We had a very nice weekend–EB, MD and JF came to the island for a visit, with the large dog Kai, and a marvelous time was had by all! The weather was punkish and wintry, as you’d expect. But that didn’t stop us from taking a wonderful hike, scrambling up the hill behind the inn […]

Well it was a nice little time off! We enjoyed the Hobbit movie, though we had a few quibbles, because nothing’s perfect, right? But it was good to get away, and see J&J, and eat sushi. We also did a little Costco shopping, because that’s what island people do when they go to the mainland.

I don’t want to panic here, but I made ice cream this evening (blackberry, since you asked)–and, my wonderful six-dollar second-hand ice cream maker made some VERY PECULIAR NOISES while it was churning. It made the ice cream just fine–I mean, WAY fine–but, I hope this wasn’t a sign of its imminent demise? In other

Okay, TOMORROW we’ll take down the Christmas tree–honest! Today was about more work work workity workwork, plus going to town for errands and for seeing the jeweler about making our wedding rings. 🙂 Plus I got my engagement ring cleaned–it’s all shiny and sparkly again. I thought I was just getting used to it, but

As I reflect upon the enormous amount of work I’ve been doing this last little while, here in this remote winter-time inn far from the real world, and get to the end of the day and try to think of anything at all interesting to post here, and fail…well, yeah: all work and no play

This is not a 2013 wrap-up post, because I’m too fuzzy-headed to properly review the year, but I do feel like I should say something. It was a pretty marvelous year, for the most part. I read a lot (see previous post) and wrote some but not so much; I gardened and swam and did

So, I keep a spreadsheet of what books I read during the year, but as it’s all part of a larger spreadsheet of all the books, by author, I never add them up till new year’s. Last year I read 87 books. I was very impressed. On tallying-up day, I wrote: Wow, 87 is a

Eel River is on John Scalzi’s blog today! Check it out! Already someone is loving on the cover. Mark will be happy to see that! Because it is an awesome cover, isn’t it? And now, back to our guests. 🙂

Well, whatever that cold was, it blew through fast. I think. I hope. 🙂 Anyway, I slept well and long last night, and woke up feeling lots better. Though I still took it easy today–physically anyway. Because I actually wrote something! A couple thousand words on a new collaborative story (that’s due at the end

We’re back on the island…I came down with a horrible cold yesterday, which got even more horrible last night and this morning, while we were houseguests overnight in Anacortes at my brother’s girlfriend’s parents’ incredibly gorgeous waterfront home. Not quite what we’d been hoping for…but they very graciously took care of me, while Mark went