Nothing's as Simple as it Should Be

Foodie Friend wants a cape before Halloween, and I have the skills, so we went to a fabric store to buy a pattern and fabric. I've made capes and robes before without patterns, but a pattern means he got to approve the look ahead of time and it should go relatively quickly, which, with autumn things to do and several short stories to finish and NaNoWriMo coming up, is a good thing.

And I determined his computer, though it's newer than mine, also does not have any form of SD slot, which I need to empty the micro-card that is now in my phone full of pictures. Hopefully the laptop that my kid's Dad got her will be able to let me transfer the photos to a USB drive.

I also got a submission into a contest on time (assuming I did the conversion for time zones correctly) and did other writerly correspondence and work.

And I fed and petted the feral kittens who still need homes. Today both purred at me.

We also got the first significant load of leaves on the roses, though naturally, just as we got outside it started to rain. Not much, thankfully, but still, there was wetness.

Tomorrow, there shall be Fireborn in this journal. Poor Orchid!

And tomorrow, I shall look at the sparkly dragon story to make sure the character's voices each work, and are consistent, and there are no eggregious typos or grammos, and whether I need to fix anything else to make the story hang together right.

And I shall finish cleaning herbs off the dining room table, wash it, and lay pattern pieces on cloth. And gulp big-time, like I always do when cutting into whole cloth, and then cut. Pin. Maybe even sew. I'm so casual about most sewing things; why do I always feel daunted when faced with whole sheets of brand-new cloth?

Nothing's as Simple as it Should Be

Foodie Friend wants a cape before Halloween, and I have the skills, so we went to a fabric store to buy a pattern and fabric. I've made capes and robes before without patterns, but a pattern means he got to approve the look ahead of time and it should go relatively quickly, which, with autumn things to do and several short stories to finish and NaNoWriMo coming up, is a good thing.

And I determined his computer, though it's newer than mine, also does not have any form of SD slot, which I need to empty the micro-card that is now in my phone full of pictures. Hopefully the laptop that my kid's Dad got her will be able to let me transfer the photos to a USB drive.

I also got a submission into a contest on time (assuming I did the conversion for time zones correctly) and did other writerly correspondence and work.

And I fed and petted the feral kittens who still need homes. Today both purred at me.

We also got the first significant load of leaves on the roses, though naturally, just as we got outside it started to rain. Not much, thankfully, but still, there was wetness.

Tomorrow, there shall be Fireborn in this journal. Poor Orchid!

And tomorrow, I shall look at the sparkly dragon story to make sure the character's voices each work, and are consistent, and there are no eggregious typos or grammos, and whether I need to fix anything else to make the story hang together right.

And I shall finish cleaning herbs off the dining room table, wash it, and lay pattern pieces on cloth. And gulp big-time, like I always do when cutting into whole cloth, and then cut. Pin. Maybe even sew. I'm so casual about most sewing things; why do I always feel daunted when faced with whole sheets of brand-new cloth?

Fireborn: I appreciate it, all right!

This is the latest installment in Fireborn.  (The story starts here.)

ORCHID

Orchid watched for hours, until the sun started getting low in the sky. Her stomach growled at her, and she launched into the air. She might as well look for some fruit trees while she waited.

It wasn’t hard to find some peaches, but those just made her feel hungrier. Just a bit inland were some nut trees. She ate quickly, cracking the nuts open expertly and letting the shells fall through the leaves toward the ground. Finally, feeling better, she launched back into the air, looking back toward Spiny Cove, the pouch she was wearing full of nuts.

“Oh no!” A fishing party was swimming just under the water, only a few minutes’ swim from the school, and she recognized the Mayor’s tattoos even from this distance.

She sped up, working hard to catch up with them. When she was close, she dove downward, taking advantage of the extra speed that gave her to get above them.

“Hey, Skimmer!” she called.

They kept swimming.

“Hey!” she called more loudly. No response. She could stick a foot into the water, try to tap someone’s shoulder, but she hated flying wet, and she couldn’t swim if she got too far into it. But what else could she do?

The pouch banged again against her thigh. Nuts! Of course! She winged higher and reached her feet up to the pouch, squeezing a nut out the top with one foot and catching it with the other. She lobbed it downward and missed.

Ten nuts later, one of the trailing young men surfaced. He had pale blue skin, but his tattoos were hidden in the water. Orchid had no clue what his name was. “Are you throwing rocks at us, girl?
( Of course not! ... )

No, there was nothing to do but wait and think, and hope she could get herself out of this mess.

Tears spilled out of her eyes. In the best of circumstances, Orchid hated waiting. But this was more awful than anything she’d ever imagined.

The story continues here.
______________________________

As always, I can be convinced to publish the next chapter before next week. 

I love to hear from you.  I hope you'll let me know what you think.

Fireborn: I appreciate it, all right!

This is the latest installment in Fireborn.  (The story starts here.)

ORCHID

Orchid watched for hours, until the sun started getting low in the sky. Her stomach growled at her, and she launched into the air. She might as well look for some fruit trees while she waited.

It wasn’t hard to find some peaches, but those just made her feel hungrier. Just a bit inland were some nut trees. She ate quickly, cracking the nuts open expertly and letting the shells fall through the leaves toward the ground. Finally, feeling better, she launched back into the air, looking back toward Spiny Cove, the pouch she was wearing full of nuts.

“Oh no!” A fishing party was swimming just under the water, only a few minutes’ swim from the school, and she recognized the Mayor’s tattoos even from this distance.

She sped up, working hard to catch up with them. When she was close, she dove downward, taking advantage of the extra speed that gave her to get above them.

“Hey, Skimmer!” she called.

They kept swimming.

“Hey!” she called more loudly. No response. She could stick a foot into the water, try to tap someone’s shoulder, but she hated flying wet, and she couldn’t swim if she got too far into it. But what else could she do?

The pouch banged again against her thigh. Nuts! Of course! She winged higher and reached her feet up to the pouch, squeezing a nut out the top with one foot and catching it with the other. She lobbed it downward and missed.

Ten nuts later, one of the trailing young men surfaced. He had pale blue skin, but his tattoos were hidden in the water. Orchid had no clue what his name was. “Are you throwing rocks at us, girl?
( Of course not! ... )

No, there was nothing to do but wait and think, and hope she could get herself out of this mess.

Tears spilled out of her eyes. In the best of circumstances, Orchid hated waiting. But this was more awful than anything she’d ever imagined.

The story continues here.
______________________________

As always, I can be convinced to publish the next chapter before next week. 

I love to hear from you.  I hope you'll let me know what you think.