C.J. Cherryh's Blog, page 67

spring she is springing…

Jane really can’t take loud shrill noises. Me, I was lead flute in a marching band and briefly, while our piccolo player was out of commission, I also played piccolo. Stars and Stripes Forever, anyone?

So when it comes to leaf blowers, Jane can’t be around them. But I bought one a year or so ago, to try to help with dry-stuff cleanup. Jane detested my leafblower. But this spring, with deep mulch in a couple of the roses, I got a chance to be useful, by Jane’s own request. Cleared.

Got the plugs inserted in the water cutoffs, which means I have now turned on the outdoor lines so we have working faucets. This will let us drain down the pond a bit and fill it with new water—which will actually be a bit warmer than what’s out there. But Jane’s working today—a good thing: the book must be moving—so I’m just going to wait on that.

The fence—we’re going to bite the bullet and do it: it’s one of those things that will make the house look good, and will remove the worry of having a whole section of the fence go down in a windstorm—that would have happened, except the apple tree is holding that part up and the hawthorne is holding another. So, yes, we need a fence.

And it’s cold out there. Jane and I are both chilled, not by the ambient temperature, but by the dankness of the air, I think.

So, well, maybe the work can wait another day or so.

So much appreciating your suggestions…all of which are good.

Of course what comes out when I do get to writing that short story or three will be whatever happens to trigger one of the bits and bobs bubbling along in the tidepools of a writer’s brain, or whether some unguessed monster will rise out of the deeper water…

It will have absolutely nothing to do with which of you dear people I love the best…I love you all…but which trigger is most delicately susceptible to the nudges given…

There is already one nudging hard to be first, and I know which is second…

But meanwhile I have to finish this one, which I think is real close now!

It’s Curtains…

…for my bedroom.

I’ve only lived here since 2007—and for the first time in, oh, since 2000, I actually have bedroom curtains. This is epic.

If you recall, I got a double rod, put a severely tailored glass valance on the back one, and table runners with tassel (folded in half as a tapestry hanging) to hang from the ends of each main rod, so as to cover the start of the valance with about 12″ of ornately figured modern brocade in muted grey-green and bright silver and gold swirls….

The place looks downright civilized. I celebrated by sitting down in my working chair and spilling a mug of hot coffee onto myself and the computer: the lid was closed, thank goodness.

I fear elegance is not my middle name.

The need to pay for the fence has given me—gasp!—an idea for a story.

An Ilisidi story.

I can’t do it immediately. Right now I’m at a delicate spot near the end of the current book!

But one of these weeks!

So we will get this done!

We’re choosing the dark brown (shade of your typical brown tree bark) fence.

Fence is mostly what I see from my workstation window. Jane sees a lot too. Jane’s eyes are really sensitive to brightness, and I think she has a strong point—if that fence is too light, we’ll be sorry.

So—that’s the story. It’s not the cheapest fence out there — what we have that’s falling down with time and the elements is that. But it’ll be far, far, far more soundproof, the gates will work without us having to jack them with a mattock blade to swing the big one. We are keeping the big gate because we do use it for access to the old drive, which adjoins the patio—former Shejicon attendees will recall it as the site where we hung dastardly Pegleg Pete….and occasionally to protect one of our cars while we work in the garage on some project, we bring it in. It’s a convenience we don’t want to lose.

And we’re making progress on the round tu its…

Got the whole yard preened now; going to take some stuff to the local teen rehab charity: they run a thrift store. WE sit within 10 blocks of 3 of them, and a recycler is within 20. So we are on a clear it out mission.

Tomorrow we make another foray after the fence order—

I have never tried harder to spend too much money…

But we are promised he will be there.

Today the guy does the long-awaited fence estimate.

I am prepared for indigestion.

Our largest koi, Ari, came up to the surface to investigate the thawing of the pond…

She was fat and in good health.

That is what we know.

Punxatawney has Phil. We have Ari. She did not see her shadow.

The rains they have come…and come…and come.

From 6 inches of snow two days ago—to bare earth.

The fence, which is falling down, has several posts gone, and we are trying to keep it upright until the guy from Home Depot can get back from the Caribbean and fix it. We are having the darndest time. Home Depot can get the fence we want, but everybody there wants to talk us into another (cheaper and less attractive) fence they have in stock, and their installer was going to come out and measure, but he ran into his cruise date…so we are patching and propping and trying to keep this rickety structure somewhat intact until His Highness can get here and measure, so that HD can finally get the fence ordered…

I think we have finally rounded the corner toward spring…and we urgently need to get Preen down on the garden or we will be hip deep in weeds.

How have you all gotten through the winter?

Our spam filter never seems to catch spam. It usually catches Spence…this time…

Joe. And Sweetbo.

I am puzzled. But the posts are now swimming in the common pool.