Time flies

Where has the time gone? It is already May. The weather has been lousy for the last week, but it is supposed to be better. I used the time to build a new Martin’s House. I took the old one down to give it a new paint job, but then I discovered it was rotting away. A new paint job wasn’t going to do the trick. So I decided to build a new one. We haven’t had any Martins breeding in it for years, only Sparrows, but they are more loyal than other birds. They hang around all winter and provide us with much entertainment. I feed them and they eat a lot. They are also quite messy, but what do you expect? They are birds. We have a Canary and are used to it.
The Juncos are gone now for some time. The Pelicans are back. They fly over our house in their daily circle and the other day I heard Cranes calling as they flew overhead.
I’m almost finished with the birdhouse. It took me a week to build it. I used the old birdhouse as a pattern, but when I put it all together the pieces didn’t quite fit so I had to do quite a bit of re-measuring. I stained and painted every piece before I assembled them to make sure the wood doesn’t rot as fast as the old house. I also made it a bit fancier. It weighs a ton and I hope my wife and I can put it back onto the pole.
As soon as it is totally finished I will take a picture and put it on my blog.
We’ve been busy also in the yard. Cleaned all the fallen branches and I managed to burn them yesterday. It was a perfect day for it after the rain we’ve had. So now I can till my garden, put in some fertilizer then wait until the end of May or beginning of June to seed and plant, depending on the weather.
I started some tomato seeds in my basement. They’ve sprouted and are growing nicely. I’ve never done it before, because I usually buy all my plants, but last year I couldn’t find the cherry tomatoes I’ve been planting for years ‘Sugar Snack’. I managed to find one plant in a nursery where I was told they’ve never heard of it (It is one of the strange mysteries I experience once in a while. I am keeping a log of them and maybe I’ll put some on my blog one day). I saved the seeds, hoping I could grow my own plants. I hope they’ll have enough roots so I can transplant them into the garden.
My trilogy ‘Web of Conspiracy’ has been accepted by MSFiction and will by published sometime next year.
I also finished my other novel ‘Epsilon’ and I sent it in under the title ‘Lizard World’. The total word count is close to 180,000 words, too much for one book, so I made it into 3 books.
Book One: Epsilon. Book Two: Epsilon City. Book Three: Lizard’s Tooth.
The trilogy is part of a planned series ‘The Spider Wars’. The Forerunner of Lizard World is ‘Outpost Epsilon’, which described events 15 years earlier.
I also designed covers for Book One and Book Two. I don’t know if they will appear on the published book but I enjoyed making them.
The Lizard in Book Two is actually from a picture of an Iguana I took in Mexico. The rest I did in the Paint program with endless patience.