What’s Up, Pussycat?

Hope everyone is doing well!

Right now I’m editing Lily’s series – getting rid of archaic forms and words, and I’m on “The Air I Breathe”, and have uploaded books one and two to Amazon and Lulu already.

I’m also trying to get ready for autumn. I need to make a final pass on my garden, bring some plants in from the deck, get some more firewood… batten down the hatches and get ready for, (what I think), might be a rather dramatic autumn and winter season.

A few years ago there was a short power outage during winter, and I was grateful for the stockpile of wood I had because there was none to be found in any store. I closed off rooms I didn’t need, boiled some water to send steam into the air and lit my fireplace/wood stove. (It’s inset like a fireplace but clean burning, with secondary combustion, so it acts like a stove.) I hung sheets to help keep out the chill and slept on cushions in front of the fireplace. It was cozy – everything lit by the fireplace or dozens of candles – and even though I missed the net and being able to play video games with the boyfriend, I also liked the peace. We played board games, read, chatted and played with the kitties.

We haven’t had snow here in the PacNW much the past few years and this summer was very mild, so I think there’s a decent chance it might make up for it during winter. I remember as a kid my parents always got down ‘winter clothes’ in September, and put up our summer togs, and I guess that tradition (?) or sense of a distinct break in seasons remains with me.