Tote bags, chocolates and chants - oh my!

Sunny, warm, temps 20

Lovely, fresh day. Not at all humid. Had first coffee of the morning by the pool - sun out, but black flies not yet awake. The photo was taken by Michael this morning when he walked Trudy. Our wild flower field, by the pond. Lupins! Love 'em. And writing this on the porch, to the thrum of bees.

I think all our fish have 'left' the pond - to the big pond in the sky. Sad...after ten years of raising the bass. Apparently, Del thinks, an otter or some such might have gotten in during the winter and done what they do best. Happy for it - sad for the fish. But, as a result, we have so many tadpoles in the pond we can practically walk on it. Normally the fish would eat them...but now they're thriving. Can't begin to imagine the sound of all those frogs, in a few weeks. But we love having frogs. Shows a healthy eco-system. Or, a lack of bass.

Wrote 37-hundred words this morning and into the afternoon - until I ran out. Emptied the brain. Only muck coming out now. so decided to stop.

And then I did the draw for the three gifts from Saint-Benoit-du-lac. The tote bag, the chocolates and the Gregorian chants.

The winners are:

Tote bag - Alice
Chocolates - Beth
Chants - Kathleen

Congratulations. The winners have been told. And thank you all for entering, and also for your kind comments, on my contact email, but also on the comments section of the blog. I read them, and feel so warmed.

Have a meeting tonight, in Sutton....and all tomorrow to write. Getting closer. But then, you've heard that before. As I approach, The End seems to get farther away. But I'll get there one day!

Speak to you soon -

Asperagus

Mainly sunny, mild, temps 14

Another gorgeous day. The asperagus is just coming up in the cutting garden. Normally I realize it's up when I see it in bloom out the kitchen window. This year I'm determined not to forget it's there.

How wonderful is fresh asperagus? My brother Doug planted it when he came to live with us for a year. We miss him - but thank God he left his vegetables.

We're off to Boston tomorrow. One of our favorite cities. We adore it. Quite a bit like Montreal we find - a very people-oriented city. We're going down mostly on personal stuff. But once the people we were visiting settled on what weekend would suit them we re-arranged the Burnham Library event (originally for this weekend) thanks to the kindness of Marty, and made arrangements to be in Boston. Then I got in touch my the publicists about it.

I'm fortunate to have two publicists (high maintenance, you know...all those unreasonable requests). There's Hector at St Martin's Minotaur. He's absolutely fantastic. Just had a baby, and it hasn't seemed to have thrown him off at all. Though Hector sleep deprieved and Hector normal are hard to tell apart.

And we have Kathleen at Goldberg McDuffie in New York. They're terrific publicists.

So I contacted them, told them the weekend our people wanted us in Boston and asked if there was anything they could set up.

Loe and behond, they did! A TV interview tomorrow, and two signings on Friday. Leaves Saturday free for our personal stuff - which we're really looking forward to.

I'll be posting from Boston to keep you up to date.

We decided to drive down...leaving 5 am tomorrow - to make the 1pm tv interview.

Must run...lunch is ready. Just back with Michael and the 'girls' from a walk. Tons of tadpoles in the pond - and huge numbers of bass. Sadly our little duck eggs have been abandonned. And the ducks are gone. Feel horrible about that.

Will try to post again soon...be well.