I'm back! Briefly.
You can blame Facebook and Twitter for giving me new venues for writing --- but I've also been neglecting my work-related blog as well. My brain is so consumed by my presentation for the Alzheimer Society conference IN TWO WEEKS! that other creative writing is suppressed.
Too, a lot of the writing I might normally put on a blog gets jotted down in my notebook as column ideas. Two columns a month based on personal experience means I have to keep the ideas flowing. I'm hoping once November arrives, I'll be able to open up and write some more.
Who am I kidding? Come November, I'm going through the manuscript again -- more editing, more tweaking -- and starting the pitch to agents again. Depending on how that goes, I'll pitch in November or start fresh in the new year. So many decisions to make.
And I keep thinking about the novel I started...but I realized my strongest writing is my non-fiction so I'm sticking with my long-time plan: to write fiction when I can devote all my time to learning and executing the craft. To cram it in while I'm working on other projects just doesn't suit me. I am not a writer who can work on a myriad of projects at once.
I think fondly of my first years here when I could post blogs entries every day. Where did all that purely creative expression go?

I am meeting with a successful author, a naturalist writer, who I greatly admire -- and who thinks I'm a good writer who should publish book! Thinks my work deserves a bigger audience than that of the newspaper's readership. So who knows what will come out of that meeting? That's a few days after the conference.

Beautiful autumn day here along the River Philip. Sunny, warm and very colourful.
I'm working on the first draft of my presentation so am now going to take a break -- had to have a cry to get the emotions out; I'm determined not to get emotional while giving this presentation so I imagine there will be many micro-crying sessions in the next couple of weeks! The dogs and I will go for a mind-clearing, heart-strengthening walk to the woods and back.
Need to do my neck stretches, too. All this writing is great but it's breaking my body down!

My box-eating cat:

He rips off a piece then spits it on the floor.

He's worse than a beaver.

Hey, who made the mess on the floor?

I haven't caught him at it again but I've cleaned up two more messes and the gnawed scoop in the box is halfway down the side.
He also shreds paper.
Wha??

It's been a busy week! The eggs we put in the incubator a couple of weeks began to hatch Tuesday night, four days before their due date, which is today.
So far, we've hatched out eight chicks successfully, are looking at five eggs not doing anything, lost 2 chicks to bleeding, have one - Twoonie, the second "born" -- that may not survive because of wonky legs (if it can't feed itself, it won't survive).
Here are some shots of Dwayne, our resident chicken obstetrician, assisting with a birth:

Our birthing room gets kind of messy:

Our nursery is filling up! Sometime today, these little chicks will be let loose in the big pen.

We didn't have much luck hatching chicks out of green-shelled eggs (in order to fulfill my need to have hens that lay green eggs); the disabled chick and a chick that died last night came out of green shells. But these guys are cute and noisy and active and it's going to be fun to watch them get bigger, just like the older chicks in the pen next door:

We started with five -- one died, and three of these are roosters!!
Aren't chickens fun?

Friends and enemies of our sunflowers:

Found this photo of Dad and thanks to a lovely slow first day at work, was able to scan it and Photoshop it.
This is going into my opening slide show for my Alz. conference presentation. Love it.
Now I really want to learn to drive our same-era tractor!

I just realized I hadn't posted a photo of our dinner with the Beers, and niece Emily, from Cobourg. The day they were going to be passing through our part of NS coincided with our anniversary so it was lovely to have a dinner party with people enthusiastic about eating lobster. 

Considering we've known Susan and her parents -- her mother is Colleen Ross, dear to my heart -- it's like we were celebrating with family. 

Just returned from an overnight stay in Victoria by the Sea, PEI, where I was interviewing people for an article for Saltscapes. Went very well, met lovely people who gave great quote, and a nice balance -- not all "This is a perfect, quaint village." Real village life stuff for a perfect, quaint village!
I can see why people love travel writing; it was fun to meet people and talk to them. This is good for me; making me more confident since it gives me a reason to strike up conversations with strangers.
I'll be posting photos about my little trip tomorrow on the work blog so check that out -- check out what I had for lunch !!

My friend and colleague Jane begins her holidays tomorrow so for the next two weeks, I work every day at the paper. Ugh. And I'm having trouble with my back from too much sitting so this is not going to be good. I have to make sure I flip over on the inversion table every day to offset the stress on my left leg and lower back from sitting all day in my awful seat (don't have the nerve to ask my boss for a new one although I'm entitled to one since I did have an OT assessment on my work space).
I don't anticipate work being slow since I will do all my work writing there instead of at home. Lots of people to talk to, always.

Chicks are growing. Five new hens haven't realized they can go outside here. Gardens are full of flowers. My echinacea are blooming! August is my favourite month -- even though I work non-stop for the first two weeks!

When I stepped out the door this morning under heavy, grey skies to take the dog for a walk, I heard a thick rustle of wings and looked up to see an osprey taking flight, low to the ground. I knew then it had been sitting on the ground or on one of the round bales of hay near the strawberry patch. This is how I knew it was one of this year's hatchlings.
Today marks first flight!
The main challenge for a young osprey on its first flight is mastering the land in a tree. This one tried several times to land on a tree top only to have it wobble, only to have to let go and fly on.
By the time I watched and called to my husband and took photos, it was obvious rain was coming so both dogs got a walk up the lane.
Two young ospreys were sitting on dead tree limbs above the lane. First flight, check. Landing in a tree, check.
Next lesson: catching fish.

Empty nest at 6:30 a.m. (turns out, youngest hiding inside).

Not yet mastered the skill of landing on poles or trees.

Practicing. Lift! Lift!

 

When a parent brought a fish to the nest, it was time to land and refuel.

When one parent brought a fish in for breakfast, Dwayne saw the third and youngest hatchling pop its head up from the nest. That one is always later than its older siblings; once the other two are flying with confidence and fishing for themselves, all attention turns to getting the baby flying and fishing.  This was quite a challenge last year; it waits to be seen if this year's youngest is braver and bolder.