Not So Good News

This past week has been one of ups and downs.  First an up --

I discovered this blooming in my daylily collection.  I'd totally forgotten about this one.  It was a pleasant surprise this morning as I backed out of the driveway on my way to church and noticed it.

It is the palest of pale lavender-white with a deep reddish-lavender center and a stunning yellow throat.  Seeing it today made me realize, I think I have one or two more multi-colored daylilies in the patch - if they didn't winter-freeze.  I'll keep an eye open.

In the meantime, the deep red daylilies from last week post have been blooming rampantly with 2, 3 and 4 blossoms each day.  They only bloom for one day which is a pity but they keep sending up new ones which makes for a stunning show.  The yellow, pink and lavender daylilies have been quite showy, too.  My wife is thrilled with the presentation and thinks I should see about getting a few more to add a little more diversity to the patch.  I want to get a white one and an orange one.  I'll check the catalogs to see what is available.

Now for a down moment...

I stepped on the scale this morning (Sunday) and it sky-rocketed to 245 pounds.  I almost fell off the scale.  I've gained eight pounds.  Very discouraged BUT also very determined.  A church member who is also a nurse smiled while I lamented about the weight.  She said that it is very common for those who lose weight like I did when ill to regain it back in the next 30 days.

Uh, not me!!  I am going to take an aggressive reaction and be working out on the treadmill and also doing some stomach muscle-tightening exercises to get the gut gone!!

Of course, I am watching how much I eat, trying to keep it minimal but at the same time, not go into a diabetic shock.  Then again, I don't think a stop at Long John Silver deep-fried seafood shop was a good thing.  Being realistic, the 2 fish, 3 chicken planks, French fries and coleslaw probably weren't the best choices for a meal.  Finishing the last 2 Hershey bars (1 a night) as a mindless TV snack ... wait a minute, I read somewhere that chocolate aides in weight loss.  I'll buy into the theory but I don't think it is true.

YES, I'm going to not only watch how much I eat, but also WHAT I eat and attempt better munching.

Another down moment, sort of.

Last Thursday was an Author's Fair at the Findlay Library in Findlay, OH.  That is about a ninety minute drive for me.  I took my books and set up my table and attempted to be as professional as possible.  Here's a picture of my table.

And this is my sale (I was one of the lucky ones to make a sale!)

This is Jennifer Shortridge who bought a copy of The Complete Guide to Writing Science Fiction. And the dashing dude in the blue shirt, that's me.

When I stated it was a "down, sort of" - let me explain. It could be an up. Yes, I only sold one book but I handed out several business cards, I spoke with many of the visitors (we had over 100 attendees, not counting the 21 authors) and I handed out a multitude of book reviews I had printed.  Hopefully it will help to make my name roll off the tongue just a little easier and have some potential sales down the road.  The one thing that struck me that night was the fact so many of those I spoke to didn't realize we, the authors, would have our books for sale.  I re-read the news article promoting the event and deduced the fact, the event was being held in a library and the article stated: come speak with the authors and see their works on display.  There was one line that said: Books will be available for sale.  I've read that article 3 times and only this last time did I see the comment about being for sale.  I'm sure many of the attendees missed it, too.  I mean, it's a library - who sells books at a library? They loan books!!

If you'd like to see more pictures of the event - Click Here

Another up!  My garden is coming along.  I think we're going to pull the peas as the last harvest. The green beans (pole beans) are starting to come, the wax beans have another crop to harvest.  The corn has tasseled and much to my relief, has finally started to silk.  That means, start creating ears.  I had tassels and the pollen was falling but I didn't see any silks coming.  With all the rain we've had of late, some things in the garden are really having a freaky time growing.  The pole beans have been growing but not really blossoming, that was also true of the peas but they finally, after over 60 days of growth, started to show little pods.  I planted the peas in April and they should have been gone by the end of June.  It will be more like the end of July.  We've had 2 days of sunshine - okay, a couple of quick storms (one of them really nasty) and things are blooming.  

It takes 4 things to grow a garden:  seeds (doh!), good dirt, water and sunshine.  I had the seeds. I have great garden soil.  And we've had a lot of rain - in fact, some of the fields and gardens around here are flooded and ruined.  When the sun shines, the garden grows.  There hasn't been enough sunshine to let the tomatoes turn red.  Got lotsa and lotsa of green tomatoes.  I just hope they don't burst with too much water and now a sudden sunshine growth stimulus.

I haven't had a lot of time to write but I have been able to do some outlining so when I do get the chance to sit down and write - I can.  LOL.  If you're a writer, you know why the "lol" since you can have a great outline and still have writer's block when you look at that digital blank sheet.

Until next I ramble on...