One More Detour on the Writing Road

...I am almost certain that my last post here was later than February. But this year has whipped by so fast that I can't swear to it.

It's Autumn already. The foliage was stunning, but now we're at the mow-mulching stage. The tree folks did a boatload of trimming and tree removal a couple of weeks ago, which saved me some work but not a lot.

We've had some unseasonable chill here in NE Illinois, which I am not ready for. I need to have a new back door installed next month, which should be interesting. During the summer, I need to worry about an influx of flies and wasps getting in through the opening; in colder weather, I need to worry about mice. Do not like mice.

The birds, meanwhile, are pecking through the suet cakes and seeds at a record rate. Some of the smaller squirrels managed to weave through the squirrel-resistant--stop laughing they pretty much do work--suet cages to get at the cakes, so now I have to coat the things with cayenne powder and then make sure to wash my hands thoroughly and NOT TOUCH MY EYES EVEN AFTER I DO SO. Not for a while, anyway.

Soon I'll be bringing in the container plants for the winter. The gerbera daisies. Probably the mini-roses. Sometimes the warmth tricks them out of dormancy and they continue to bloom. Bright spots of color amid the brown and white.

Decluttering–it’s all the rage, the subject of classes, TV shows, and bestselling books. I have lost track of the number of times I pledged to once and for all dispatch all the books I will never read, clothes I will never wear, old financial records I don’t need to save anymore. The odd piece of furniture, old tools, handbags and costume jewelry and general household detritus.

But, for all I wish I could regain control of my space, I always seem to fall short of the mark. Toward the end of last year, I had made some dents, cleaning out a couple of bookcases, organizing the armoire in my bedroom, and freeing up drawer space in the spare bedroom. In the process, I found things I had forgotten I had. For instance, the half-dozen pairs of sunglasses, including a very nice pair of Smiths that have to be at least 25 years old. I bought them because hey, we have the same name. Also, the frames are purple. I love purple.

I know that one rule of thumb for this process is that if you haven’t used or worn something in the previous year or two, you should get rid of it. I can’t always agree with that. Sometimes you do lose track of things that you really liked or that went out of style and then came back in, which is my way of saying that I will be keeping the sunglasses.

That said, the one thing that has always stopped these clean-out sessions in their tracks wasn’t that I didn’t want to get rid of things after all, but  that I didn’t know how best to get rid of them. I don’t want to deal with the hassle of a garage sale, and simply tossing the stuff in the trash is wasteful and in the case of some electronics and household chemicals, ill-advised if not illegal. So I talked to friends, then poked around online, and found that I have more options than I thought. Not all of them are free, but they’re out there.

The Give Back Box is a free service that allows you to use an old Amazon shipping box or other cardboard box to send clothing or household goods to Goodwill. The US Internal Revenue Service Publication 526, Charitable Contributions and Publication 561, Determining the Value of Donated Property, contain guidelines for defining charitable contributions and in general how to estimate value. Goodwill has also put together guidelines for calculating the worth of donated items. In addition, this Donation Calculator references valuations from several charities (the online spreadsheet showed up in Firefox, but not in Safari). Some Habitat for Humanity websites also have guidelines for estimating the value of donations of appliances, building materials, and tools.

For me, that means spreadsheets and photographs for tax purposes. Yea, spreadsheets.

When it comes to clothing, I always forget about resale/consignment shops, which are a good option for my old office clothes and dressy coats I haven’t worn in years.

Old VCR tapes are currently one of the banes of my existence. Some resale shops may take the old movies, but I doubt they would want the scores of History Channel WWII programs that my dad recorded. Companies like GreenDisk can recycle the tapes, along with electronics such as laptops etc, though the service is not free. Local municipal agencies–in my case, the Solid Waste Agency of Lake County, accept all sorts of household waste, including chemical and electronic. My local OfficeMax accepted an old printer of mine for recycling, and they also give credit for returned ink cartridges if you make in-store purchases. Check the website for details.

Lots of places accept donated books. My local library. Goodwill. A number of online charities.

So, with some work, I hope to  finally, FINALLY, get rid of the junk. I will try to recycle most of the things I no longer want, and minimize the garbage destined for the landfill.

How about you? I know there are any number of recycling and donation options I’ve missed, so if you have favorites, please do post them.

Mirrored from .

Next week. Where has the year gone, I ask you?

The final schedule is out, and I have one panel and a reading.

Friday 6 Nov: Broadway 2 • 12:00
Reading: I will be reading some selections from JERICHO.

Mass Autographing Session :

8:30pm City Center 2A and City Center 2B
Open to signers at 8:00
Open to all at 8:30

And on Saturday the 7th, my panel:

2:00•City Center 2A : Fantasy and Detective Fiction — A Natural Fit?

After that, on Sunday 8 Nov at 6pm, I’ll be appearing with a host of other writers at Flights of Fantasy Books and Games. Julie Czerneda! Anne Bishop! Garth Nix! Many more! Then that will be it for travel for 2015.

Here at the ol’ homestead, I am watching the leaves fall and trying to work up the nerve to assemble the leaf grinder/mulcher that I bought earlier this month. No more raking the leaves to the curb for the city to pick up, said I. Instead, I shall grind them and use them to mulch the shrubbery in preparation for the winter ahead.

We’ll see how it goes. Last  year, I mulched some of the leaves with the mower, but there were just too many and I wound up disposing of well over half, along with all the damned needles that fell like rain from the Scots pine in the front yard. This year, it all gets ground up. I’ll leave the ground pine needles under the pine and spruce trees, and save the leaves for the shrubs. Oak leaves–of which I have so so many–are acidic according to all I’ve read, so the hydrangeas and hibiscus should like that.

 

 

Mirrored from Kristine Smith.

Summer has zipped by. I’ve been having work done around the house–deck repaired and stained, dishwasher installed. Thought I’d catch a break for a bit, but the handyman called this evening–he has an opening, so he’ll be by tomorrow to fix one of the walls in the bathroom and repair some tile. So I cleaned out the cabinet that is going to be removed, then vacuumed because doesn’t everyone clean before workmen come to the house?

Oh well. It upsets the day, but it has to get done.

Nothing to report on the reissue of CODE etc as ebooks. Struggling with some short works–I start them, and think, who would want to read this? It’s been done before. The thing is, just about everything has been done before–I could write a one-sentence synopsis and likely be able to think of several already-published stories that fit it. And they would all be different. Because it isn’t the idea, it’s the execution.

If I keep telling myself this, I might come to believe it.

Mirrored from Kristine Smith.

Yeah, it was cold. Snow blew and drifted and crackled underfoot. The wind bit. The house creaked. No exciting frost quakes, just loss of cable internet for most of Monday. Given what other folks went through–stranded on roadways, in train stations, etc–not going to complain. Well, not much. I did get cranky as the day wore on and the lack of instant news/stock market/publishing gossip got under my skin. I fear I am an addict.

I struggled to assuage the longing by baking brownies. Pondered a wip. Started reading Over Sea Under Stone by Susan Cooper, an older YA series that folks online had been raving about as a classic winter reread. I’m halfway through and have put the rest of the books in the series–5 in all–on hold at the library because yeah, the story is pretty good.

But hey, the warm-up has begun! -3F currently, but the wind has died. Saw a squirrel for the first time since Sunday, gnawing on the fresh suet block. A few hardy birds had gathered throughout the onslaught–the usual crew of jays, cardinals and juncos and even a pigeon or two–but more today, because HEAT WAVE!

I was worried about the car, since the garage is detached/uninsulated/unheated. But air temp in there is routinely 10 degrees warmer than the outdoors no matter what. That meant it was close to 10F in there this morning, which in turn translated to yes, the car started and I was able to get out of the house for the first time in 4 days. That lightened the general mood considerably.

Hope everyone affected by the polar vortex–that is so the name of my next band–is staying warm. I’m looking forward to spring, but there is still so much winter left to live through.

Mirrored from Kristine Smith.

Lots of apples.

Last week, one of my neighbors gave me a shopping bag full of apples from their tree. 17 pounds worth.

Yesterday, I dealt with them. A couple quarts of applesauce. Apple crisp. Today, apple nut bread.

I recommend the crisp recipe. I did substitute white whole wheat flour for the all-purpose when making the crumbs, and added a couple tablespoons of wheat germ as well. The crumbs may have turned out a little dry as a result, but they do have a nice, nutty flavor.

Lots of cooking over the last week. Autumn food, Jacques Pepin’s tuna w/ pasta (best tuna casserole ever, imo, and yes, I add the raisins), butternut squash soup and maple-brined pork loin roast (result: a very juicy roast that tasted a bit like ham).

House stuff took up a lot of my time. The basement guys came and fixed the window wells and filled All The Cracks. I cleared lava rock from a patch next to the deck, and planted some shrubs. Raked leaves. Set up appointments for more estimates.

Downloaded Gimp, which is freeware photo manipulation software. I’ve heard that it’s difficult to learn, but I would like to use it and try my hand at ebook covers for some short stories. I can understand paying to have a novel cover made, but it’s a little more difficult to justify the expense for a short story. I’ll see how well I do. If it proves a disaster, I’ll look into alternative coverage.

Raining now. Cool, dreary autumn. Trees that were still mostly green seem to have changed over the last two days–maples are either vermilion or a gorgeous deep gold, like butterscotch. Oaks aren’t as flashy, all tarnished brass.

Some folks have already put up their Christmas decorations. That just staggers me. Not ready for that at all.

Mirrored from Kristine Smith.

Couldn’t manage this sort of photo, but I did have a couple of 4.5-Mountain-Days (Jefferson was a little hazy, but Rainier, Adams, St Helens, and Hood were all new penny bright).

Mt. Hood, USA. pic.twitter.com/zbpgd3cLBy

— National Geographic (@NatGeopix) October 12, 2013

Mirrored from Kristine Smith.

Don’t ask me where in hell the year has gone, because I don’t know.

Gaby is at playcare today, running with the pack (cue Bad Company). I was going to clean, but wound up doing laundry and baking instead. Neighbor-with-fruit-trees gave me a basket of white and yellow peaches, and while they tasted fine fresh, there were so many that I didn’t want to risk them going off, so I made a cobbler.

Sidebar to say that my absolute favorite Donna Noble line comes during her wedding, when her friend Nerys (sp?), who does give off a Bitch Vibe, complains that Donna made her wear peach. “But you are a peach,” Donna replies. “Fair of skin. Stone inside. Going off.”

Anyway. I had been planning to make the usual Bisquick cobbles, but I tripped over this recipe online and decided to give it a go. Blanched and peeled the peaches using the tomato method–which I guess is the peach method, too–by cutting an X on the bottom of each peach, then sticking them in boiling water for a minute or so, then shoveling them into a bowl of ice water. Let them cool for a few, then peel. Skin came off nice as you please:

Peeled and sectioned the peaches:

Poured the melted butter and lightly mixed batter into a 13×9-inch baking dish. Added a few drops of Fiori di Sicilia to the batter because it really freshens the taste:

Brought the peaches to a boil with vanilla, cinnamon, sugar, and a few teaspoons of Grand Marnier, just to see if it would make a diff:

Baked for about 45 minutes at 375F:

House smelled great while it baked. Haven’t tried it yet–fruit and spices taste better after sitting a few hours, for all the recipes tell you to eat fresh/warm from the oven. I’ll have some tonight, with coffee.

Mirrored from Kristine Smith.

…of a squirrel, that barely missed becoming breakfast for a hawk.

Morning walk with Gaby. We had just entered the park when I saw the swoop-and-flurry. Squirrel dashing across open space and walkway toward safety of tree while hawk pursued and squirrel’s buddy brought up the rear, chattering and in general trying to disrupt the proceedings. It worked–hawk had to veer off to avoid hitting the tree, and the squirrel buddies dashed up into the safety of the dense leaves. They were still chittering when Gaby and I passed.

Made a circuit of the park and neighborhood. Spotted the hawk on the way back. It landed in a large oak and tried to settle in, but a couple of smaller birds drove it off and forced it to a different branch. Looked as though it hadn’t found breakfast yet. Rough morning.

It’s hotter than I thought it would be, and muggy. Showered after we got home. Straightened the kitchen. Time to work now.

Talked to neighbor on the way back. He had promised me fresh peaches a couple of months ago–today he said they’re getting close.

A fresh peach. Yanno, I don’t think I’ve ever had one. If he gives me enough, I may look up a tart recipe. Maybe chutney. Then of course, there are the ripe ones that you eat whilst standing over the sink because they’re so damn juicy.

In other news, Gaby got skunked the other night. That makes three times this summer. The groomer said that it’s been the Summer of the Skunk–she’s had 7-8 deskunkings in the last two weeks.

This skunk was eating the bird seed that had fallen out of the feeder. It didn’t return last night, so I am hoping that all the ruckus of being barked at and chased off will make it think twice about coming back. Depends how hungry it gets, I suppose.

Mirrored from Kristine Smith.

I know–I’ve been scarce. Going to be scarcer. September should be better.

Trees and shrubs have been trimmed, by me and by actual pros with wood chippers and stump-grinders and such. Amazing how quickly two men and a wood chipper can get rid of a tree’s worth of, well, tree. This they did yesterday, at about 715am. Hella way to wake up, but I had to get up anyway, and by the time I got dressed they were gone. The backyard looks bigger and sunnier. Next month, I will have some repair work done on the deck, do some mulching and planting.

Tomatoes have been ripening. Yesterday, chopped up a few Black Crim and the single ripe Kellogg’s Breakfast–a pretty pale orange color–with a cucumber and a red onion. Sweet vinegar dressing–cider vinegar, sugar, salt/pepper, and a dash of olive oil. Had it last night with broiled salmon and couscous. Lovely summer dish.

Finally had some rain yesterday after two-three weeks without. Only a few tenths of an inch, but some wind came along for the ride and this morning city crews were out picking up fallen branches. A tree had fallen across the bike trail, so Gaby and I got to do a little up and over. But we’ve had our walk. Now she’s outside keeping the yard save from Invader Squirrel and his partners in crime. I’m inside, in the cool & dry, getting ready to work.

Below, the begonias in the front yard planter. They’re lovely now, full and bright–the photo doesn’t do them justice, but I wanted to post it anyway because.

Mirrored from Kristine Smith.