Peonies From Heaven

“Peonies from Heaven” is the Fair theme this year, with special awards given those entries that follow the theme. I thought you might like top see the theme quilts and one wall hanging. I regret to say it was raining so hard Tuesday, when I took these photos, that the horse show was cancelled.

(In case you don’t know, peonies bloom in Alaska when the flowers are hard to come by almost anywhere else in the world, so peonies grown in Alaska are entering the global cut flower trade.)

The one on the left used peony fabric. The smaller one on the right used the theme colors.

This one had peony fabric, but not in the fair colors.

And the wall hanging, about 16″ square.

P.S: My apologies for leaving out two of the fair-themed entries. I went back again today, and got photos.

The quilt on the right has fair theme and colors

And this one got a theme ribbon for fair colors.

Quotes from Mercedes Lackey

These are the contexts of the quotes tweeted from @sueannbowling from July 31 through August 6, 2014. All but the last are from Beauty and the Werewolf, by Mercedes Lackey.

“I don’t hold with making a man desperate.” Eric, the gamekeeper, when taking Bella out to help him catch a poacher who is taking only skins, leaving the meat to rot.

“It took a good teacher to make a good teacher.” Bella, wondering who has taught Sabastian, who is teaching her.

“Women are more practical. And we have no problem with being called cowards.” Eric has asked what Bella would do if someone came at her with a knife, and her answer is “run.”

“No wonder he bullied people, if he had been bullied himself.” Eric has been giving Bella an edited version of his childhood.

“Children became what they lived with.” Bella’s thought, but true.

“You deserve to be more than anyone has allowed you to be until now.” Sebastian speaking to Bella, just after he has asked her to marry him.

“Nobody ever tells us anything.” Sue Ann Bowling, Homecoming. Flame, after Roi has vanished and she doesn’t know why.

Weather Update 8/5/14

We had another .34” of rain before midnight, and I heard thunder several times. That puts us at 1.38” for the month, so we’re still pushing the seasonal record. I’ll try for a few more quilt photos today, though the current weather is drizzle and fog.

North Pole Weather 8/4/12

The sun will rise this morning at 5:01, and set tonight at 10:53. We now have almost 3 hours of nautical twilight.

It has remained rainy. We didn’t quite set a new record for July, though we only missed it by .18“. We beat the June and July combined record by over 2”, and the greatest 48 hour total for July though, so you could say we’ve had a damp summer. August? 1.04” so far, so we’re definitely still in the running for the wettest summer of all time.

It used to be a truism that it always rained during the Tanana Valley State Fair, which started last Friday. Yesterday was warm and sunny, but the rest of the week looks questionable. I’m keeping my poncho in the car. I did get to the quilt show Saturday, in spite of the rain. I might show some more photos later.

Weekend Writing Warriors: Rescue Operation

Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors (click on the logo above) and Snippet Sunday (click on the logo below.)

I am still quoting from Rescue Operation, this time from Roi’s POV after his return from solving the problem of the planet convinced its health problems were an attack by others.

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Source: Hubblesite.org

Roi Laian stretched, feeling the interface lounge accommodate to his motion and gently massage his body as he shifted position. He opened his eyes, briefly interrupting the computer’s download to his brain as he absorbed what he’d already received. Plenty of decisions he wouldn’t have made if he had been here, but nothing really disastrous. Still, it was good to be back.

He glanced out the window wall of his office, taking in the rolling pastureland dotted with grazing horses. Swim, ride, or work out in the controlled-gravity gym? After he’d checked out the situations Zhaim had indicated were resolved, Roi decided, and reactivated the full computer connection.

The Horizon situation first, he decided, but he was only a few minutes into that when he jerked upright on the lounge.

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I don’t think he’s favorably impressed by Zhaim’s solution.

Science Fiction Romance Brigade Presents: Both Sides Now

It’s Saturday and time for Science Fiction Romance Brigade Presents, a blog hop where we share about 200 words from something we’ve written. For rules and links to other participants, click the logo above.

I am still posting from Both Sides Now, a WIP that blends science fiction, adventure, politics and a touch of romance. Here Doc (really a veterinarian but the only doctor the horse nomads have) is getting acquainted with my hero, who he thinks of as Kevi. He’s just told Kevi that his white hair, unusual on a young man on the planet Horizon, has already been dyed darker, and another rescuer has left dark contact lenses—if Doc can remember where they are.

Kevi gave him a startled look, peered into the mirror and nodded in approval. “Black hair, and with brown eyes my skin color won’t be looked at twice. Better gray my hair a bit. Thanks, Doc. You guys are incredible, especially considering what I suspect you’ve heard about me.”

There they were. Doc found the right box and handed it to Kevi, who carefully examined the lenses before inserting them. When he turned, blinking to settle the lenses in place, his coloring looked normal. He might be a little darker than average for Horizon, but nobody would give him a second look.

“Now,” the R’il’noid said briskly, “exactly what do you have in the way of medical supplies? I’ve got a hunch that kid still needs some work from the rape, but not without anesthesia or at least tranquilizers. And I can’t do it until I can use my hands better—a couple of the bones probably need to be broken and reset.”

In reply, Doc unlocked the cupboard where he kept the few drugs he had managed to scrape together. “That’s it. I’ve got my surgical kit, and some boiled rags for bandages. And a little cautery powder, but only a little, and it’s not very effective.”

Jarn’s Journal Year 10 Day 211

Year 10, Day 211

I’ve added my observations of the shore of the northern ocean and its floating ice cap to the world map I’m building up in the computer. I find I’ve mapped more that a third of the way around this world. The eastern coast of the ice-covered mountains is a good 55° west of the lake where I live; the spot where I decided it was too cold to continue this year is nearly 105° east. Close to halfway, and while there were a number of river mouths and deep inlets, the only though connection to the ocean so far is the relatively narrow strait broken by the volcanic island. Perhaps the isolation of this northern ocean is the answer.

The proof will have to wait for next year. For right now, Rainbow is hinting she would like another of the wild pigs from the northern continent, not to mention the nuts I found last year as well as dates and figs. The fruit and nuts are no problem. The pig ….

They’re mostly eating acorns now—I checked. If they taste like what they eat, as the warthogs do, they should be quite tasty. But I will kill one only in self-defense, like the first time, or if it is badly injured. Perhaps I could rob a predator of its kill?