Sunday morning

First day of Autumn, so I've switched my LJ theme to "Woodcut Autumn." I like it better than the Summer version. The dark ochre background has a little more definition.

Steel-cut oats for breakfast. Cooked in 50/50 water/milk, with brown sugar and sliced banana as toppers.

Busy morning yesterday. Along with the usual errands--food shopping, bank, etc--picture framing was committed. I finally gathered together the CI cover painting, the Craft "Turandot" print, and the Endgame cover print and went over to Hobby Lobby to see what they offered. Took along a couple of copies of my books, in case the framer wondered why the rear view of the spandex-clad lady with the sidearm and the lady with the knives. Turned out that I needn't have bothered--the older lady working the frame department turned out to be a science fiction fan, who loved all the images**. Thought it was so cool that I wrote science fiction. Said I made her day.

The painting was tricky to frame. I picked a silver frame with a satin finish, and dual matting in light grey and deep red. Not sure about the light grey, but that would be easy to change at some point if I decided it really didn't work. The frame for the Endgame print is gorgeous, an old gold with a branch-like pattern that matches the ancient sense of the buildings and the scene. I choose a pale yellow-brown mat that matches the paler shades of the sand and structures. The frame for the Turandot is also gold, with a raised pattern and black trim that along with the deep red matting works very well with the subject. Overall, I'm happy with how things turned out.

It's cool this morning, 50F or so. Sunny. Normally I'd want to work outside on a day like this, but I want to finish Gideon's never-ending Chapter 2. Need to fit laundry in there somewhere. I should mow the backyard, but I don't want to.

King has taken it into his head that I need to be out of bed by 6am. Isn't that sweet of him?

**but when she talked about the SF she loved, the only writer she mentioned was Isaac Asimov. I didn't have the presence of mind to suggest newer writers, although she did ask for the titles of my books. It's just something I've noticed--many more mundane folk who say they love SF read Asimov, maybe Clarke, and that's about it. Something wrong with that picture.

Sunday morning

First day of Autumn, so I've switched my LJ theme to "Woodcut Autumn." I like it better than the Summer version. The dark ochre background has a little more definition.

Steel-cut oats for breakfast. Cooked in 50/50 water/milk, with brown sugar and sliced banana as toppers.

Busy morning yesterday. Along with the usual errands--food shopping, bank, etc--picture framing was committed. I finally gathered together the CI cover painting, the Craft "Turandot" print, and the Endgame cover print and went over to Hobby Lobby to see what they offered. Took along a couple of copies of my books, in case the framer wondered why the rear view of the spandex-clad lady with the sidearm and the lady with the knives. Turned out that I needn't have bothered--the older lady working the frame department turned out to be a science fiction fan, who loved all the images**. Thought it was so cool that I wrote science fiction. Said I made her day.

The painting was tricky to frame. I picked a silver frame with a satin finish, and dual matting in light grey and deep red. Not sure about the light grey, but that would be easy to change at some point if I decided it really didn't work. The frame for the Endgame print is gorgeous, an old gold with a branch-like pattern that matches the ancient sense of the buildings and the scene. I choose a pale yellow-brown mat that matches the paler shades of the sand and structures. The frame for the Turandot is also gold, with a raised pattern and black trim that along with the deep red matting works very well with the subject. Overall, I'm happy with how things turned out.

It's cool this morning, 50F or so. Sunny. Normally I'd want to work outside on a day like this, but I want to finish Gideon's never-ending Chapter 2. Need to fit laundry in there somewhere. I should mow the backyard, but I don't want to.

King has taken it into his head that I need to be out of bed by 6am. Isn't that sweet of him?

**but when she talked about the SF she loved, the only writer she mentioned was Isaac Asimov. I didn't have the presence of mind to suggest newer writers, although she did ask for the titles of my books. It's just something I've noticed--many more mundane folk who say they love SF read Asimov, maybe Clarke, and that's about it. Something wrong with that picture.

surprise

Walked out to the garage in search of puppy nail clippers, King at my heels. Saw a flurry of activity out of the corner of my eye, and look toward the birdbath in time to see a hawk make a stumbling landing between the spirea and the prairiefire crabapple. A few seconds later, another hawk appeared--King bounded toward them, and they took off, tree-hopping from the pines to the large oak while smaller birds dashed to the shelter of the shrubbery near the house. I think the King and I interrupted a hunt in mid-swoop, which was good for some winged creature, if not the hawks.

surprise

Walked out to the garage in search of puppy nail clippers, King at my heels. Saw a flurry of activity out of the corner of my eye, and look toward the birdbath in time to see a hawk make a stumbling landing between the spirea and the prairiefire crabapple. A few seconds later, another hawk appeared--King bounded toward them, and they took off, tree-hopping from the pines to the large oak while smaller birds dashed to the shelter of the shrubbery near the house. I think the King and I interrupted a hunt in mid-swoop, which was good for some winged creature, if not the hawks.