Tidbits

I'm back on my feet--or I guess I should say, my seat--and writing again.  Still not as one with my desk chair, though.  It has a hard spot right where it meets my tailbone (ouch!) so I'm wandering around the house, trying to find a good spot with a view of the back yard. 

The porch was great until I let a mosquito in from the yard and in a matter of seconds I had several painful bites on my right leg.  Based on the amount of Hot Shot I sprayed around out there, that sucker should be dead by now.

While I was on the porch this morning I started thinking about cutting down the Magnolia that hosts the bird water station and the Hummingbird feeder.  Right at that second a Ruby Throated Hummingbird flew up and fed.  It's been back two more times.  I haven't seen a Hummer for almost two months (okay, I was flat on my back for part of that time, but I did manage to keep the feeder clean and filled) so I have to admit to being completely confused by Hummer behavior.

I got the new squirrels I was expecting--two babies.  Saw one of them taking a sand bath the other day.  It was cute but still annoying.  I'm not sure where the tipping point will be.  The squirrels are messy and eat so much more than the birds it's hard to keep seeds in the feeder.  I've asked the squirrels nicely to go away and they just ignore me.  It's illegal to shoot them.  It's a puzzler, alright.

I missed a month of CFRW's 250 words-a-day challenge, so I've got some catching up to do.  I spent my off-time reading and enjoyed some books on homesteading, small-scale farming and eating locally.    Barbara Kingsolver (another Kentucky writer) wrote an amazing story of her family's year of eating locally in Animal Vegetable Miracle.  Kristen Kimball's A Dirty Life was fun, but neither book made me long  for the farmer's life.  I wouldn't last a day once the bugs started biting.

So, I'm still not sure if A Trick of the Light's young Julia will learn how to cook on her pot-bellied stove or not.  She will definitely be gardening, though, and growing flowers (because I adore flowers...).  I'm not Julia, and she isn't me, but if you're going to write a book you should be able to sneak in a personal passion every once in a while, if you want.

Happy writing.

What I'm Reading

Resting up from an episode with my back (do they still call it "slipped disc"?) and unable to sit up the past five days, I've had a chance to catch up on some reading. 

While browsing downloadable e-books available from my library I saw one of Linda Lael Miller's cowboy books and borrowed it immediately--A Creed in Stone Creek--and was hooked by the characters, settings, story lines...everything that makes a great cowboy book.  The other books in this mini-part of the larger Creed series are The Creed Legacy and Creed's Honor. 

This led me to the McKettrick series and McKettrick's Luck and McKettrick's Pride.  McKettrick's Heart is being reprinted in May and not available at the library (like I could get there to borrow it...).  There is a vast backlist of Miller cowboy books I look forward to diving into, but I'm just as eager to get back to my own writing.

Can't resist a backyard update:  I had my first Hummingbirds of the season last Sunday--a gorgeous Ruby Throat and a female.  I had to cover my mouth to keep from squealing.  I was so excited and pleased to see them at my feeder.  It's dreary and rainy here today, no one at the feeders but squirrels.

Happy writing (and birdwatching)!

Wild Kingdom

I'm working on a scene today that has dogs in it. Deputy Buck Thomas, the hero of The Cowboy Way, has three Border Collies.

As you know, Border Collies love to work. On the Triple Bar T, (Deputy Buck's family's ranch) the dogs have two jobs: they instruct visitors on how old-time cattle ranching was done (man, horse, dog) and they herd things.

Any things. People, cows, birds...you name it.

One of the dogs, Chris (his mates are Bill and Jack) has fallen in love with the heroine, and she with him. There are also some barn kittens that the heroine falls in love with, but that's another part of the story.

I hesitated to put dogs in this story, because, as you know, kids and dogs always steal the show. And, wouldn't you know it? Chris turns out to be a minor hero of The Cowboy Way. But it is a ranch story, and there were already these three great dogs living there...so why not.

It's no secret that I love animals--well, except for squirrels. So, imagine my annoyance when yesterday I noticed that the squirrels had brought a friend along with them to the feeders...a rat!

I was not amused.

In fact, I was really upset until I saw the newest denizen of the back yard, a hummingbird. Yes, I have finally attracted a hummingbird to my feeder. As best I can tell, it's a female ruby-throated hummingbird. She's small and kind of plain, but I'm so happy to see her when she comes by. Watching her delicate wings flutter while she looks for food, and then seeing her jet off when she's done just makes my day.

So, what's your pleasure? Birds or squirrels or rats? Did I forget to mention the snake on the porch yesterday afternoon? Or the mosquitos? Ouch!

It's a regular wild kingdom around here!