I can’t believe summer is nearly over. We had so little hot weather, and already it’s starting to cool down. This summer was way too short!

But then, if I really think about it, I think the hottest day I’ve experienced this summer was when Tina and I were driving home from Portland, going down the I-5, stuck in the rush-hour crawl at Portland, and we were so hot I thought I was going to melt. Of couse we didn’t melt because I’m here to tell you about it.

That said, I am going to continue bemoaning that summer is almost over.

Spamalot, for which I played 2nd piano with the orchestra, is done. We had 3 performances, and they all went well, and the 3rd one was absolutely spectacular. Part of me is sad that it’s over because it was so much fun.

But that also means that everything I enjoyed doing so much in the non-summer days will soon be starting up – the A Little Night Music Orchestra, Golden Ears Jazz Band, and of course, it’s time to quit cruising and start working on my next book.

I’ve just returned from the first time I’ve attended the OCW summer writers’ conference in Portland, OR. The conference had so many highlights I don’t know where to start. As soon as I finish with the rehearsals and performances for Spamalot (I’m playing piano as part of the orchestra) then I’ll work on putting some of my photos together.

Unfortunately, by the time I realized that I should have been taking photos, the conference was nearly over. There were so many great highlights to this conference I barely know where to start. I made some really good friends whom I will keep in touch with long after we’re home. I talked to some editors both for business and for pleasure. I was both on the learning and the mentoring end of this conference. I love learning new stuff, and reviewing stuff I already know, and it’s great to sit with a beginning writer to share the joy of the journey of learning the craft.

I stalked a PT Cruiser owner and he let me sit behind the wheel and took some pictures of me. Ah, my dream car. 🙂 I took some great photos of a deer all alone on the road. Of course I over-consumed with the coffee. Even the ride home was fun, because I met a new friend when we carpooled from home to Portland – a long drive without airconditioning in stifling heat.

Of course the trip wouldn’t have been complete without something going wrong. As we were in the lineup for the border, I couldn’t find my passport, so while I was driving and moving up one carlength at a time toward the border, Tina was leaning back and rumaging through all my stuff frantically searching for my passport. What an image we must have made.

There’s probably a plotline in there somewhere. 🙂

Often my husband and I walk our dogs along a public path alongside a small river just north of where we live. We see a lot of animals besides dogs on our outings, but guess what we saw today? Well, if you read the subject title, you already know the answer.

He (or she?) was in the farmer’s field beside the path, watching us as we walked. Of course we had to stop and look at him/her, and when we did, he/she looked right back. It was almost spooky. This particular coyote looked quite well fed, which was also spooky, because their favorite meals tend to be chickens, cats, and small dogs.

Being the owner of one such dog, who also happens to be quite well fed and perhaps not in the best condition to out-run a wild animal, we decided not to push our luck. We turned around and went back home.

This was not Wile E Coyote. This was the real thing, and it wasn’t after any Road Runners. It would have been after the little snack that was running around my feet.

We went home. But my husband got a couple of good pictures, so I consider it still a good outing.

Still, I would have rather seen some ducks. They only eat bugs and fish.

Did you see that subject title? Blueberries!

When I first moved to the Vancouver BC area, one of the first things I noticed, besides the lack of wind and the over-abundance of rain, was the spectatcular blueberries. They are big and fat and juicy, and very very delicious.

I am not a pie person, I just like my blueberries cold and in a bowl, no milk, no sugar. There is no better snack than fresh blueberries. And I live in a place that has world-famous blueberries. There are many blueberry farms within 10 minutes of my home, and here is a link to one of them – Purewal Blueberry Farms.

I invite you to check out how blueberries are grown, and if that tempts you to go buy some at your local farmers market or grocery store, then go for it. This place ships blueberries all over Canada and the USA. There is a good possibility that you could be eating from the same crop as me.

There are other farms off the path where I walk my dogs. But that’s another post.

Wow, is it hot outside. I can only say…. it’s hot.

Summer is fully upon us, and I have to say that as much as I enjoy summer, I also like to spend the hot part of the day, when I don’t have plans, sitting in my cool basement, working at my next book on my computer. Although, on a day like today, I think I’m going to move outside with my laptop.

Later in the week, if the sun isn’t too hot, this feels like a good time to go to one of the local farms and pick some yummy blueberries. I’d like to say I have plans to make a pie, but the truth is that within a day or two, all the blueberries will be eaten, and I’ll have to go out again. This spring I bought 3 blueberry plants and put them in my back yard, and we have all been faithfully watering them. Next year I won’t have enough to make a pie, but one day, it will happen, and when the time comes to make a pie, I’ll only just go outside into my back yard, and put them from the plant to the pastry.

But for this year, off to the local blueberry farm I must go.