Monday, June 14, 2010

monday morning: heat, trims, back to the real world

I had a fairy tale existence this weekend, with writing group here and no responsibility for chores or meals. When you're needing to get rolling again with writing, I think sometimes the retreat mode is what it takes to get you there, but this time, the retreat came to me right here on November Hill.

My goal was to finish the final edit of my pony book, and I hit that Saturday night/early Sunday morning, which meant I was able to keep rolling forward into the next goal. I'm now about five chapters into reformatting my first adult novel for the Kindle, doing a little tweaking along the way. It won't be long - November Hill Press will launch its first title, and claire-obscure will be out in the world after a number of false starts.

I'm excited.

But for right now, it's re-entry into summer heat, 97 degrees today, and on top of that, hoof trims, and hoping I don't literally melt by the time I get back inside.

This is my least favorite time of year, once it gets this hot. Fortunately we are having early evening thunderstorms, which keeps things from drying out too much, and also makes an immediate dent in the heat index.

Last night, right after the rain, the temp dropped from 95 or so to 74, but after an hour, it went back up to 77!

There's not much I want to do in this kind of high humidity heat, but the back field needs dragging, so that much will have to get done.

Here's to an early fall.

Trim notes, added in after the fact:

Basically, every equine had lots of growth this time and all looked good when trimmed and dressed. Worst thing was the heat and the greenish/yellow biting flies that were out mid-day. Yuck! We made it through, and hopefully next appt. won't be this hot - heat index 104!

8 comments:

Valentino said...

Having a hard time motivating in this heat as well. I work outside which factors into my enthusiasm for any extra outdoor activities...

Glad you made good use of your writing weekend :)

ponymaid said...

Billie, ninety seven degrees?! How wonderful. We are inching our way in that direction and although there is much moaning and groaning from the other species, Jack and I are most content. It also means watermelon season is upon us. Do R&R enjoy the heat?

billie said...

V, it is really debilitating if you're doing heavy work. I keep getting heat index warnings on my weather.com application, and having been outside until a little while ago, I can attest to the level of discomfort.

Take care during these very hot days!

billie said...

Sheaffer, they do seem to enjoy the heat in a way the rest of us don't. They have no qualms about standing in the full, beating sun even though they are not nearly shed out yet.

What they are NOT fond of are the biting flies. Today during trims the greenish/yellow ones were out and even with four humans trying to keep them off the horses/donkeys, it was tough. One got on Redford and he got down on his knees and squashed it!

Grey Horse Matters said...

So glad that you're making such wonderful progress with your writing projects. I can't wait to read your stories when the November Hill press becomes a reality!

I'm not a summer person,it's my least favorite season. Heat and humidity sap the energy out of all of us. Two more months until autumn.

Greta said...

Atta girl!

billie said...

Thank you, Arlene - I will be eager to see what you think of the books.

I'm with you on summer. I can get into it initially, but after a few weeks I start to fizzle.

billie said...

Thank you, Greta!!