The AH Coffee Shop and Reading Room 09

[Candy_Kane54]

Today is the 48th anniversary of my move here for job and grad school. It should be very typically warm, dry and sunny.

I got the sun shade up yesterday then put a splint on my right index finger. Having it there causes a few challenges.

This morning's NYT hard Sudoku took 16 minutes.

This is also my third consecutive post to the thread. Talking to myself.

That's just your age catching up to you ...

 

[Rustyoznail]

Notwise, still better than the echo chamber of the political board.

Appletv are shooting parts of a new TV show in town over the long weekend. Interesting timing, as they've taken over a couple of streets and few of the shops are closed. I hope they're getting paid for the disruption.

Got a three hour drive tomorrow morning to take the "pup" to see my parents. It's his first long drive, so that could be interesting. It's also going to be cold and wet, with the possibility of snow.

Mum's making a lamb roast, so there's no backing out.

 

[MrPixel]

My nagging service (computer calendar) just reminded me I have to leave for a doctor appointment in an hour. Orthopod this time, follow-up for PT addressing back pain, which was resolved by it.

Now I have a stale joke about these visits, that the most frequent friends I see in my later years have the first name of "Doctor". That, really, is no longer true. Most have NP-C as their suffix, that is, Nurse Practitioner-Certified. Which is fine - every one I've had, including my primary, are highly competent and totally relatable. The most frequent real doc is my neurologist, and he's not a lot of help. Worse, my wife hates him for prescribing "memory" drugs that trashed her and our lives for a month, it took that long for the effects to dissipate once we discerned the issues.

So with the exception of the surgical types, I'll take a NP any day.

 

[NotWise]

Appletv are shooting parts of a new TV show in town over the long weekend. Interesting timing, as they've taken over a couple of streets and few of the shops are closed. I hope they're getting paid for the disruption.

Shops closed for shooting are usually paid based on the sales the shop would otherwise expect. The amount is negotiable. Locally, the city film office acts as mediator on that fee.

The wine shop/liquor store I used to go to was a setting for several shows and films. One of the productions wanted to film on the weekend after Thanksgiving. That's a huge time for liquor sales. The owners showed them the sales from the previous year, and the production company changed their shooting schedule.

 

[dmallord]

Dropped in to snoop around and see how everyone is doing. Still above ground I see. Love the flowers, coffee smells great... tastes good 'til the last drop.

 

[Rustyoznail]

Dropped in to snoop around and see how everyone is doing. Still above ground I see. Love the flowers, coffee smells great... tastes good 'til the last drop.

Candy's doing a bang up job of keeping the coffee flowing and the tea brewing appropriately.

 

[Candy_Kane54]

Had some heavy rain last night but no wind or lightning. The plants loved it so I can't complain. Unfortunately, the weeds loved it, too. My knee is doing fine. It stiffens up by the end of the day but at least I can get around. The pulled muscles and tendon from all the limping I did have finally resolved themselves to I'm pretty positive.

There's fresh coffee going and the teapot is ready for anyone who wants a cuppa. There are muffins and danish on the counter, along with some croissants.

I tossed some coal down to the dragon, but he's looking a little sad, I think he misses H_P. I'll be over in the corner finishing up the third of five vignettes before starting on the fourth one. It feels good to be able to write again.

 

[dmallord]

Had some heavy rain last night but no wind or lightning. The plants loved it so I can't complain. Unfortunately, the weeds loved it, too. My knee is doing fine. It stiffens up by the end of the day but at least I can get around. The pulled muscles and tendon from all the limping I did have finally resolved themselves to I'm pretty positive.

There's fresh coffee going and the teapot is ready for anyone who wants a cuppa. There are muffins and danish on the counter, along with some croissants.

I tossed some coal down to the dragon, but he's looking a little sad, I think he misses H_P. I'll be over in the corner finishing up the third of five vignettes before starting on the fourth one. It feels good to be able to write again.

Dragons probably need more than a lump of bituminous coal. Someone... should look for a soulmate for him/her. Does anyone here have access to mate-matching resources?

Meanwhile, I'm up way too early. Thoughts rolling around does that. These are not about writing erotica. So, I won't take a chair today and join in the writing.

 

[Rustyoznail]

No reply from HP to my email.

On the bright side, his name doesn't appear to be in the obituaries.

 

[MrPixel]

More furnishing the courtyard today. So far it's hot tub (with platform), bench, wind chimes, thermometer (magnet too weak), decorative lights, and double chaise lounge. I've been mowing the lawn frequently to keep the weeds at bay, but the trash lawn it was to begin with is breaking through. Rats. CK, if you run out of weeds to pull and are itchin' for more, you're welcome to come our way.

Anyway, today is one of those big offset umbrellas. It's assembled and in the barn, all that remains is filling the base with sand. Dual purpose - light rain shield over the hot tub, swing around for shade over the chaise. C is suddenly sensitive to sunlight, so we had to do something if she was going to enjoy our new outdoor space during daytime hours.

The emerald cedar (thuja occidentalis) I planted two weeks ago is dying. It replaced one (of five) that similarly perished. C suggested the spot is contaminated somehow, which puzzles me because the two adjacent trees not 4' away are thriving. I kept the old one in a pot, and it has new green sprigs, though the rest is brown. I'm baffled.

 

[Duleigh]

Whoo Hoo! I finally won a contest over at Nightcafe (an AI art site) The challenge was to create a picture that displayed a debacle and a stampede


The title is:
BLACK FRIDAY DEBACLE - Corporate Heads Will Roll

 

[Candy_Kane54]

@Rustyoznail - Hopefully H_P is having too much fun to spend time here ...

Cloudy and damp here after raining during the night. My herbs and tomatoes are really growing. My chives have bloomed and they look pretty until I cut the flowers off.

Coffee is brewing and the teapot is steaming. There are donuts and cookies on the counter.

Didn't get a lot of writing done yesterday, but not because I couldn't find the words.. I got distracted by life but I'll try to get some more writing done today.

 

[Rustyoznail]

The thread opened up to post 1, where TxRad said this ain't Starbucks...

We took the pup to my mum and dads place yesterday, which is a three hour drive each way. His first long car trip. A couple of up chucks, a few toilet stops, but overall, pretty good.

On the way home, we stopped at a new drive through Starbucks. I had a cup of warm milk with a hint of coffee.

Blah. Candy's virtual brew tastes much better, and has as much caffeine.

 

[MrPixel]

We're having a guest at the studio today, a friend from the cabin we used to have at a campground. He wants to try out the new hot tub since that was a feature the campground didn't have. We're not going to stop him.

 

[NotWise]

It got warm this afternoon, so I took a siesta. It was short, and while I was waking up I toyed with ideas for a conversation that's caused me trouble.

I don't think I was quite awake. The phrase "ribald is a raccoon," stuck in my head. I have no idea what that's supposed to mean. Feel free to use it. Maybe that will get it out of my head.

 

[Duleigh]

A turtle, traveling with friends

 

[ElectricBlue]

A turtle, traveling with friends

Can you stop with the AI please. It's contra to Lit policy, in the forums as well as in stories.

 

[Candy_Kane54]

Another day with threats of rain. I'm going to try to get some weeds pulled today.

I've got the coffee brewing and the teapot is whistling a happy tune. There are donuts of many types on the counter for snacking.

I did manage to get some writing done yesterday. I've figured out the ending so now I have a destination for the rest of the vignettes to reach. This will be a little different from my other stories but I hope it works. I guess I'll know when the votes and comments start coming in ...

 

[Candy_Kane54]

That's some thrilling history.

The NYT hard Sudoku consumed a little over 16 minutes this morning. I have extra time on my hands. I'm curious sometimes how they estimate the difficulty of their puzzles.

Apologies, but I meant to say it was the 83rd anniversary of the Battle of Midway ...

 

[NotWise]

Apologies, but I meant to say it was the 83rd anniversary of the Battle of Midway ...

Don't worry. It's just our age catching up with you

 

[yowser]

A good read: The Battle of Midway by Craig L Symonds

 

[MillieDynamite]

A new week of writing, a new brew of French roast. All's well in the Dynamite house! How 'bout yours?

 

[GrantBricksly]

A new week of writing, a new brew of French roast. All's well in the Dynamite house! How 'bout yours?

All is well in my house.
A new week of writing. I've a story waiting to be published (taking longer than usual to get out of pending..but no big deal...) I just bought a new smoker yesterday, to replace my old one that died. And this one is a significant upgrade. So I am very excited about that.

I've got a maintenance guy here, finally fixing the problems we've been having with our stove/oven.

And I am now writing Chapter 4 of my story. All in all, I'd say things are going very well.

 

[MrPixel]

Another day with threats of rain.

We're actually getting some relief here. Yesterday was gorgeous - low 80s, puffy fair-weather clouds, slight breeze. All staged for a very nice visit with the friend I mentioned above. We were commenting on how successful our efforts were with the courtyard as the soft wind swooped down beneath the big patio umbrella, keeping us cool but not too cool as we enjoyed our beverages.

No precip in the forecast for the next several days. The small pond in the backyard leftover from last week's downpours - some were doozies! - is visibly shrinking, so fingers are crossed that everything will be good for installing the new fence. The yard has been open to the neighbors' for like three months, and has recently been inviting local critters like a MFF trio of deer to check things out. The deer are okay and all that, but after a couple of instances with the dog flinging himself against the patio door on spotting them, we've had to be on alert to close the blinds in the early evening.

 

[GrantBricksly]

Well.....I think my day of writing is just about coming to an end...It started slow...constantly being interrupted (wife, maintenance guy several times) but I finally did get some peace and quiet, and in the end I've banged out just shy of 3k words today, bringing Chapter 4 up to 4.3k so far. I think I'm going to try to round that out to a nice 4.5 (which brings my total for today to an actual 3k) and then call it a day and relax.

I am very happy with my progress today. Got a lot of good writing done. Not just words, but good story I think. Of course, I'm sure some will disagree, as I'm 4.5k in, and no sex yet.....lol but I'll get there...there's been sex in all the previous chapters, so I think I'm good. And I'm working up to a seduction (or at least an attempted seduction) scene which will be a bit steamy...