cloudy, damp, chilly, temps at freezing
Just came home after having breakfast with Joan in Sutton and running some errands and found 4 deer in the field, including a baby. They didn't seem at all bothered by us, but we waited to walk the dogs until the deer had disappeared. Even then Maggie and especially Trudy picked up their scent and hared off after them. No hope of ever catching a deer, of course - besides, they were long gone.
The dogs then ate what the deer had left behind. Disgusting. I hate to tell you the things those dogs will eat. And then, when we go to buy dog food the person always asks whether they prefer lamb or chicken. Honestly, they'd really prefer lamb or chicken poop. These are not choosy animals.
Had a hilarious time yesterday with the marvelous Nancy - who rescues our computers at least twice a month. This time both computers and both printers, and the blackberry were malfunctioning. After a time she solved the computer problems and turned her considerable attention to the printer. Mine, she discovered, needed to be plugged in. And Michael's was slightly more complex...his had sunflower seeds inside.
Seems while we were in Paris the mice had work to do and were either printing, faxing or copying. They'd left a stash of seeds there. Can you believe it? We can't figure out how they (or it) got into the printer, but they can squeeze through the tiniest crack. So Nancy dumped the seeds out and now the printer is ours again - but there's going to be one pissed off mouse in a few weeks when it saunters in looking for dinner. As Nancy said, it could have been worse. Could have been a bear in there.
Had great news this week - A RULE AGAINST MURDER got another starred review. This one from Booklist! Here's a quote...
“Readers who haven’t discovered Louise Penny and her Armand Gamache series yet are in for a treat….Not only are we treated to Penny’s usual rich characterizations, but the atmospheric and beautiful language will make you want to take your next vacation at the manoir….One of the best traditional mystery series currently being published.”
So that's three starred reviews - Kirkus, Library Journal and Booklist, and a rave from Publishers Weekly. I want to remind those of you in the US that the book goes on sale January 20th - co-incidental with the inauguration of Barack Obama. Hope he doesn't mind being over-shadowed.
Just a reminder too that the newsletter draws are nearing...we'll be holding it tomorrow for the Three Pines Christmas ornaments, and later in the week for the free copies of A Fatal Grace. All you have to do for the books is sign up for my newsletter.
Must head off - Monsieur Charbonneau, the chimney sweep is arriving any minute now (he actually wears a tophat), and then we're heading to the guest house for dinner with Mike and Dom. We're providing the dessert, which of course Laurent in Sutton is actually making. It's a yummy custardy-tarty thing he called F and B - which stands for framboise et Bleuet...Raspberries and Blueberries.
As you see our intolerable life staggers on. Talk tomorrow. Hope you're well.
Showing posts with label deer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label deer. Show all posts
Saturday, 6 December 2008
Sunday, 20 January 2008
Oh, deer.
Clear, frigid, minus a gazillion
Had breakfast with Joan this morning. She's remarkable. 76, runs the meditation and yoga centre in the village (Mother from DEAD COLD/A FATAL GRACE) was inspired by her, though Joan is a tiny woman. Her daughter, Wendy Matthews, is a huge (as in popular) singer in Australia and her son Gary has been kidnapped by us and forced to renovate every inch of our home. We adore him and really aren't looking forward to seeing him leave. Still, we know one day he'll tunnel out and that'll be it.
Back to Wendy in Australia for a moment. Joan showed me a remarkable photo of Wendy from a Sydney paper. Wendy's just released another album and so is doing a lot of press. This one shows her at home with one of her pets - a deer she rescued and named John Deer. Any Canadian will recognize the reference to the famous equipment manufacturer. Wendy was walking in the woods one day and saw a doe give birth (a very rare sight anywhere but apparently almost unheard of in Australia where deer are quite rare, I'm told). The mother died as Wendy watched. She then moved quietly in and picked up the little one, and took him home. And called Joan in Canada asking what to do! Joan, of course, had as much idea as you or I would. But through more common sense than I have, and love and luck, John Deer lived. And grew. When he was a year old Wendy decided to let him go wild, but he found his way back! And now he lives outside her home, and often comes in for a visit, wandering into the living room or kitchen. The photo in the paper shows Wendy kneeling and John nuzzling her hat.
Can you imagine the patience she must have had? The work she must have put in? The courage to let him go though she loved him?
Joan Matthews raises amazing kids. And what luck for me to have her as a friend. I don't go to her yoga classes and she doesn't read my books, but we know each other and support each other in places only good friends can.
BTW, no sign of the little deer next door. The apples are still there, so I suspect he's found a family. I choose to believe that.
We're in Montreal now. Appointments on Monday, event Tuesday. It's sponsored by McGill Reads and is at the McGill University Bookstore, on McTavish, at 5:30.
Hope to see you there! Bring a deer. Or a dear. My dear will be there. I call him Michael.
Speak soon - be well.
Had breakfast with Joan this morning. She's remarkable. 76, runs the meditation and yoga centre in the village (Mother from DEAD COLD/A FATAL GRACE) was inspired by her, though Joan is a tiny woman. Her daughter, Wendy Matthews, is a huge (as in popular) singer in Australia and her son Gary has been kidnapped by us and forced to renovate every inch of our home. We adore him and really aren't looking forward to seeing him leave. Still, we know one day he'll tunnel out and that'll be it.
Back to Wendy in Australia for a moment. Joan showed me a remarkable photo of Wendy from a Sydney paper. Wendy's just released another album and so is doing a lot of press. This one shows her at home with one of her pets - a deer she rescued and named John Deer. Any Canadian will recognize the reference to the famous equipment manufacturer. Wendy was walking in the woods one day and saw a doe give birth (a very rare sight anywhere but apparently almost unheard of in Australia where deer are quite rare, I'm told). The mother died as Wendy watched. She then moved quietly in and picked up the little one, and took him home. And called Joan in Canada asking what to do! Joan, of course, had as much idea as you or I would. But through more common sense than I have, and love and luck, John Deer lived. And grew. When he was a year old Wendy decided to let him go wild, but he found his way back! And now he lives outside her home, and often comes in for a visit, wandering into the living room or kitchen. The photo in the paper shows Wendy kneeling and John nuzzling her hat.
Can you imagine the patience she must have had? The work she must have put in? The courage to let him go though she loved him?
Joan Matthews raises amazing kids. And what luck for me to have her as a friend. I don't go to her yoga classes and she doesn't read my books, but we know each other and support each other in places only good friends can.
BTW, no sign of the little deer next door. The apples are still there, so I suspect he's found a family. I choose to believe that.
We're in Montreal now. Appointments on Monday, event Tuesday. It's sponsored by McGill Reads and is at the McGill University Bookstore, on McTavish, at 5:30.
Hope to see you there! Bring a deer. Or a dear. My dear will be there. I call him Michael.
Speak soon - be well.
Thursday, 27 December 2007
One is lost, but maybe one is saved.
Overcast, light snow, high near zero
Can't believe Benazir Bhutto is dead. I'm really quite shaken. It would be foolish to be completely stunned, given previous attempts on her life, but still, one lives in hope. Poor Pakistan, what will become of her? Dreadful.
Doug, his ex, Mary, their three kids and their dog, Buttercup (the Hound from hell) arrive tomorrow - a day ahead of schedule. We're thrilled. Love them so much. Ran out and bought up the grocery store. All stuff that's bad for kids, and Aunts and Uncles. Then put the groceries in the guest cottage. God Bless the guest cottage!!!
We have a baby deer living over there. Saw her a couple of weeks ago, jumping into the woods. But yesterday she was right on the snowy winding driveway into the cottage, and she loped about ten feet off the road and hid under a tree. She's so young, and all alone and it broke my heart. I called around when we got home, to Anthony and Wayne and other old timers about what can be done to help the deer. It's unusual to find one alone, and so young at this time since most are born in the spring.
The options outlined by Wayne and Tony are: leave it alone. It's survived this long. Besides, Nature must take its course. OR, feed it apples. Not many - it still needs to forage for itself, you don't want it to grow dependent. But just enough to supplement it's diet and help it along.
So among all the treat for the kids we bought apples and spread them along the driveway.
I feel foolish for caring so much - and I know Nature will have Her way. But there is so much pain in this world I can't help - seeing Madame Bhutto die. Maybe this is one I can help. Maybe. I guess all I can do is my best, and leave it up to a higher power to decide.
I'll let you know what happens. Be well.
Can't believe Benazir Bhutto is dead. I'm really quite shaken. It would be foolish to be completely stunned, given previous attempts on her life, but still, one lives in hope. Poor Pakistan, what will become of her? Dreadful.
Doug, his ex, Mary, their three kids and their dog, Buttercup (the Hound from hell) arrive tomorrow - a day ahead of schedule. We're thrilled. Love them so much. Ran out and bought up the grocery store. All stuff that's bad for kids, and Aunts and Uncles. Then put the groceries in the guest cottage. God Bless the guest cottage!!!
We have a baby deer living over there. Saw her a couple of weeks ago, jumping into the woods. But yesterday she was right on the snowy winding driveway into the cottage, and she loped about ten feet off the road and hid under a tree. She's so young, and all alone and it broke my heart. I called around when we got home, to Anthony and Wayne and other old timers about what can be done to help the deer. It's unusual to find one alone, and so young at this time since most are born in the spring.
The options outlined by Wayne and Tony are: leave it alone. It's survived this long. Besides, Nature must take its course. OR, feed it apples. Not many - it still needs to forage for itself, you don't want it to grow dependent. But just enough to supplement it's diet and help it along.
So among all the treat for the kids we bought apples and spread them along the driveway.
I feel foolish for caring so much - and I know Nature will have Her way. But there is so much pain in this world I can't help - seeing Madame Bhutto die. Maybe this is one I can help. Maybe. I guess all I can do is my best, and leave it up to a higher power to decide.
I'll let you know what happens. Be well.
Thursday, 13 December 2007
Deer and Dogs and Doug, oh my.
Sunny, brilliant, crisp day, minus 20
When I let Maggie and Trudy out this morning I noticed two things simultaneously. The car was frozen and a huge, magnificent deer was in mid-air, leaping over the stone fence from our gardens to the driveway. In what looked like slow-motion it then leapt into the field then into the forest. It seemed to float. Maggie and Trudy noticed this at about the same instant and immediately took off after the poor thing, with me, slippered and sliding, in pajama's through the brittle snow, screaming after them. Ah, the peace and tranquility of the country.
Happily for all of us our Golden Retrievers are scaredy cats. Twenty feet into the forest and they were running back to Mommy who was looking like Dorothy Hamill gone bad. We all slinked back to the house, except the deer.
We love deer. Many gardeners don't, since deer eat many of the flowers and are considered pests by some. But we could watch them all day, and figure they were here first. If they want to eat the roses, that's OK. For the most part they stay in the field by the pond, but sometimes they come closer to the house. My brother Doug once rescued a baby deer who'd somehow fallen into our pool and couldn't seem to get out. Doug instinctively scooped it up and placed it kicking on the grass. They both stood stunned, then it took off. I wonder if this was the same deer. Looking for Doug. Close - it found dogs instead.
We have mice in the house, and deer in the field, carpenters in the bedroom, and black-capped chickadees, blue jays and woodpeckers at the feeders. The place is a riot.
Off to mail more Christmas cards. Each year I swear I'll stop, and each year I seem to send more.
Great news yesterday - the UK editor read the fourth book and called to say she thinks it's the best Gamache mystery so far! Can't tell you what a relief that is. My mind plays so many tricks on me as soon as the manuscript's out of my hands. I become convinced it's something the deer leaves behind. So that was thrilling news. Still waiting to hear from the NY editor, whose opinion is equally important - but I feel I can at least begin to exhale. No title decided on for the fourth book, but I'll let you know as soon as we have one. It's set, of course, in the summer. Fun reading it at minus 20.
Off to the village (real, not fictional). Speak to you later. Stay warm.
When I let Maggie and Trudy out this morning I noticed two things simultaneously. The car was frozen and a huge, magnificent deer was in mid-air, leaping over the stone fence from our gardens to the driveway. In what looked like slow-motion it then leapt into the field then into the forest. It seemed to float. Maggie and Trudy noticed this at about the same instant and immediately took off after the poor thing, with me, slippered and sliding, in pajama's through the brittle snow, screaming after them. Ah, the peace and tranquility of the country.
Happily for all of us our Golden Retrievers are scaredy cats. Twenty feet into the forest and they were running back to Mommy who was looking like Dorothy Hamill gone bad. We all slinked back to the house, except the deer.
We love deer. Many gardeners don't, since deer eat many of the flowers and are considered pests by some. But we could watch them all day, and figure they were here first. If they want to eat the roses, that's OK. For the most part they stay in the field by the pond, but sometimes they come closer to the house. My brother Doug once rescued a baby deer who'd somehow fallen into our pool and couldn't seem to get out. Doug instinctively scooped it up and placed it kicking on the grass. They both stood stunned, then it took off. I wonder if this was the same deer. Looking for Doug. Close - it found dogs instead.
We have mice in the house, and deer in the field, carpenters in the bedroom, and black-capped chickadees, blue jays and woodpeckers at the feeders. The place is a riot.
Off to mail more Christmas cards. Each year I swear I'll stop, and each year I seem to send more.
Great news yesterday - the UK editor read the fourth book and called to say she thinks it's the best Gamache mystery so far! Can't tell you what a relief that is. My mind plays so many tricks on me as soon as the manuscript's out of my hands. I become convinced it's something the deer leaves behind. So that was thrilling news. Still waiting to hear from the NY editor, whose opinion is equally important - but I feel I can at least begin to exhale. No title decided on for the fourth book, but I'll let you know as soon as we have one. It's set, of course, in the summer. Fun reading it at minus 20.
Off to the village (real, not fictional). Speak to you later. Stay warm.
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