Wait, is it September already?

I have a few new Tiffany Reisz books read and pending review (if you haven’t read any of her Original Sinners or standalone novels, check my Reviews page for links), but I’ve been remiss in actual blog posts this summer, so it seemed like now’s a good time to put up a general update of random events first.

Monday morning we caught Minerva running around the back yard with a mouse the size of a baked potato in her mouth. Apparently she and fAngus are equally passionate about hunting rodents. Greeeeaaaat.
fAngus has taken to staying out all night like a goddamned delinquent. He’s not whoring around, as far as I know, since he’s fixed, but I have no idea where he goes all night. He’s rather demanding about being let back in the house when the sun comes up in the morning, and eats breakfast as though he’s been on adventures and is SO EXHAUSTED…then he sleeps in my office all day. I suppose I should be grateful he’s not chewing cords anymore, but he does protest-poop if I’m gone overnight and can’t let him out.
- No, I don’t know what’s going to happen this winter when I can’t let him out overnight to freeze to death. I suppose he’ll kill me in my sleep.
I’m working (excruciatingly slowly) at downsizing my stuff. I’m bad at it, but I have all winter to figure out what can be stored, what can be excised, and what I MUST take with me.
Next week I’m officiating a wedding for the first time. Obviously whomever decided giving me any sort of state-sanctioned vested authority should probably be investigated, but hopefully I don’t screw it up.
- No, I’m not hanging a shingle: this is a one-time favor resulting from a 20 year friendship.
I’m on vacation next week too (well, except for officiating), which is slightly anxiety inducing because flying-in-Covid still makes me uncomfortable. I’m crossing all the things that we don’t have any idiot anti-mask-troublemakers on any of our flights. Then again, maybe my crossed eyes will scare them into shutting up?
I started writing again…700 words a week ago, a few outline points here and there, an idea for a short story…it’s progress. My well for creating was dry for a long while…since February, really. I’m not sure why: obviously I’ve barely even been blogging. My TBR pile has only slightly changed (by this time last year I think I was 45 books into my reading list…I think I’m 20 in so far in 2021). I suppose the drought this spring/summer hit me in ways I hadn’t anticipated. But now it’s fall and I have FODDER from this summer and some capacity for horror…those gravestones getting eaten by trees in rural Maine cemeteries are gonna show up somewhere.
I helped SK clean his mom’s basement of board games. We filled a van (not a serial killer van, just for clarification) and there are still some left. Seriously…so many board games. Including this fairly horrifying gem: