Paksworld

Losing something you’ve written is the #1 Writerly Woe–in this case a post I wrote a few hours ago, hit a wrong key, and lost…Boom! It had been a witty (I thought), entertaining (I hoped) post about another Writerly Woe that occurred today.  Lovingly crafted to bring you the utmost in amusement  and maybe a little insight into writer psychology.  Read the rest of this entry »

Last week was complicated by the dress rehearsal and performance of Messiah, followed by (perhaps predictably) a major migraine and then (not predictably) a gut bug.    So progress on the book last week was minimal.  I can write nonfiction while somewhat feverish or with a migraine, but I can’t write fiction.  Read the rest of this entry »

Even though we didn’t actually end up fencing yesterday–taking a guest from far away around the land took up the time that might’ve been spent with swords–the swords were around and unsheathed from time to time for purposes other than putting bruises on one another.  There was an award to hand out, and the very special sword to show to the guest from afar, and another to demonstrate on a pell to someone who hadn’t seen that one yet.   As for the feast–this being Thanksgiving in the US–we ate like a mercenary company in Aarenis, finally in a good Valdaire inn.  Platters and serving dishes emptied with amazing speed.   Although I’m normally a casual cook and diner, I love setting out a beautiful table a few times a year, using “the good stuff”  to its fullest extent and piling on the food of all kinds.

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Yesterday, in preparation for going over to the ranch to bring home some of the frozen meat from Big Bull,  we needed to reduce the bulk of the un-cut bones of Big Bull that came home with us initially.    I make soup out of beef bones (good soup) and then the well-cooked-out bones are stuck in the garden soil to decompose.

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Under the heading of research:  yesterday disappeared in 13-14 hours of preparing for and beginning the process of converting a 1500 pound bull into meat in the freezer.    This isn’t myfirst experience of home butchery, but it’s certainly the most strenuous and exhausting, and finding one’s limits (no, I could not lift the bull’s head by the ears…nor work the whole time without lengthier rest periods than some of the others involved) is not fun.

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