Actually, I've been at home. So why haven't I been blogging?
Well, for one thing, it's harvest time, so I've been making scads of tomato sauce and applesause and am still freezing vegetables.
I've been doing some research reading and trying to get back to walking, which is pretty time-consuming, actually.
I've also been watching the new TV shows and deciding which, if any, I'll continue to watch. So far:
Lone Star: The producers are apparently trying to blame the fact that this show is up against Dancing With The Stars to explain its dismal showing. I have another reason, after watching the premiere episode. You can try all you want to make me sympathize with a character, but as long as he's deceiving two women, I'm not gonna. Simple as that, end of the show for me.
Blue Bloods: Dear Tom Selleck: You are not 25 anymore. Please stop dying your hair. You'll look fine gray. Despite that distraction, I was enjoying this until the end with the whole Blue Templar thing. If my brother was killed by some secret conspiracy, I don't think I'd be too anxious to get myself killed, too, by going undercover. And how's he supposed to keep that under his hat when his whole family is in law enforcement? I can't suspend my disbelief quite that much. And if it's this or the new Sherlock Holmes? No contest.
Law and Order LA. Okay, here's the thing. I get that the whole notion of the show is "ripped from the headlines," but when the story is THAT similar to what's on the entertainment news I flip past? I'm not impressed. If you want to go with "true stories", why not dig into old Hollywood for inspiration, something that we don't hear/see every week whether we want to or not? How about something similar to the Fatty Arbuckle story? Or Lana Turner's daughter's trial? Still, I'll watch this again, just to see if they stop trying appeal to the youngsters with the stories. If not, though, I will mourn the loss of Lenny even more.
Hawaii 5-0. Just not my cuppa. Despite the attempt at a serious undertone, it's still too light for me to take it seriously, or make me want to watch it.
The Whole Truth: Way too "jumpy choppy" for me.
The Event: I'll say this for them, they didn't keep us dangling with who/what the 97are. Unlike Lost, which I gave up on, I feel there's a hand at the helm that actually has a plan. I'll watch again.
While I'm on the subject:
Survivor - Whoo, way to talk yourself off the island (or land mass, as the case may be), Shannon! I think Jimmy J. was actually relieved to be gone and didn't try too hard to stay.
The Amazing Race - Somebody who has never even heard of Stonehenge? I just...I can't...I have no words. On a sympathy note, those roundabouts are tough to figure out. When we went to England, our daughter was dubed Roundabout Girl, because it was her task to figure out which exit we should take as we were going around (first, second, third, etc). Without her able assistance, we might still be there, going 'round and 'round.
Now it's back to blanching/freezing/reading/walking with me! Just FYI, it's Canadian Thanksgiving on October 11, so I probably won't be blogging until after that.
I went for a walk last night and remembered to bring my camera. Here's the sunset from the beach.
Earlier in the day, I read a synopsis that I wrote about 18 years ago. And you know what? It's still got potential. Well, I guess I've always thought so, or I wouldn't have kept it. But I think the time has finally come to see if it's got "legs."
Which just goes to show, if you come up with a story you like but don't have immediate plans for it, keep it! I have another idea that's been kicking around for about 10 years and...it's staying on the computer, too.
So I go to the cottage, hoping to have some quiet time to start some new projects, only to discover that the water heater is leaking. On a Friday night. Fortunately, the folks had a couple of plumbing contacts in the area, so I was able to get someone out that evening. Turns out the water heater needed to be replaced. That meant disconnecting and removing the old water heater, so I had no hot water all weekend, leading to an unforeseen journey to the Olden Days, heating water on the stove to wash dishes. And the neighbors were treated to the unexpected object d'art on the deck.
The sunny side? Couldn't do any laundry.
Fortunately, the plumber was here at 9 a.m. Monday morning with the new water heater.
I haven't enjoyed a shower so much in a long, long time.
I was at the dentist's yesterday for my regular check-up. My dentist and some of his dentist pals travel once a year to a place lacking dental care and tend to patients for free. Last winter, they went to Mongolia, where I gather the poor guy just about froze to death. This year? It's Fiji - or, more precisely, the second-largest island in the chain including Fiji.
Because, out of 130,000 people who live there, not one of them is a dentist. Yep, not a single dentist on the island.
So, if you know anybody who wants to (a) be a dentist and (b) live in the South Seas, you might want to give them the heads-up.
It's almost enough to make me want to be a dentist....
I often bemoan the fact that Hollywood seems to be relying on sequels or remakes or re-working of classic stories. Can we have something original, please?
But then, along comes something that blows my theory out of the water, and it sounds like there's going to be a theory-destroyer on TV this week - a reimagining of Sherlock Holmes, set in the 21st century. I learned about it through the local TV critic's column. (Read it here.) You can bet I'm going to be watching tonight.
And while I'm mentioning the critic, whose name is John Doyle, let me just add that his columns are wonderful - entertaining, informative, often tons of fun, but also serious when the occasion requires. I've often thought that if I had a child who was just starting to have to write essays, I'd suggest they read his columns, because often, that's what they are.
We have a birthday in the family this week. My mother-in-law is turning ninety. To say the world has changed during her lifetime is no small understatement.
What does one give a person who's reached that milestone and who, truth be told, doesn't need much? This was a puzzlement, until I hit upon an afghan pattern that requires 90 squares, one for every year of her life.
Although she'll be getting it later today, since she doesn't have a computer, I think I'm safe to display it now. It's made of wool intended for baby clothes, so it's very light and soft. It's also machine washable.
How long did it take me? I can't really say, because it was the sort of project I could work on while watching TV. I can say I started it last fall, worked on it off and on during the winter, and finished it on Sunday to give to her tonight.
Here's hoping she likes it!
ETA: She did! :-)
New season of Hoarders starts tomorrow on A&E, and as a warm-up, there's a marathon. Tonight, it's TLC's Hoarders: Buried Alive. I'll be watching (as I work on finishing an afghan).
What's with my fascination with the hoarding shows?
Like watching Intervention, it's the how and why that makes these shows so interesting for me. How and why does somebody get into that situation?
There's another reason I watch - inspiration. Nothing like seeing horrendous squalor to make me want to clean my house. And judging by the posts on the boards at Television Without Pity, I'm certainly not alone.
Thank heavens the hot, muggy weather is leaving...although not so enamored of the downpour.
The free replacement glasses are much better. Not as attractive, perhaps, but comfort wins out.
Trying to use up the meat in the freezer means stew for dinner tonight.
Tomorrow, gardening, so I'd better finish my revision notes on the ms. tonight. I think there may actually be a few pages without changes. Whoo hoo!
So I clear off my desk ready to work on revisions to HIGHLAND HEIRESS, go to make a tea, come back and this is what I find. Clearly, our cat, The Count (as in, of Monte Cristo) doesn't want me to work. Since I'm bigger than The Count, I moved him off the desk.
Only to come back later and find....
The look says it all, doesn't it?
Alas, he must move again, because the work must be done. Of course, it would easier for us all if I simply went to the pages listed by my editor and addressed her note about something on that page.
But no. I start from the beginning, because some changes that sound simple aren't, and there are always typos to be found and prose to be rendered more smooth or precise.
Which is why it took me over two hours to go through 14 pages yesterday, cats on manuscript notwithstanding.
