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Showing posts with label Land of Giants. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Land of Giants. Show all posts
Saturday, 11 May 2019
Thursday, 4 May 2017
Liminal Space
That place where things are neither one thing nor the other. The time of day where you go from being able to see things to when you can't, or the reverse. Doorways, windows, holes in the ground, mirrors, moments in time.
The spaces where you are waiting for something. The spaces you sometimes need to pass through to get to the next goal or the next fun thing. The spaces you can use to get you deeper into the Otherworld, if you Journey.
A tree like this in your inner landscape can help you to go deeper and leave behind the ratty thoughts. Duck under it, or go through a door or a window, duck under a rock or into a cave, or pass through the base of a hollow tree like this one, the ones I call petticoat trees. If you need something, look and it will be there.
We are in liminal space just now for a few reasons.
We have just inoculated ourselves with human helminths. Yes we really did! With a cluster of auto-immune conditions for me and inflammation in Andrew's joints that leaves him in pain every day, fun remnants of our Lyme Disease, we gladly added these little guys to our biospheres.
Here I am welcoming in my new tummy pets!
The first stage is super itchy but it soon settles. Five dots each, for five little hookworms who will moderate our immune systems symbiotically, just as they have done for humans for thousands of years.
Now we wait. First for the 'bounce' that they say leaves you feeling fantastic for a few days or weeks, then for the time when they have reached your intestines and your body reacts a bit, and finally for the time where you hope that all comes into balance. Liminal space. Waiting in a place between sickness and health. Hoping.
I am in the odd, still space between novels just now, too. I've finally finished the proofread on the print copy of Land of Giants, and am not quite ready to start writing my next novel. Oh, before I forget, starting tomorrow there is a half price deal on the kindle version of Land of Fire for one week, so if you want to buy the first book of the Norse World Tales at a bargain price, now is your chance!
The AGM for our brigade has been put back two months and now we must all wait to see what happens to the leadership next year. Liminal, and stressful. In the meantime, the dry autumn and a new idiot of a firebug has meant more fires. This week Andrew and I got to crew the 1.4 on our own, and it was a lot of fun to be Team Merrybard.
That's Angus and Andy all the way back there. They were in the Light Tanker.
We all got a bit lost going for water to refill the tanks. It's not surprising. There is a bloody lot of both native forest and pine plantation out there.
Nothing but trees and tracks for miles!
We ended up following another brigade, who also couldn't find the water, but they came over a rock in the rough track at one point while getting turned around, and it was a fun sight to see them up so high above us. They make the fire vehicles tough for a good reason!
We blacked out a 20m edge around the smouldering remains and were stood down, and home we came through a stunning sunset.
Coming in to refuel the truck on the way home, and the mundane is made beautiful.
It rained a little today, so perhaps that is the last fire call-out we will get this season. We'll be waiting just in case. Liminal space.
The spaces where you are waiting for something. The spaces you sometimes need to pass through to get to the next goal or the next fun thing. The spaces you can use to get you deeper into the Otherworld, if you Journey.
A tree like this in your inner landscape can help you to go deeper and leave behind the ratty thoughts. Duck under it, or go through a door or a window, duck under a rock or into a cave, or pass through the base of a hollow tree like this one, the ones I call petticoat trees. If you need something, look and it will be there.
We are in liminal space just now for a few reasons.
We have just inoculated ourselves with human helminths. Yes we really did! With a cluster of auto-immune conditions for me and inflammation in Andrew's joints that leaves him in pain every day, fun remnants of our Lyme Disease, we gladly added these little guys to our biospheres.
Here I am welcoming in my new tummy pets!
The first stage is super itchy but it soon settles. Five dots each, for five little hookworms who will moderate our immune systems symbiotically, just as they have done for humans for thousands of years.
Now we wait. First for the 'bounce' that they say leaves you feeling fantastic for a few days or weeks, then for the time when they have reached your intestines and your body reacts a bit, and finally for the time where you hope that all comes into balance. Liminal space. Waiting in a place between sickness and health. Hoping.
I am in the odd, still space between novels just now, too. I've finally finished the proofread on the print copy of Land of Giants, and am not quite ready to start writing my next novel. Oh, before I forget, starting tomorrow there is a half price deal on the kindle version of Land of Fire for one week, so if you want to buy the first book of the Norse World Tales at a bargain price, now is your chance!
The AGM for our brigade has been put back two months and now we must all wait to see what happens to the leadership next year. Liminal, and stressful. In the meantime, the dry autumn and a new idiot of a firebug has meant more fires. This week Andrew and I got to crew the 1.4 on our own, and it was a lot of fun to be Team Merrybard.
That's Angus and Andy all the way back there. They were in the Light Tanker.
We all got a bit lost going for water to refill the tanks. It's not surprising. There is a bloody lot of both native forest and pine plantation out there.
Nothing but trees and tracks for miles!
We ended up following another brigade, who also couldn't find the water, but they came over a rock in the rough track at one point while getting turned around, and it was a fun sight to see them up so high above us. They make the fire vehicles tough for a good reason!
We blacked out a 20m edge around the smouldering remains and were stood down, and home we came through a stunning sunset.
Coming in to refuel the truck on the way home, and the mundane is made beautiful.
It rained a little today, so perhaps that is the last fire call-out we will get this season. We'll be waiting just in case. Liminal space.
Friday, 28 April 2017
New Beginnings and Other Stuff
I resigned as Equipment Officer for my Brigade this week. It is affecting my health. It is not the fires or caring for the station and vehicles, though you would expect it to be those. No, it is the bloody meetings! Jeezuz!
This is the card I got from our darling 1st Lieutenant. So nice to know I am appreciated.
A fellow dog lover, as you can see. :D The crochet reference is because I crochet during the meetings, which he says rather reminds him of the ladies who would knit while sitting in the front row audience of the guillotine during the French Revolution. Sometimes, the meetings feel almost as deadly! Crocheting gives my fingers something to do when I get upset and makes the long pointless hours of conflict seem to be more useful. Seemed. Ha! No longer!
I'll still be going to fires and a member of the brigade, but as a non-officer I don't have to go to meetings, and I am having a rest from doing their social media too. I would not say I regret the last two years, because it has taught me so much, given me wonderful new friends, and shown me new aspects of my own courage and ability, so it is all good. Change is good too, as is letting go of that which is not serving your best interests.
With my mind and time not taken up with brigade matters and stresses, hopefully I can find mental space to start writing the next novel. Novel number 12! Who'da thunk it! Next will be a sequel to Chicken Soup for Satan. I think. Am rather tempted to write another Freya novel, since I have so much fun writing her stories and I think I need some light writing, because Land of Giants took it out of me a lot. I put so much into that book and it shows, but it was hard too. We'll see. I would love to be back in the world of Satan Smith and his lovely dog, Ghost, too. I've missed them, especially Ghost. The characters of my books, especially the animal ones, become so real to me because when I write them I can really see them and know their moods and likes and dislikes and funny ways, and miss their presence just as if they were one of my own pets. Sometimes I want to own a White Shepherd just so I can have Ghost with me again, but of course she or he wouldn't be him anyway. I'll just have to write him another story.
Let's see, what else? My chookies made me giggle a lot this week when they discovered our pile of jarrah sawdust and took to dismantling it with great gusto.
Nobody knows how to enjoy life like a chicken! Please ignore Nanny Ogg's vulture-like appearance. She is currently molting, apparently only on her head and neck! It is growing back in fairly quickly, thank goodness. She was genuinely bald at first, with nothing but grey pins all over her head and neck. Yikes!
Niamh's afghan is still growing and getting close to finished. Not sure how many more rows, Perhaps six or seven, but the rows take quite a while to get around now. There is something so cosy about snuggling under something you are still making.
This is the card I got from our darling 1st Lieutenant. So nice to know I am appreciated.
I'll still be going to fires and a member of the brigade, but as a non-officer I don't have to go to meetings, and I am having a rest from doing their social media too. I would not say I regret the last two years, because it has taught me so much, given me wonderful new friends, and shown me new aspects of my own courage and ability, so it is all good. Change is good too, as is letting go of that which is not serving your best interests.
With my mind and time not taken up with brigade matters and stresses, hopefully I can find mental space to start writing the next novel. Novel number 12! Who'da thunk it! Next will be a sequel to Chicken Soup for Satan. I think. Am rather tempted to write another Freya novel, since I have so much fun writing her stories and I think I need some light writing, because Land of Giants took it out of me a lot. I put so much into that book and it shows, but it was hard too. We'll see. I would love to be back in the world of Satan Smith and his lovely dog, Ghost, too. I've missed them, especially Ghost. The characters of my books, especially the animal ones, become so real to me because when I write them I can really see them and know their moods and likes and dislikes and funny ways, and miss their presence just as if they were one of my own pets. Sometimes I want to own a White Shepherd just so I can have Ghost with me again, but of course she or he wouldn't be him anyway. I'll just have to write him another story.
 |
| My sister PJ's photo of the original art on her wall, together with the print book. |
Let's see, what else? My chookies made me giggle a lot this week when they discovered our pile of jarrah sawdust and took to dismantling it with great gusto.
Nobody knows how to enjoy life like a chicken! Please ignore Nanny Ogg's vulture-like appearance. She is currently molting, apparently only on her head and neck! It is growing back in fairly quickly, thank goodness. She was genuinely bald at first, with nothing but grey pins all over her head and neck. Yikes!
Niamh's afghan is still growing and getting close to finished. Not sure how many more rows, Perhaps six or seven, but the rows take quite a while to get around now. There is something so cosy about snuggling under something you are still making.
This has been my view a lot this week. I took four pics to take in all of the the tree, and google made them into a panorama for me.
My tummy has been a lot better but i haven't felt up to much work around the place yet. What I have been able to do is drag a chair around the autumnal driveway, following the sunny spots and playing my lyre. This is the Singing Jarrah who lives right by our cottage. I have been practicing my tree song ready to record it, and this tree loves me to sing and play near it, in fact it enjoys being near all of our daily interactions. I hadn't expected that when I went to talk to it. Most trees are very communal and interested in other living beings and even humans, especially trees who live in close proximity to us. As you can see, this one is very close to the cottage indeed!
What else? Oh yes, I said I'd show you an 'after' shot of the tv/bookshelf area. This is it now. Much neater, and now we can get to the books behind by just rolling the cabinet out.
Not the most spectacular sunset for colour, but it was so very gentle and pretty and hopeful.
As the sun sets on one thing, it rises on another. I have plans for new ways to be useful to my community. More on that soon.
Monday, 17 April 2017
Rats!
I'm sick again. Not moving fast enough on lowering my stresses to suit my stomach, I guess. There is a thing called Cyclical Vomiting Syndrome. Think that might be what I have, and am currently unfortunately in a cycle. That or the Porphyria acting in a new ways. Or the multiple chemical sensitivity. Maybe it's all the same thing. Whatever it is, I lost the will to live some time late on Saturday night, but my usual resilience is working hard to spring me back. I'm improving but not feeling very bloggy today.
I've still found a little energy for music, mostly very low key practicing of my new Anglo-Saxon Harp song about the messages of the trees. It's coming along really well.
Oh yes it is! Or the right notes in the case of the lyre! Thank goddess for music!
I've also used some of my down time to get further onto that final proof-read on the print copy of Land of Giants. I know that my covers aren't very in vogue, what with all the blended photo-shopped images they use currently, but oh how I do love this cover. It is such a joy to pick up. The swirling blues of it delight my eyes.
What doesn't delight my eyes is all these folded corners.
Yep, every one of those is a typoe, at least one. All I can say is, never do a proof-read when you have just had an operation! Can't believe what I missed! Yikes!
Ah well, there is a reason why I like to do my final proof-read on a printed copy; you can definitely see more in print. It just usually isn't this scary!
Speaking of scary, I was worried that our local bees in the big Marri tree might move out when the smoke from our burn blew across their hive. It got pretty smoky at times!
Luckily they seem fine.
Can you see the yellow combs in the black area high up in the tree? I could see bees flying in and out, but had to blow up the pic to see the bees en mass, still gathering at the base of the exposed combs.
There are so many! Wonder if they are planning a swarm soon? Seems very late in the summer for it, but the season has been so odd. Rain and cooler temps have allowed many spring plants to flower again in autumn, so perhaps it is a very flush year for them. Good luck on your journey if so, you brave bees!
At least here in Oz, winter is a good time for feeding because of all the Wattles and such that flower then. They won't do badly as long as they can find good shelter. Still can't believe that this hive has done so well exposed on the outside of the branch like that.
I've still found a little energy for music, mostly very low key practicing of my new Anglo-Saxon Harp song about the messages of the trees. It's coming along really well.
Oh yes it is! Or the right notes in the case of the lyre! Thank goddess for music!
I've also used some of my down time to get further onto that final proof-read on the print copy of Land of Giants. I know that my covers aren't very in vogue, what with all the blended photo-shopped images they use currently, but oh how I do love this cover. It is such a joy to pick up. The swirling blues of it delight my eyes.
What doesn't delight my eyes is all these folded corners.
Yep, every one of those is a typoe, at least one. All I can say is, never do a proof-read when you have just had an operation! Can't believe what I missed! Yikes!
Ah well, there is a reason why I like to do my final proof-read on a printed copy; you can definitely see more in print. It just usually isn't this scary!
Speaking of scary, I was worried that our local bees in the big Marri tree might move out when the smoke from our burn blew across their hive. It got pretty smoky at times!
 |
| Great pic by Phil. Thanks Phil! |
Can you see the yellow combs in the black area high up in the tree? I could see bees flying in and out, but had to blow up the pic to see the bees en mass, still gathering at the base of the exposed combs.
There are so many! Wonder if they are planning a swarm soon? Seems very late in the summer for it, but the season has been so odd. Rain and cooler temps have allowed many spring plants to flower again in autumn, so perhaps it is a very flush year for them. Good luck on your journey if so, you brave bees!
At least here in Oz, winter is a good time for feeding because of all the Wattles and such that flower then. They won't do badly as long as they can find good shelter. Still can't believe that this hive has done so well exposed on the outside of the branch like that.
Thursday, 16 February 2017
Colour!
Niamh's Afghan is coming along. I love being able to show you the stages as it goes, and I love the colours. As mum says, it currently looks like it is made of jewels!
The Proof copy of Land of Giants arrived today. I love the cover. It worked! Yay! Now I have two matching books in the series, also rather jewel-like, especially when put together.
Painted covers are rather out of fashion in this age of computer graphics, but I do like them, and love how bright all my books look on the bookshelf together. As a bonus of being a self-published author, I get to do what I like. :)
This gorgeous dog came to the same cafe as us this week. I think he just has the loveliest expression, very like my Keech. Very self aware and conscious and kind. I didn't go to see him as we had our two silly-buggers with us, but I took photos to show you. I am such a sucker for black and tan, especially when you add some white.
Doesn't he look like a lovey? So handsome too, and when he puts his ears up, one is right up and one is only halfway, which is totally charming as well. :)
Our beautiful local forest is very green just now after all the rain we have had. On Tuesday we went on the walk down by the King Jarrah that I call the Faraway tree. Tuppy had to be on her long lead because there are lots of roos out there.
Ahh, the Magnificent Faraway Tree is always bigger than you remember! So hard to capture in a photo, but here I have joined two together to give you a bit of an idea.
The rest of that bit of forest is rather lovely too. Here is another ancient, character-filled Jarrah on the same south-facing slope.
I've just discovered and really been enjoying the talent of this young feller, Sigrbodr Gretarrson this week. Here he is playing the harp.
And here he is playing guitar, a fantastic version of Wardruna's Helvegen.
Amazing! Colour comes in sound too. Don't you just love following the music trail on youtube?
The Proof copy of Land of Giants arrived today. I love the cover. It worked! Yay! Now I have two matching books in the series, also rather jewel-like, especially when put together.
Painted covers are rather out of fashion in this age of computer graphics, but I do like them, and love how bright all my books look on the bookshelf together. As a bonus of being a self-published author, I get to do what I like. :)
This gorgeous dog came to the same cafe as us this week. I think he just has the loveliest expression, very like my Keech. Very self aware and conscious and kind. I didn't go to see him as we had our two silly-buggers with us, but I took photos to show you. I am such a sucker for black and tan, especially when you add some white.
Doesn't he look like a lovey? So handsome too, and when he puts his ears up, one is right up and one is only halfway, which is totally charming as well. :)
Our beautiful local forest is very green just now after all the rain we have had. On Tuesday we went on the walk down by the King Jarrah that I call the Faraway tree. Tuppy had to be on her long lead because there are lots of roos out there.
Ahh, the Magnificent Faraway Tree is always bigger than you remember! So hard to capture in a photo, but here I have joined two together to give you a bit of an idea.
The rest of that bit of forest is rather lovely too. Here is another ancient, character-filled Jarrah on the same south-facing slope.
I've just discovered and really been enjoying the talent of this young feller, Sigrbodr Gretarrson this week. Here he is playing the harp.
And here he is playing guitar, a fantastic version of Wardruna's Helvegen.
Amazing! Colour comes in sound too. Don't you just love following the music trail on youtube?
Thursday, 2 February 2017
Making of the, "Land of Giants," Cover Art.
The latest book, "Land of Giants," is finally up and available on Amazon. I know it has been a long time between drinks when it comes to my novels, but it is worth it, I assure you!
This novel is $2.99US as a Kindle book. There are 438 pages in the print edition, a very good length of novel, so it is well worth the money. It is amazing how often I have bought a Kindle book, started reading, and realised that it was more like a short-story length. Not this one!
As usual for my novels, this book is a story of friendship, love, courage, growth, humour, magic, and of course adventure! Add in a lot more music, plenty more amazing beasts, and a trip to a new country in that other dimension where Vikings still rule. My first readers tell me it is a very hard book to put down, especially towards the end.
To do the cover, I really wanted a bit of an action shot, but I didn't want to give away too much of the story either. I had a couple of ideas at first but soon settled on a scene from early in the book, with Andy and Lem sailing to rescue Lily, Perry and Bu.
Having decided on the scene I wanted to portray, it was time to do some thumbnails to see if my ideas would work. My first idea of having Archelon, the giant prehistoric turtle, come up the front side of the boat didn't work because he obscured things too much.
So I put him behind the boat and started scribbling to see if it could work that way.
Heh, he looks a bit too happy in that one, but I could see that the idea was possible, so I kept drawing.
Until I had a design I could work from for the final piece.
So then it was at a stage where I could pull out the watercolour paper and draw it for (hopefully) the last time.
And ink it with indelible ink.
And draw and ink the plush-crested Jay on the back cover. The Jay makes an appearance in the story a couple of times, and I thought he would be a great addition on the cover. Don't worry, Bu the cheeky dog is still in the story, but she wasn't on the boat so I couldn't draw her there.
I'm so sorry, I totally forgot to take stage pics while painting. Again! I do get so very involved, I forget. A any rate, here it is, all done.
Then it was time to scan the final art and decide how to crop the page for best effect with the text. After that I added in the titles and the blurb on the back, which went really smoothly this time around. Yay!
What do you think? Does it make you want to read the book? I hope so! It's a stand-alone story so you can certainly read it without having read, "Land of Fire," first, but you very well might want to go back and read the first book when you finish this one. :D
This novel is $2.99US as a Kindle book. There are 438 pages in the print edition, a very good length of novel, so it is well worth the money. It is amazing how often I have bought a Kindle book, started reading, and realised that it was more like a short-story length. Not this one!
As usual for my novels, this book is a story of friendship, love, courage, growth, humour, magic, and of course adventure! Add in a lot more music, plenty more amazing beasts, and a trip to a new country in that other dimension where Vikings still rule. My first readers tell me it is a very hard book to put down, especially towards the end.
To do the cover, I really wanted a bit of an action shot, but I didn't want to give away too much of the story either. I had a couple of ideas at first but soon settled on a scene from early in the book, with Andy and Lem sailing to rescue Lily, Perry and Bu.
Having decided on the scene I wanted to portray, it was time to do some thumbnails to see if my ideas would work. My first idea of having Archelon, the giant prehistoric turtle, come up the front side of the boat didn't work because he obscured things too much.
So I put him behind the boat and started scribbling to see if it could work that way.
Heh, he looks a bit too happy in that one, but I could see that the idea was possible, so I kept drawing.
Until I had a design I could work from for the final piece.
So then it was at a stage where I could pull out the watercolour paper and draw it for (hopefully) the last time.
And ink it with indelible ink.
And draw and ink the plush-crested Jay on the back cover. The Jay makes an appearance in the story a couple of times, and I thought he would be a great addition on the cover. Don't worry, Bu the cheeky dog is still in the story, but she wasn't on the boat so I couldn't draw her there.
I'm so sorry, I totally forgot to take stage pics while painting. Again! I do get so very involved, I forget. A any rate, here it is, all done.
Then it was time to scan the final art and decide how to crop the page for best effect with the text. After that I added in the titles and the blurb on the back, which went really smoothly this time around. Yay!
What do you think? Does it make you want to read the book? I hope so! It's a stand-alone story so you can certainly read it without having read, "Land of Fire," first, but you very well might want to go back and read the first book when you finish this one. :D
Thursday, 26 January 2017
Lyre song, "Raven Wings," by Hauk.
Well I feel like I've turned a bit of a corner with my recovery. Really beginning to feel good now, though at times I overdo it and my tummy decides it has lost all ability to carry itself. I'm told this is normal and all good. Shopping trolleys are currently my number one enemy! Who knew how much you needed your stomach to wrestle those critters? Not me!
I've finished my cover art for the latest book. Am dying to show you but for now here is a little detail to whet your interest.
Heh heh, lots going on there!
I've nearly got the manuscript ready to go too. Phew, this book has taken me nearly a year from go to woah. It's a biggie though!
In the meantime, I've been messing with music again. Here is my latest effort on the lyre. I well understand the sentiments in this song by Hauk. Hauk Heimdallsman really has a good handle on songs that rise out of dark places. Anyone who has lived with Lyme knows about doing that!
I'll try to video the next one somewhere else, but this is where I sit to play of a summer's evening, and in there the flies and mozzies can't get to me and distract me, so for now, in the gazebo it is.
Here's the original! It's a TAD heavier than mine. :D
I know a lot of bloggers are talking politics and such lately, and I do have feelings on the topic, especially women's rights, fairness, and the environment, but really, the whole thing makes me so frustrated, and it is nice to be away from the subject here on my blog. At any rate, I'll be keeping my medieval clothes close to hand because I think soon we'll be needing to wear them again. Those jokes about turning the clocks back 300 years aren't really that funny. Argh! The world has gone nuts!
I've finished my cover art for the latest book. Am dying to show you but for now here is a little detail to whet your interest.
Heh heh, lots going on there!
I've nearly got the manuscript ready to go too. Phew, this book has taken me nearly a year from go to woah. It's a biggie though!
In the meantime, I've been messing with music again. Here is my latest effort on the lyre. I well understand the sentiments in this song by Hauk. Hauk Heimdallsman really has a good handle on songs that rise out of dark places. Anyone who has lived with Lyme knows about doing that!
I'll try to video the next one somewhere else, but this is where I sit to play of a summer's evening, and in there the flies and mozzies can't get to me and distract me, so for now, in the gazebo it is.
Here's the original! It's a TAD heavier than mine. :D
I know a lot of bloggers are talking politics and such lately, and I do have feelings on the topic, especially women's rights, fairness, and the environment, but really, the whole thing makes me so frustrated, and it is nice to be away from the subject here on my blog. At any rate, I'll be keeping my medieval clothes close to hand because I think soon we'll be needing to wear them again. Those jokes about turning the clocks back 300 years aren't really that funny. Argh! The world has gone nuts!
Thursday, 19 January 2017
What a relief!
6 weeks post Op! I finally get to vacuum my own floors! It's taking me three goes to do it, and I'm holding my tum with one hand while I do it, but it is still a great relief. I'm not sure anyone loves cleaning floors, but it is awful to be unable to do them when you want to, the way you want to!
I've been knuckling down on getting Land of Giants going this week. The book's cover art is now ready for watercolour. I'll do a 'stages of art' post soon but for now here is a detail of Lem from the final drawing. I love it and think I have managed to keep that feel in the ink stage. Hopefully it will remain into the colour stage too. If you've read Land of Fire, you'll remember Lily's housemate, Lem. He gets to be front of stage this book around!
The Illawarra Flame Tree is still flowering but a lot of the pretty blossoms have started falling. The car looks like it is going to a wedding, and the road outside is covered in red flowers that have blown away as we take off.
There are a lot on the ground too.
Sweet Rosie. This morning mum met the guy who owns one of her litter brothers, Ranger. He reckons he is a fantastic dog and they love him to bits, and people are always asking where they got him because they want a dog like him too. So lovely when your planned litter turns out as well as that one did. You can't always be so lucky even when you do your best to get it right, but mum really did it right, and got lucky too, with Rosie and her brothers and sister.
What a dear girl she is.
Funny Tuppence is a bit more 'complex,' shall we say.
Angus is somewhere in the middle between his mama and sister. He is certainly more complex than Rosie and has a lot more up and down moods, but he is nowhere near as intense as Tuppy. They are all so different, aren't they. To say that any dog will turn out the same as long as you raise them right is doing both the dog and the owner a disservice. They require individual training and management just like any parent of multiple kids will tell you. To think anything else is to reduce dogs to mindless automatons of response, which they are definitely not!
Note husband's grubby, dusty feet from two circuits of the paddock. Yep, summer is here now!
Ok, time for the next and hopefully final stage of floor vacuuming, then time to do some more editing on my book. Have a good weekend! Put some fun and adventure in it!
I've been knuckling down on getting Land of Giants going this week. The book's cover art is now ready for watercolour. I'll do a 'stages of art' post soon but for now here is a detail of Lem from the final drawing. I love it and think I have managed to keep that feel in the ink stage. Hopefully it will remain into the colour stage too. If you've read Land of Fire, you'll remember Lily's housemate, Lem. He gets to be front of stage this book around!
The Illawarra Flame Tree is still flowering but a lot of the pretty blossoms have started falling. The car looks like it is going to a wedding, and the road outside is covered in red flowers that have blown away as we take off.
There are a lot on the ground too.
Sweet Rosie. This morning mum met the guy who owns one of her litter brothers, Ranger. He reckons he is a fantastic dog and they love him to bits, and people are always asking where they got him because they want a dog like him too. So lovely when your planned litter turns out as well as that one did. You can't always be so lucky even when you do your best to get it right, but mum really did it right, and got lucky too, with Rosie and her brothers and sister.
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| "I'm kind of interested in the ball." |
Funny Tuppence is a bit more 'complex,' shall we say.
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| "I will hyp-not-o-size the ball to throw itself with the power of my gaze!" |
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| Whose turn will it be? |
Note husband's grubby, dusty feet from two circuits of the paddock. Yep, summer is here now!
Ok, time for the next and hopefully final stage of floor vacuuming, then time to do some more editing on my book. Have a good weekend! Put some fun and adventure in it!
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