More Choosy - 47,803 words

Less than one thousand words past day, but good
And I should, so I say
Finish soon without delay
Final NaNo tale today

Ride of the Valkyries - 47,088 words

Another five K, the end is in sight
New story: Valkyries flying by night
Just one more short tale this month will complete
Onwards and upwards November replete.

Breathing Room - 42,059 words

A good day today, and fin'lly caught up
Now I can relax and play with my pup.
Five days are still left and eight thousand words
But forty-two thou' now in realm of Urd.

Meta - 35,311 words

The YA story still stews in my mind
Perfect approach for this concept to find
Meanwhile I write on, aware of the clock
New tale: a writer who has writer's block.

No Update, but an Excellent Con

Away from computer, weekend at con
No access to laptop to write upon
Yet still I managed a few words to write
Long hand on foolscap on train ride at night.

Crossword Composer - 24,903 words

A six-day distraction is put to bed
Fin'lly this crossword is out of my head
Over two thousand words the clues to write
With not a thought of short story in sight

Getting Back to Business

Finally well, I can run once again.
Wouldn't you know it, it's starting to rain.
Most days I'd risk it, no fair-weather frill,
But just this once thin I'll break out treadmill.

If Shakespeare did NaNo

(a mid-November rallying cry in the style of Bill the Bard)

Though in good grace with fortune and men's eyes
for Wrimos all are gathered in this fate,
We suffer the heavens to hear our frenzied cries,
"The time ticks on and we are running late!"

Wishing we'd thought more strongly on this plot,
Pre-planned a conflict, character or theme,
For we know only what this story's not,
And have no clue of how to reach last scene.

Yet in these thoughts our quest full on despising,
Haply we think on thee, December 1st,
When clouds shall part with victory surprising:
Fifty K words! We'll finally quench our thirst.

NaNo success envisioned such joy brings,
"Now we are novelists!" we all shall sing.

One Down - 22,785 words

My first story's done; I must find it a home
But not during NaNo, it's no time to roam.
Just one sub this month, and so that I write next:
A YA adventure; no cussing, no sex.

Five Thousand Words - 20,468 words

Five thousand words today revealed: great flock
hewn from rock; throat not healed
But this story is congealed
And the hero's fate is sealed.

Dark Night of the Soul - 15,445 words

A fanfic this morning, just for some fun.
Now deep in story mode, real work begun.
My protag's in trouble, in quite a scrape;
Dark night of the soul, from which no escape.

Wayward Web Search - 11,900 words

Was tied up in research most of today;
The Web is a master of time to slay.
Know I read something about this last week;
Now even Google will not to me speak.

Disconnected

No chance for status update yesterday
The Mad Scientist decided to play
With his router, left LAN in disarray
Then did the very same again today!

Kamikaze Sprint - 9098 words

Two thousand word sprint on "kamikaze"
Desperate ploy to induce writing spree
Doc Wicked, my hero in times o' distress
There's no other motive quite like duress.

Write or Die

Still fighting this cold, I worked in the rain,
Which did not entreat my health to regain.
Late in the day, I cannot tell a lie:
Not one word yet. It's time for "Write or Die".

Picking up speed - 7122 words

Story one is picking up speed, and my words are starting to flow,
but deep within the NaNo world the server is still running slow.
Ninety minutes to write my words today was all that I needed.
It may well take longer before my word count update is heeded!

Still sick - 5392 words

Still sick full on for four days now
This infection's growing old.
I'm tired and achy and struggling for words
And always feel the cold.

An earlier start - 3429 words

An earlier start today. I'm still sick
but more quick. Time to play.
My words done by one, I may
even get ahead to stay.

A fierce infection - 1739 words

A fierce throat infection, most the day in bed
Is no ideal start to NaNoWriMo
But minutes 'fore midnight, with eyes seeing red
My word count was met and away we go!

A quaternary quest for NaNo four

A quaternary quest for NaNo four:
No more the single tome from days of yore
Nay, a tetrad of shorts (or maybe more)
Equal fifty K words I aim to score.

The Garden

After my experiences with container gardening last year, I decided to go for the real deal this summer. I've still a few babies inside, waiting to do a bit more growing before they're ready to face the big, bad world, but most things are in the ground now. If tonight's storm didn't totally rearrange everything, the main garden should look like this:



A. white currant

B. red currant

C. jostaberry

D. gooseberry

E.


F. stevia

G. tarragon, sage, rosemary & thyme

H. spearmint, peppermint & chocolate mint

I. chives & garlic chives

J. raspberries

K.


L.


M.


N.


O.


P.


Q. swiss chard

The beans are waiting for the sweet corn to get established before joining those beds, and the peppers plus some additional tomato plants will fill the empty spaces in plot L once they're a bit bigger.

The blackcurrant, blackberry, flowering quince, bee balm, lemon balm, oregano, peas and arctic kiwi all had to find homes in amongst the various flower beds, where there is also additional garlic (gifted by the squirrels) and wild raspberries (gifted by the birds).

Next on the agenda: improve our irrigation.