Update: Winter’s Not So Bad, Really

Quick note: If you’ve read Silver Circle #3: Shattered Skies, but you haven’t left a review, please take a minute to do that. I would really appreciate it!

Now, update:

So it’s really cold just now (probably for you, too, if you’re in the US). Two degrees F when I got up this morning, and it’ll likely go down a bit now because as I type this, it’s dawn and the skies are clear. I just let the dogs out, and because of a slight accident with clippers at Christmas, I put a sweater on Morgan. Glad I had it handy. As a rule, Cavaliers don’t need sweaters unless they are old and therefore have begun to feel the cold too much. I had this sweater because I’ve had old dogs before, of course. I sort of have an old dog now; Ish will turn eleven in a week.

He’s doing great, so honestly, I don’t really think of him as old. I do have an echo scheduled for March, just to take a look at his heart. He has a mild, non-progressing murmur — non-progressing as far as the sound of it — but I want a cardiologist to take a real look at his heart and see what it actually looks like. One can generally extend the lifespan of a Cavalier with MVD by years by putting them on vetmedin/pimobendan at the right time, which means not too early as well as not too late. Some never have significant heart issues — about one in twenty is my rough estimate, for well-bred Cavaliers. Pippa didn’t, her father didn’t, I can name a handful of other Cavaliers who made it to serious old age without ever having a significant murmur.

I will just point out that knowing what health conditions you should keep track of is a plus, not a minus. People are like, “Cavaliers have heart trouble,” and I nod, Yes, generally, which is why you should keep an eye on their hearts.

It’s useful to know what to watch for because that means you can get a puppy with a nice pedigree filled with decent hearts and then keep an eye on the heart of an aging dog. Knowing they can have back trouble means you understand you should use steps or ramps, and by the way, I’ve had Ish on glucosamine supplements for years, not because he has back trouble, but because about six years ago he had a minor episode of back pain and I thought, well, can’t hurt to put him on a supplement. No further back trouble, knock on wood. Cavaliers don’t have cancer or die of cancer at the typical rate for dogs in general, and of course they are far (FAR) less likely to have serious cancer than a Golden or Boxer, as surely everyone knows. Or should know, if they want a Golden or a Boxer, among others.

Well, that was a digression. Back to the weather — this time, the power has stayed on (so far), and also I now have a powerful propane heater, which is sitting downstairs and would be a monster to lug upstairs, but if I need it, it is there. Propane inside does make me nervous. If I have to turn it on, I may also crack a window, and I don’t intend to run it at night. But I would rather have it then not have it. The new generator will probably be installed in February sometime and that will be better because the propane tank will be outside.

Meanwhile, no ice, no snow, clear skies, not much wind, hopefully the next few days will all be just like this, nothing exciting will happen, the power will stay on, and then it is supposed to warm up again, relatively speaking.

MEANWHILE

I’m up to chapter 10 in Tano’s book, we are not yet in the starlit lands, but we will be soon. That will really feel like progress!

I worked out the math and decided that if I write 3000 words per day, I ought to be about finished with this book by the end of February. I’m assuming it will go to about 600 pages / 180,000 words because, I mean, that seems likely. If it goes way up above that, I will end it somewhere reasonable and then the next part will appear in the next book, which would be fine. Therefore, one way or another, THIS book won’t go way up above that. So, end of February, that is the plan, such as it is.

However, I also paused yesterday and wrote the third chapter of “Sekaran,” because I felt like it. I did also write 3000 words in Tano’s book, but I will probably permit myself to work on other things even if that pushes completion of Tano’s book back a bit, because there’s no hard deadline, so why not.

Also, I don’t want to just give up reading entirely, because, I mean, that would not be good, so I’ve started a mystery called In the Bleak Midwinter by Julia Spencer-Fleming. Being in the middle of winter makes me want to read winter stories, apparently.

It’s a cold, snowy December in the upstate New York town of Millers Kill, and newly ordained Clare Fergusson is on thin ice as the first female priest of its small Episcopal church. … The last thing she needs is trouble, but that is exactly what she finds. When a newborn baby is abandoned on the church stairs and a young mother is brutally murdered, Clare has to pick her way through the secrets and silence that shadow that town like the ever-present Adirondack mountains. As the days dwindle down and the attraction between the avowed priest and the married police chief grows, Clare will need all her faith, tenacity, and courage to stand fast against a killer’s icy heart.

I will be peeved if Clare and Russ tear their lives apart because of this quote attraction unquote, particularly as I’m always peeved at the idea that every. single. relationship. has to be sexual or it doesn’t count. If the author doesn’t handle this the way I think she should, this will be the last book of hers I ever touch. I don’t particularly want spoilers, by the way, and haven’t looked at reviews. I liked the first chapter and was drawn into the story enough to want to go on with it; that’s enough to know for now.

What are you reading right now? Hopefully something good! Anybody else drawn toward winter books in the winter? I can see going for tropical settings instead.

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