Bye bye summer...

rain, cold, temps 15

I wore gloves this morning. As you can see by the photo. Not just any gloves, though. These are wonderful, hand knitted and designed by a terrific woman in Bradford, PA, from wool gathered from her alpaca, named Cinnamon. Dear Lord, even as I wrote that I saw how unlikely it sounded...but it's true! People really are amazing. And you see the three pines design. Perfect gloves for today!

But wow, it is chilling today. Bone-chilling. Damp, windy, unseasonably cold. Bringing Trudy in from her morning walk I was sure it might snow. But no - just steady, heavy, rain.

A great day for a....spa treatment! We zoomed off to West Brome. Hit the spa at 9am. Michael wasn't particularly interested, but he brought his bathing suit with a view to taking a dip in the indoor pool, then reading. But when we arrived I'm afraid he was seduced by the fire in the main lounge of the auberge and the promise of a hot cup of coffee...so I left him there, reading, and went off for my massage.

And hour and a half later Lynda had done wonders - concentrating on the feet and the scalp. And the shoulders, of course. By the end I felt like a side of meat...and thought they'd have to come and haul me away. What a beautiful thing a great massage is!

Got to Michael just as brunch was starting - 11am. Wonderful seat by the window. He started with a cavalcade of salmon. I tripped and fell into a vat of croissants. And cheese.

As most of you know, a buffet is not for amateurs. This is highly strategic and needs planning. Sadly, I was out of practice and let my stomach over rule my head...and filled up on those warm croissants and melting brie and Oka cheese. Still - enough space for scrambled eggs, bacon, roast beef, lamb. Fruit salad (for show), creme caramel, chocolate cake. And I have to say, that was nothing compared to Michael's superhuman displays. I need to test him for steroids. Though this has always been his strongest category. buffets. I'm very proud of him.

Grand Prix in Montreal today...though it might have been cancelled because of the heavy rain. Honestly, it's unbelievable.

Back home now - laid and set the fire in the grate. Yesterday I made a few arrangements of lupins from the pond and the first peony of the season. What a wonderful combination. You can see the one I put on the piano in the living room. In the foreground is my favorite photo of all time - Michael in St Mark's Square in Venice, making like St Francis. Up on the armoir you can see a wooden model of our home made by our friend Jack Walker. It's actually a birdhouse - how brilliant is that?

Sipping tea now. Happy to be inside. Hope you're comfortable and enjoying the day, whereever you are. I must say, I love it when you tell me a bit about where you live.

A string and a prayer

sunny, cloudy, warm, cold, dry - then torrential rains. All normal.

Back home in Sutton!! Feel I've been away longer than I have. So wonderful to be home. Played with Trudy, hugged Michael, cut the first peonies and some lupines out at the pond. visited Markus. Wrote. Took Trudy to the Vets, with Michael - just for some rabies shots and other shots...and some heart worm prevention stuff. All's well.

All's better than well.

When I stepped out of the car and hugged and kissed Michael and asked how his breakfast in Cowansville was he said - It was grovelous.

huh?

He started to say 'Grotesque' (as it massive) - and changed halfway to 'marvelous' (as in massive).

Feels so amazingly good to be home. But it was also a wonderful time away...everything, as you saw, went so smoothly.

Met Simone at 8 at the cafe creme in Westmount. hadn't met her before. She's the publicist for the launch of Still Life in French. The French title is En Plein Coeur - which means Right in the Heart. The literal, exact, translation of Still Life is - Nature Mort. A GREAT title, but so great it's been used a million times. So we went with the other, which is also a magnificent title.

The publisher herself, from Flammarion Quebec, Louise Loiselle, also came, which was a lovely surprise. She was on vacation. so the three of us sat around and talked strategy and touring and timing. And it became clear that this fall I would in fact be juggling three tours.

The US and Canadian tours for Bury Your Dead.
The Canadian tour for the literacy novella The Hangman
And the Canadian/Quebec tour for the French translation of Still Life, En Plein Coeur

Very exciting. But crucial to pay close attention to scheduling. fortunately, everyone is very reasonable and fairly flexible...though there are some dates that can't be changed...like the Miami and nashville and Montreal Book Fairs, and the literary festivals.

I had two very large, extra strong, cafe au laits - no breakfast - and boing...what a caffeine rush! Drove - having to pay close attention - to my dentist for a cleaning - then home.

It was very cold this morning, but Michael told me he bundled up, put the roof down, and drove the beetle to Cowansville for breakfast. I tell you - he's in love with this car.

Our neighbor saw him and remembered he - like one of you - used to have a karman Gia (sp?) Said he might just see if he can get one again. We might have to rename the road...VW way.

Gary's coming on Thursday to take a photo of me with the car for The Globe and Mail. I thought it would be fun to sit in the car and have old fashioned goggles and a scarf appear to be flapping out behind me...but I would obviously be stationary. So I did what I always do... Oh, Lise...

Emailed My Assistant Lise and asked her how she'd get that effect. A few hours later she sent back the funniest email, with a bunch of suggestions! What a creative woman she is...and i have to think, not many assistants get urgent requests like that.

her winning suggestion is to tie some thin nylon string to the end and hold it up (out of camera range) with a pole. so it looks like it's heading straight out behind me. Will let you know how it goes on Thursday.

Speak to you tomorrow!

Peonies and people

Mainly sunny, cool, temps 18

We're home. And the blessed peonies waited for us (how's that for ego?) They're up and out. We arrived home about 5:30 yesterday afternoon and the first thing we did after unpacking was take the dogs for a walk around the pond, with clippers in hand. Out at the pond the lupins are in full flight - a bank of purple and blue thrusting flowers climbing up from the water and into the trees and field. We scattered the lupin seeds 9 years ago, and now they're really growing and spreading.

I'm not the most patient person, but I sure am learning it be. And the funniest thing is, I'm learning how much more amazing everything is when you have to wait for it.

I cut a few lupins, then we came back and strolled through the garden close to home, and cut some peonies and alliums and gas plant and made an arrangement that sits in a tall vase on the wooden kitchen island. I swear to God sometimes I wonder whether we weren't in a fatal crash on the highway and this is Heaven.

Happily it seems we've arrived in heaven without that particular mess.

Came down this morning to a kitchen perfumed by peony. Ate breakfast on the screen porch. Then Michael and I spent the day returning calls, making calls, doing email, doing snail-mail, doing laundry.

The clothes line is now sagging under the weight of 3 weeks worth of clothing.

Our Volvo won't work. It's always something, isn't it? Starts just fine, but won't move forward or back. We took Michael's car to the store, and when we returned Tony was repairing a rip in the screen porch and we asked him about it. He had me rock the car back and forth and diagnosed that break pad at the right rear wheel has seized up. Clever man.

He's off home now to get his tools to fix it.

This really is what makes this place Heaven. yes, the peony. But ultimately it's the people.

Had a very nice invitation today from Edmonton to go out next year and speak at a couple of libraries. This co-incides with an invitation from the Alberta Library Conference to speak at their annual gathering in Jasper next year in late April. We can almost certainly combine the two events.

The only problem is that I already have an event in late April, as well as committments in January, February and March. And I need to write the next book. Sound familiar? If you've been reading this blog for a while now you'll recognize the dilema. In fact, you've lived it with me for a while. Perhaps I should make it like the game show, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and poll the readership of the blog.

Perhaps I should just make up my own mind, and try to be thoughtful about it. Hmm.

What I will do is something I'm trying to do in all aspects of my life and that's say, 'Thank you. I'll get back to you on that.'

And then think, instead of react.

I laid out on the grass by the pond this afternoon and watched the clouds overhead. Trudy came and lay beside me, after jumping first with both feet on my stomach. Maggie ran around the pond looking for frogs.

It was very peaceful.

Will speak to you tomorrow. Am starting the first edit on book 5, The Brutal Telling. This is The Brutal Editing. Afraid to see what the wordcount is.

Peonies

sunny, stinking hot, humid, temps 31

Dear lord, we're meeeelting. What a country. From minus 30 to plus thirty in not that many weeks.

Heard great news from Lise at home who reports that we almost certainly won't miss the peonies. They're about to burst open, but the show lasts about 2 weeks and we'll be home at about this time next week. Do you know peonies? They make my knees go weak.

I think I'm a bit of a flower whore (or is it john?) Show me a well turned ankle and an overwhelming perfume and I'm smitten. I think peonies (originally from Japan I believe) are about the most perfect flower. All sorts of colours, though ours tend to be classic pink. Very full, bigger than a large man's fist. And fragrant? I sometimes stand in the centre of our formal english garden (as opposed to the wild pond garden) and feel the tears. Especially on a day like today. Hardly any breeze so the aroma stays in the garden, and with the heat and humidity the flowers radiate sweetness.

To add to their beauty, they only last 2 weeks. Inevitably there is what a good friend calls a 'peony rain' which drums down so hard it flattens the flowers, which need to be staked anyway since their heads are so heavy with flower.

And - to add further to their beauty - peony bushes are extraordinarily long-lived in Quebec. It's not unusual to see an old farmhouse abandonned and neglected, but a peony still blooming. It is the optomist, the hopeful flower - that knows when to bloom and when to rest. In our garden the first full bloom of our roses comes at the same time as the peonies. Michael and I sit in our chairs, with florid pink lemonades, and wonder how we got so lucky.

I remember when Still Life first came out and we had to go to Toronto for BookExpo - to sign the advance copies. I cried as we left, filled with sorrow that we'd miss this most blessed week in the garden, but filled with amazement and gratitude it was for that reason - so see and sign my first book. As it turned out the peony held on - and now the blooms are increasingly gorgeous, and long-lived.

We're off for my 4th bookexpo tomorrow (the event is over the weekend in Toronto) - but there are no tears. I know the flowers will be there - and if not, they'll be back next year.

This I know, and this I trust.

I really have learned so much in that garden.

Had more good news - Teresa heard from Spain today and it seems we've sold the books there, for translation. Indeed, there seems to be an auction, so that's nice.

Had breakfast with Susan this morning - she's going to spend part of her holidays in the guest house this summer.

And had a lovely invitation from the village of Georgeville, not far from where we live, to come and do an event when the next book comes out. I actually get nice inviations like that two or three times a week and I'm always grateful and try to fit them into the schedule, though some are quite far away and more difficult.

The reason I'm specifically mentioning this invitation is that she did something both smart and kind. In the invitation she mentioned they could make my event a fundraiser for their village library. And I realized how much I prefer to do fundraisers rather than straight events.

I say this in case any of you would like me to visit - I think there's a better chance of my fitting your event in if you could make it a fundraiser for anything that's important to your community. It could be the library, the local no-kill shelter, literacy, a family in need of extra money because of an emergency, Habitat for Humanity. Whatecver you decide. I wish I was of the stature that would bring in significant amounts of money, but every little bit helps.

Anyway, something to consider.

We're leaving early tomorrow for the 6 hour drive into Ontario. Going first to the village of Elora to visit Cousin Marjorie. (one of a few older women who inspired Ruth). Will try to blog from there, but I know Marjorie doesn't have internet. Might sneak away to a cafe.