rolanni | That can't be right. . .

Wunderground claims that the weather station at the Robert LeFleur Airport is reporting an air temperature of 72F/22C. Uh, no. The rest of the state is reporting temps in the low-to-mid 40F, which is Plenty Warm Enough. It's been raining like a sonofagun all day, with intermittently nasty winds and some Interesting pinkish sky.

Regardless of what the temperature Really Is at the moment, the weatherbeans foresee a plummet into the 20sF/-6C on the overnight, followed by. . .snow! On top of what will then be. . .ice! Total accumulation, once it's All Over With, sometime Monday evening, in the three to five inch range. What fun. I'm staying Right Here and hoping that the lights stay on.

The apple tree across the way was host to fifteen or so wild turkeys in the middle of the afternoon, and about the same number of deer, moving in family groups of two-to-four. I may need to plant an apple tree where I can see the action from my office window, which is kind of funny, since this land used to be part of an apple orchard. All that's left are a couple of ancients, in and among the new growth of ash and pine, but the turkeys remember.

Got another few hundred words written, did some re-arranging, and my exercises; signed about a hundred, hundred-fifty Halfling Moon -- it's funny how it hurts to write -- not an activity I associate with shoulder movement, but there you are. I was just sitting down to map out the next book chunk, but my sister called with news from the south. ~~Talking with~~ Listening to my sister always leaves me scattered and often exhausted, so we'll get with planning the next story chunk tomorrow morning, I think. In the meantime, I need to go torture a cat and see if Steve wants to watch "Easy Virtue."

Progress on Ghost Ship

16309 / 100000

She never intended to come back to Surebleak, once she got free of it, but she'd remembered the address of that Learning Shop. Just in case.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

That is just so Miri. I love it!

I can't wait to see what she does there.

About 46 F over here, with the rain departed and not mourned . . .

I doubt if the turkeys remember your late orchard. They've only been around for a couple of generations. Transplants From Away.

The orchard spanned what has become several properties and the apples across the street are part of the old orchard no matter that the current owners is doing his best to make the place look like Beaver's Cleaver's house, with chickens. I think there are still a half dozen of those trees around ...

I have a sister like that. My commiserations.

I have to go re-read _I Dare_. Seems to me there's a mention of a place that used to be a Learning Shop, which I assumed was where Miri had gone. But I forget what it had become. It wasn't the rug shop, was it?

Abigail

Nope. ::rocking back and forth on heels and humming tunelessly:: It's later in the book. ::wicked chuckle::

Sounds like someone has some equipment inside to do maintenance!

I think Boss Conrad/Pat Rinn saw an empty building which used to be a learning shop at the spaceport when the bosses first called on the Portmaster.
Checking will be as good an excuse as any to reread a good book.

ding ding ding ding ding! You need an excuse?? ::grin, duck, run like the wind!::

>>The apple tree across the way was host to fifteen or so wild turkeys in the middle of the afternoon, and about the same number of deer, moving in family groups of two-to-four. I may need to plant an apple tree where I can see the action from my office window, which is kind of funny, since this land used to be part of an apple orchard. All that's left are a couple of ancients, in and among the new growth of ash and pine, but the turkeys remember.<<

Planting more apple trees would be a grand idea. On old orchard land, though, it would be prudent to throw down a generous amount of compost and a sprinkling of rock dust, to restore depleted nutrients to the soil. Also, apples for eating are terrific but expensive. If you want apples for wildlife, you can get seedlings darn cheap from a conservation nursery. Also pears, plums, and assorted other interesting species.

>>She never intended to come back to Surebleak, once she got free of it, but she'd remembered the address of that Learning Shop. Just in case.<<

Heh heh ... you have my attention. I look forward to reading more of this.

>>On old orchard land, though, it would be prudent to throw down a generous amount of compost and a sprinkling of rock dust, to restore depleted nutrients to the soil.<<
Yes! Also, planting a nitrogen-fixer to grow around the base can keep things more balanced later.

However --
Apples for eating are also darn difficult to keep reasonably pest-free. Lee Reich therefore recommends pears instead, if you want a familiar fruit... or has a huge list of other recommendations if you don't mind more diverse fare. (I expect your turkeys won't mind. Ours are extremely adaptable.)
Check out _Uncommon Fruits for Every Garden_ or _Landscaping with Fruit_ from a library the next time you feel like taking an armchair vacation from winter.

meg d.

Let's see, the list of fruiting plants (not all of them mature yet) in my yard includes: apple, pear, crabapple, mulberry, persimmon, beach plum, gooseberry, gold current, black raspberry, yellow raspberry, wild strawberry ... and I'm probably forgetting some things. The area is landscaped for mutual human/wildlife use.

From "I Dare":

After Pat Rin demonstrates the game of pick-up sticks for Villy in the new casino at the port, he and Natesa walk through the port, which "itself displayed a gratifying amount of activity. Work was going forth on several collaborative efforts, notably the duty-free shop - boldly named The Planetary Cooperative - and situated in the space formerly occupied, according to the ancient signage, by a Learning Shop;..."

MCT - Harrisburg, PA

"The apple tree across the way was host to fifteen or so wild turkeys in the middle of the afternoon, and about the same number of deer"

I have this interesting mental picture of deer up in the branches with the turkeys *g*...

(An indication of turkeys being imported to the UK -- if there are any wild ones (I've never seen any), they escaped from farms here. Wild deer, on the other hand, we have, and in some cases are regarded as pests because of the damage they cause; in some others the residents just get fed up with eating venison. I would like to have the opportunity to get bored with eating venison...)

That can't be right. . .

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learning shop

Re: learning shop

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Learning Shop location at Surebleak port

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