but surely, our yard is acknowledging that maybe, just maybe, we’re done with winter.  Jim and I have been going out at night to see the toads in our tiny pond.  The record thus far is six.

When I’m not enjoying my yard, I’ve been writing away on SK5.  Like the garden, the novel doesn’t seem to be growing very fast.  However, when I compare what I have done by the end of the week to where I started, I can see the changes.

Honestly, being a gardener, especially one who frequently grows plants from seed, and being a novelist have a lot in common, don’t they?

FF: Apple Blossoms

Apple Blossoms

Our not-quite-thriving young apple tree (it hasn’t liked the very hot summers) is just beginning to bloom.  I celebrate this as a reminder to enjoy the moment, as the moment may be all you get.

For those of you unfamiliar with this column, the Friday Fragments lists what I’ve read over the past week.  Most of the time I don’t include details of either short fiction (unless part of a book-length collection) or magazines.  The Fragments are not meant to be a recommendation list.  If you’re interested in a not-at-all-inclusive recommendation list, you can look on my website under Neat Stuff.

Once again, this is not a book review column.  It’s just a list with, maybe, a bit of description or a few opinions tossed in.  And it’s also a great place to tell me what you’re reading. 

Completed:

Mirror Dance by Lois McMaster Bujold.  Audiobook.  Personal and emotional complications of Brothers in Arms come home in this much longer, more complex novel.

In Progress:

Reading toward the Nebula awards.  At least for a few more days…

Memory by Lois McMaster Bujold.  Audiobook.  Very closely tied to the events in Mirror Dance.  Denial of his infirmities has long been a way for Miles to power through.  Now he must face he can’t deny everything.

Also:

The new Smithsonian, as well as a few odds and ends of articles, and scattered research.

Iced Tree

Iced Tree

Last week, I got out and about to somewhere other than the grocery stores and post office, which are my usual glamorous destinations.

I couldn’t get a picture of the pick-up truck which had two huskies wearing mirror shades leaning out the window, but I did get a picture of the tree covered with ice.

Context will help you appreciate this photo…  The temperature was warm enough that I was not wearing a jacket, only a sweatshirt.  The hour was closing on noon.  The cause was a sprinkler that had apparently been set on an auto-timer that hadn’t shut off overnight, and had lightly sprayed (and was still spraying) this tree and its surrounding with a light mist.

Bizarre.

Despite these attempts of “reality” to convince me I’d stumbled into one of those contemporary Fantasy novels where the Fey are living among us (my favorite is War For the Oaks, by Emma Bull), I had a fairly normal week.

Writing happened, and SK5 is shaping up nicely.  Over the weekend, I put twenty-one tomato seeds in my starter bed (twelve Punta Banda; nine Texas Wild cherry).  I’m now restraining myself from going outside every few hours to see if anything has sprouted yet.  Various perennials are leafing out, and the lilies are just poking over the surface.

We won’t go ahead with much of the rest of the garden until after April 18^th, which is the official “last average frost” date for our area.  In the meantime, we’ll be getting beds ready.  Jim is going to test his new shoulder with a little gentle digging…  It’s doing pretty well overall.

Coincidentally, SK5 is also set during the time when Winter is giving way to Spring.  Of course, on the planet Sphinx, seasons last for fifteen and a bit T-months, so the cold weather gear is still out and being used.

Be well!

FF: Tell Them, Tell Me

Persephone Contemplates a Latte

This week, I realized that most of what I was reading was due to some variation on word of mouth.  This does seem to be the best way to learn about books or even—as with the Mile Vorkosigan books, which I now love—learn that your first impression needs adjustment.  If it hadn’t been for my friend Rowan Derrick giving me her honest opinion about why I was wrong, I’d really have missed out on something I enjoy.

For those of you unfamiliar with this column, the Friday Fragments lists what I’ve read over the past week.  Most of the time I don’t include details of either short fiction (unless part of a book-length collection) or magazines.  The Fragments are not meant to be a recommendation list.  If you’re interested in a not-at-all-inclusive recommendation list, you can look on my website under Neat Stuff.

Once again, this is not a book review column.  It’s just a list with, maybe, a bit of description or a few opinions tossed in.  And it’s also a great place to tell me what you’re reading. 

Completed:

Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree.  Very kind and friendship affirming.

Brothers in Arms by Lois McMaster Bujold.  Audiobook.  SF Espionage thriller done very well.

In Progress:

Reading toward the Nebula awards.  Still.

Mirror Dance by Lois McMaster Bujold.  Audiobook.  Personal and emotional complications of Brothers in Arms come home in this much longer, more complex novel.

Also:

Finished the new American Archeology.  Much better written than usual.  I wonder if it’s the new editor.  Some interesting different takes on the material, too.  Will be starting the new Smithsonian. 

We’re Finally…

Butterfly Princess Mei-Ling

I think that here in New Mexico, it’s finally more Spring than Winter.  This means it’s really blustery out there.  However, there is green among the browns and golden brown.  The apricot tree whose blossoms were featured in last week’s WW is now without blossoms, largely courtesy of the wind.

We’ve seen a toad or two, but the nightly chorus has not yet begun.  We’re leaving some of the plants and leaves in place to give the toads cover, until the bunch grasses and other plants come back.

I’ve put off starting tomato seeds, because our nighttime temps can still get pretty low, but I think I’ll start them by this weekend.  I have cleared my little starter bed of last year’s leftovers, added half a bag of mushroom compost, and started moistening the area.  Our base “soil” is pretty much sand, which is great for drainage, but, well, “great for drainage” means getting it moist after it reverted to dust over the winter is not easy.

Writingwise, I’m working on SK5 (the next Star Kingdom book, next in sequence after last year’s release, A New Clan).  It’s shaping up pretty nicely.  One of the best things, for me, is that since there hasn’t been nearly as long a lag between this book and A New Clan, as there was between A New Clan and Treecat Wars, the setting and characters are very much alive in my imagination.

This week’s Wanderings features is Mei-Ling, our shy girl—although not with me and Jim.  Last weekend, she actually came out very briefly when our gamers were here, and stopped to look at them for one long moment.  We’re hoping this is the beginning of further courageous forays into the unknown.

On the other hand, we’re also scheduled to have work done on our roof sometime this month or in early May.  The sounds of mysterious monsters up on high may undo all our good work!

Off to mess about with the treecats…  Catch you later!