Of things October

This morning was on the dark and grey side, as so many of these days in October have been recently. I was settled on the couch, nursing and cuddling my adorable baby (see exhibit A). I helped myself to some chai and cornbread muffins smeared with homemade apple butter. The day seemed predictable, rain, cold and indoor chores.

Exhibit A

Then.

This happened:

Which drew us out of doors post-haste.

Like being pregnant again, but this time, with a second head

We enjoyed beautiful sights and colours and breathed deeply the crisp air with scents of spices and woodfires on the breeze.

 Constance soon fell asleep, the lull of being walked up and down the street and the warmth of being wrapped close to her mama was an undeniable sleep inducer.

The beautiful day reminded me of just such beautiful, clear, cold days from the year past. And as in years past, at this time, when the world is cooling down and people are bundling up....

 This time when apples and pumpkins are ubiquitous and holidays celebrating such things draw near and people get friendly...and throw parties...

Well, this time of year is also the time of year where certain people.... the insane and masochistic type, like to write...and not just write, but I mean write.  As in writing 50,000 words in one month, kind of write.

Yes.

 It is that time of year again. And it got me thinking....

Exhibit B

I should do it. Again. If you do not know what I am talking about, I will tell you:

Exhibit C

November = National Novel Writing Month. Nanowrimo for short. (See Nanowrimo.com). Which means October is crunch month. "Crunch month" = run around like a madman figuring out what story you want to write and wondering what you'll do with your life for the next couple weeks while you wait for 12:00am 11/1/2012. Well, maybe some people do. But I'm going to wing it this year....

See, I had originally thought I'd skip this year, because I have this great excuse. (See exhibit B and C) but that walk today, and the cool weather and the inspirational smells and sights...well I just can't! I can't bear to let November go by without joining the ranks of insane and attempting to write a novel in a month. It's just too much fun! Even when it's stressful and crazy, because it's awesome too. And so, I'm dedicated. I'm going to go sign into Nanowrimo RIGHT NOW... Done. Check me out if you want, my Nano ID is EkkThe5ifth.

So besides that, there's a lot of other exciting things. Things like beautiful babies and pumpkins....

...and apples...

And apples.

And apples.

And apples....

oh, did I mention apples? John has been picking up all the dropped apples he's been finding on his rounds at work. He drives around a lot and this IS apple season. So, since we've had quite the abundance I got busy and made:

 Apple butter! NOMS.
 Which brings us back to the beginning where I was lounging around snuggling with my little button. And considering indoor chores. Of which I have many still to do.

Sporting mama-made autumnal headgear

the end

Novelling update or, how much I love Nanowrimo. (Also, autumn!)

Allow me to ramble about my novel for a bit, will ya?

One of the things about Nanowrimo is that it gets your story out whether or not it's really ready. Sometimes that's good and sometimes its bad. For me, I think this is good. I tend to get caught up in time lines and how much of past should I put in and how can I incorporate flashbacks, and blah blah. And then I never seem to actually write the derned story. Nanowrimo encourages simply hacking out what you have, what you know and allowing room for improvisation as you go. And so far, I feel it's been working out really well for me.

I have parts of my story that are completely backwards. I changed my mind about a semi-huge aspect about 4 chapters ago and decided to simply go along with the story as though this is the way it's been all along. I simply added a note up near the beginning where the guy asks the girl to marry him that, no he actually doesn't do this at this time and we'll fix that later. (Funny enough, it was one of the huge exciting moments in my story way back then when I needed lots of motivation to keep it going. I liked it so much I used it as the excerpt to show off my novel.) So now, as I write and I decide "You know what, this guy actually has done this, or that and not this. And this portion isn't so great...." but one of the main rules of Nanowrimo is to NEVER delete anything. I am very impulsive at times about my writing. I revise as I go, editing and frequently deleting and simply rewriting. So the parts I have are oh so perfect and the rest is never done because I realize I needed to actually not have that proposal scene there but oh-my-gosh it's so well written how could i ever delete that amazingness???!!!!

Thank goodness for Nanowrimo and the deadline and the enormous goal that prevents me from having the time to go back and do these horrible things to myself. That proposal scene is pretty good, but it's not perfect. And since it's not deleted, or revised in anyway yet, I'll have the time later when I'm not hurriedly tapping out 50,000 words to really mull over it and figure it out and what I should do with it. Can it be recycled? Easily changed to fit the new and improved story version? We'll see!

In the meantime, I've decided to not be afraid to really change it up if I have to. I can always go back later and put together all these puzzle pieces I've written for myself, right? Right! I simply put notes beside the places I know will eventually need to be changed and guess what's also awesome? Those notes are adding to my word count! Is that like cheating or what?

LOVE IT.
But here's what you really wanted to know...
Word count update as of 11/11/11: 19,337.

I hope to get to 20,000 later on today. You know, to really celebrate that whole 111111 thing. 
Anyone doing anything fun for this special date?

Okay, now that I'm done with that love letter to Nanowrimo for helping me get out what I think might be one of my best stories ever, I'll update you on other things that I love.

Autumn! Heart, heart, heart. This is shaping up to be a glorious autumn. The colours have been madly different. I never knew so many shades of brown could look so glorious together! And these crazy lime-greeny yellows! I apologize that my writing has kept me from really taking many pictures but I have a few here for you to gaze at in gazemazement. (a little Strongbad reference fer ya, there.)

Aren't my woods beautiful?

Beautiful Autumn

The other day, I heard some women chatting about how they hadn't yet seen "gasp in wonder and awe" colour in the foliage. They spoke of years with trees and landscapes so vivid and fiery that they stopped their cars just to gaze. I was boggled. And a little indignant.

I had seen such things. Have they not been looking? The trees have been positively GLOWING. I've been seeing colours that set my heart bursting with song! Then it occurred to me: Of course they've seen more impressive years than this. They've lived here and seen leaves change for dozens of years, maybe their whole lives. Heck, even I'll admit that last year was better than this year has been so far. But this year has been absolutely gorgeous too!

And then I was glad that it's still new to me and that even when its a "poor" year for the foliage it's still breathtakingly beautiful to my newbie eyes.

But that makes me wonder: will I too, one day, compare "drab" falls to past "impressive" ones and be disappointed? Can't one always look at things new? Can't one appreciate the beauty you see every single day even when it's always the same? And the wonderful thing about seasons is that even the same 'ol-same 'ol scenes continue to change day in and day out. Spring flowers, summer greens, autumn fire and winter whites. They're all amazing in their own way and you know what the best part of it all is?

Even those are different every year.

The flowers don't conform to the same pattern as the previous years. Every snowfall has it's own characteristics and every summer brings a unique variety of breezes and warmth. Autumn too, bursts into it's new version of glorious colour.

  So, maybe it hasn't been our most colourful fall, nor the coolest and crispest; the air isn't quite as brisk and filled with wonderful smells as it has been in past years and it has been a little on the wet side but shouldn't we appreciate these differences just as much?

Wordless Wenesday: Bottling Beer

Empty

Full

June

I've known since I was a kid that June's flower and birthstone are Rose and pearl. Last June, the rose part became exceptionally clear to me. Roses were blooming everywhere. And now 'tis June again and roses are out in full bloom once more. As this month has flown by I'm realizing more and more that I really enjoy June;  the weather, the flowers, the long days, the summery attitude. And while Summer has yet to actually and officially begin there is certainly a summery smell in the air. The leaves are out in full and it's almost hard to believe that once only a couple months before they were barren of leaves and some trees still had yet to bud. The sun, when it's not blocked by storm clouds, gets blazing hot and the nights are absolutely delicious. I love June!

Well, I heard once that you can learn a lot of things from the flowers, yes, especially in the month of June....

So! A couple days ago, I went out with my handy little camera and proceeded to snap photos of all the flowers I found as I strolled through various and sundry neighbourhoods in our area. Several of them just happen to be roses :) Perhaps we can learn something together from looking at these lovely Fleurs de Juin. 

White Ragosa Rose  (with a small bee)

 Bugs like flowers too!

Daisy and butterfly

Dragonfly on trumpet flower of sorts

Can't you just imagine these roses singing?

Red Clover

Pink Lovelies (?)

 If you can readily identify the flowers that have question marks in their captions,  Please impart your knowledge to me. :)

Purple stalk flowers (?)

Roses

Purple Plume (?) or maybe a purple pom-pom

Pink with yellow center (?)

Yellow Roses

More Pinks (?)

The last of the Lilacs

Pink Ragosa

Also of interest, here is a small list of things John and I plan to do this summer:
-Learn French
-Go to the beach and practice surfing frequently (Well, John will surf. It's a skill he's just learning. I think I'll stay on the beach or just swim)
-Make and eat lots of peppermint icecream
-Make and drink lots of sun tea
-Old Songs Festival
-Design and sew Adventure Trousers (Preferably before going to Old Songs)
-Finish reading The Count of Monte Cristo
-Go blueberry picking
-Make wine from said blueberries
-Make beer from said blueberries
-Pick lots of other various and sundry found berries
-Make wine from those berries too, possibly (as well as all sorts of other yummy things, like muffins and icecream)

Hurrah! I love summer!