Our house is mercifully dry, but not our surroundings. The little seasonal creek that forms a 3-sided moat around the property jumped the road yesterday to spill into the lake. Overnight it receded and now flows through the culvert like it should do.
Last week ended very busily, with meetings and appointments. On Saturday a writers' group hosted a "Spring Fling"--normally I'm out of the country, but the timing of our trip was a bit different this year, so I could attend. The speakers were historical mystery author Sarah Smith in the morning and romance mystery author Jill Winters. Both were delightful, charming, quite different yet equally wise in the ways of writing. A thoroughly enjoyable day--apart from the driving through a massive rainstorm to get to town and back!
I was glad to have a quiet Sunday at home day with Lola and my husband. Despite a huge article in the morning paper about my Author Diva experience in Bratislava and Prague, I humbly tended to a few housekeeping tasks. Laundered the dog beds--after a teary family conference we agreed to put Shadow's away. Her feeding dish remains in place, however, as does her toy basket. The empty collar sits in full view, beside the pretty little wooden box. If it ever stops raining, we'll have a burial. I only want to do it on a beautiful, sunny spring day.
Something I didn't expect so soon was my need to begin the process of seeking a another dog. Lola is lonely. The rhythm of our household just doesn't feel right. So, while we not in a great rush, or desperate to make a hasty change, there's no reason not to begin seeking a good match. In fact, over the weekend we submitted applications to 3 wonderful pet rescue organisations, one in Maine and two in Massachusetts. If we don't find an adoptee straight away, the aps can be kept on file.
A few profiles of young female dogs have interested us enough to make further inquiries. We're carefully sifting through the information from their foster homes, to ensure a good fit.
With the constant rain, we've all got cabin fever. This week my schedule is completely free, and there's no working in the garden, so I'm not even tempted. This means I can organise all my research materials from the trip. This morning I was reviewing and editing voluminous notes taken at the British Library and the Metropolitan Archive in London. The entire document was 37 pages, single-spaced! I've got to work out which juicy morsels fit into my timeline and plot, to be used in the book, and what is merely background information to help me in the process of writing.
And then--the photograph archive! Our day at Hampton Court was fully documented, and I need to select which shots should go directly into my research notebooks.
Here's a nice pic of tulips and primroses, I snapped them in Gordon Square one afternoon. Just a little something to brighten this grey day!
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