Halfway through July already, eh? Having made it through the third heatwave in as many months, the scribes have recovered enough to set quill to parchment for a quick update. Believe me, in this heat it will be quick.
Just like last month, let’s talk sales figures for The Scriptorium Chronicle. Released on April 1st, the running total for the number of copies sold is standing firm at one. That’s right, one.
The annoying thing is that I’ve been trying to promote it, whereas Liber Monstrorum, which I’ve done nothing with for a while, has sold three copies without me so much as lifting a finger. Go figure.
Works In Progress
Not much writing has happened these past few weeks, largely because it has been too hot to do anything much. I did sit outside with pencil and paper and got as far as doodling book covers for various WIPs, but not much else. As Kurt Vonnegut said, so it goes.
The Wildflower Meadow & The Kitchen Garden
The wildflower meadow (formerly the front lawn) is now well into #NoMowJuly. Two of the spotted orchids were trampled by scaffolders putting up scaffolding (what else would they be putting up?) for the solar panels being installed on the priory roof. Hopefully they will recover. Mrs Pritchett snipped some knapweed flowers for a dried flower arrangement she has planned. A group of cinnabar moth caterpillars has been seen.
The tomatoes have fruit which is beginning to ripen. The outdoor cucumbers had to be sown again from seed as slugs had a good nibble on the first lot. They are way behind, but hopefully will start to catch up. As it has been so hot, a lot of crops have bolted — lettuce and radish in particular. The rest of the plants in the kitchen garden are small and ready too early with the heat and lack of rain. I’m going to have a serious think about what to grow next year as four of the five hottest years on record have been in the past 5 years, and this year is set to join them to make 5 for 5. This is the point I mention climate change and extremes of weather.
What I’ve Been Reading And Watching
In a word, nothing. It has been too hot to sit and watch telly, so the scribes have been sitting outside in the evening. Wine might have been involved. Ditto reading, but without the wine.
And Finally…
The real news for me this month is finally getting solar panels and batteries installed. What with everything going on in the Middle East, I thought, “If not now, when?” The panels are up, but I’m still waiting for the scaffolding to come down. It can’t come soon enough, as it is preventing the front windows from opening, which has made it difficult to cool the rooms in the evening. Honestly, you try to do the right thing and the saying “No good deed goes unpunished” comes back to get you. Sigh.
Mark Weaver 