Tuesday, October 17, 2006

A long post...

covering many topics.

First - On to Plan B
We had to make a couple of decisions this weekend about our housebuilding plans. And ended up going with a smaller house (we had a back-up plan) and likely a different site (long story). But we're happy, nonetheless. The new site is across the lake, rather than down the end. Essentially, we'll be high up on the hill above the area you see on the far side of the lake:



Our new driveway:



The site itself (obviously trees will have to come down):






The driveway from the other end:



And the new house is a little more compact (no separate dining room), but other than that has all the elements of the other house, including a nice guest area. Longtime readers of my blog will remember this one from last year. If you're really curious, see the floorplans. The second ensuite upstairs won't be put in - instead the room will be an annex to my office. Plus, we have a plan with a walk-out basement that Sean has claimed for his workshop/office.

We hope to be in and settled at some point next summer. Seems like a long time right now, but I know only too well how quickly time passes :-)

Second - I Finally Saw THE Bear!!
Yep, at last, I saw the bear that's been on the property all summer. My m-i-l heard the llamas kicking up a fuss yesterday evening while I was cooking dinner. She went to check things out and came back to say the bear was below the llama field, under the apple tree there. So I turned off the stove, put on my boots and went down to see him. And he's GORGEOUS! The llamas were quiet once we were there, though mama and older sis kept Moonbeam in between them. I didn't have my camera, though, and figured if I went to retrieve it, he'd disappear. So I just watched him for about five minutes.

Third - My Flow Chart - a computer version
Glad y'all liked it! It was a cool exercise and, as I said, helped really clarify things in my mind, especially the connections between the various characters. I put it into FreeMind (thanks Nienke and Bren), exported it as a .jpg, imported it to Excel, then typed in the notes I'd made, printed it off and added the numbers by hand. Last, I scanned it - so here it is now:



Yes, it was a timely exercise, but spending the time doing it also reactivated my creative juices, so I spent time making more notes in PFN, in my FDin30D folder. I've had to rewrite some of my Miscellaneous and Closing Scene Notes. My critique partners also helped me with some ideas during our MSN meeting the other day. Have to continue with that today, as well as filling out more of the Story Evolution Worksheet and working on a couple of the other ones. Plus, I hope to take a walk as it's a lovely day here - crisp and cool, a perfect autumn day.

And, just for fun, here's a pic of the cats Sean took on Saturday afternoon. It was a gloomy, rainy day, so what else would you expect cats to do, but curl up, snuggle each other and sleep?



Teresa

Currently Reading: Between books
Link of the Day: Eighteenth Century Women Painters in France (from The Met)
Bonus Link of the Day: PandaCam at the Atlanta Zoo (Sean sent me the link the other day)

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