Grandpa-to-Me Cooking

May19

There’s a rage, it seems, for Farm-to-Table dining; there’s a few restaurants open in Ithaca right now that tout it and it gets play in some blogs. In short, it’s local food delivered to local consumers – in restaurants, it’s high end stuff made with low-food-miles food. I find it an interesting movement, but I live in the Frozen North, and I like my oranges, and my fresh produce in December, and so on.

There’s also – as we found out when we were taken out to a fancy place for dinner for our birthdays in Troy a few weeks back – a trend for buttermilk-fried ramps right now. And let me tell you, they are delicious. Ommity nommity tasty, with just enough onion flavor. We bought some ramps from our local farmer’s market and tried it out – so good

But to bring this around full circle, trendy things are pricey, and ramps have a very short growing season and are in fashion right now, so much so that people fear overharvesting.

Enter my grandparents’ farm, and the small forest there that my parents harvest for wood. And a visit to meet with my other (surviving) grandmother at my parents’ place 2 weekends past.

And my mother just happens to say “oh, would you like some ramps? We can go dig them.”

Let me tell you, grandpa’s-woods-to-table tastes even better than farm-to-table.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/1107496.html. You can comment here or there. comment count unavailable

Private Party – A Patreon Story

May19

This story of Stranded World began as a series of connected vignettes on Dreamwidth, all of which are collected here; the story then continues to an actual conclusion of sorts. 

There was a man at the festival with an eye-tattoo that winked.

Autumn hadn’t been sure the first time. There were several beautiful pieces of ink wandering around this ‘fest – it was pushing a hundred degrees out, and everyone was wearing just about as little as they could get away with. And there was this man, topless and wearing short khaki shorts and Birkenstocks, and the eye centered on his spine had a perfectly-shaded iris. And then it was closed. And then there was the pupil again. Continue reading →

Landing Page: Inner Circle

May19

In the world of the Circled Plain, most of humanity lives within walled cities, protected from the monsters outside.

The cities’ walls are nested, circle within circle within circle, and the richest and most powerful live the deepest in the city.

They call the social and economic climb from the outer rings towards the inner the Ladder. The climb is hard, but there are always ways to jump rungs.

Jumping Rings
Taslin and Valran have both knelt in service to climb the ladder.
But they will have to make it through their ten years before they’ll see the fruit of their labor.
Jumping Rings updates every other Tuesday.

Chapter One: Taslin (LJ) Kneel
Chapter Two: Valran (LJ) Kneel
Chapter Three: Taslin (LJ) Duck
Chapter Four: Valran (LJ) Duck
Chapter Five: Taslin )LJ) Thrust

subsequent chapters posted here.

Other Stories
…This turned out a little creepy… (LJ) Marri & her Patron, Biccon
Meeting (LJ) another Servus
The Flow and the Fountain (LJ) – why one doesn’t use too much magic
Remembering the Fallen (LJ) – how the Flow changes one
Now Hiring (LJ) – fic around demific
Meeting the Archmage (LJ)
(LJ)

Meta
Teswarnen Eshmarn, the Second Circle Deputy Oligarch of New Indapala
 (LJ) – character information
The Lands of the Circled Plain (LJ) a setting story for 3WW

Worldbuilding 1: Architecture (LJ)
Worldbuilding 2: Inside and Outside (LJ)

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/773360.html. You can comment here or there. comment count unavailable

The Deep Inks (beginning) reposted for Patreon

May18



This is what started the Stranded World – a short story, more the beginning of a tale than a story in and of itself, and the very beginning of my first NaNoWriMo novel, continuing it. The novel itself is, uh, not good. But this part, I think, is nicely indicative of the world & of Autumn.

Originally posted November 3rd, 2010 – as a Three-Word Wednesday!

“I heard you did divinations.”

It had been a quiet day, grey and chilly for early August, and Autumn had been putting the final touches on a new drawing of Grandmother Maple. The man’s intrusion was so unexpected, so sharp and abrupt, that only quick reflexes saved her from spilling her inkwell and ruining the whole thing.

“You want the blue tents over in Psychic Alley,” she answered without looking up, carefully capping her ink and setting her pen down.

read on…

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/1106714.html. You can comment here or there. comment count unavailable

Enchanting, a story of the Faerie Apocalypse for Three-Word Wednesday

May18

Elves are wonderful. They provoke wonder.
Elves are marvelous. They cause marvels.
Elves are fantastic. They create fantasies.
Elves are glamorous. They project glamour.
Elves are enchanting. They weave enchantment.
Elves are terrific. They beget terror….
-Lords and Ladies by Terry Pratchett

Alwin was giddy. She’d touched him. She’d brushed her hand over his, and she had smiled at him!

The lady had called herself Titania. When everyone who happened to be nobody at all was claiming gods’ names – there was that thing with “Zeus” in Greece, that thing with “Hera” in New York City, and nobody really wanted to think about the problems with Czernobog in Buffalo – it wasn’t surprising that a beautiful woman would take on a beautiful name. But she wasn’t standing in the center of town declaring her godhead like those nutcases, or trailing fanatic followers like some of the others – Bast. Bast had been a bad case, according to the news.

No, she was just sitting in a bar – some might say “holding court,” but Alwin thought they were snobs. She was just sitting at The Last Dock, drinking beer and smiling that enchanting smile at everyone.

Alwin’s smile faltered. Her gaze had moved on from him – of course, she had other things to thing of, other things to worry about. But she was smiling at Joe from down the street now, and her fingers were brushing over his hand now.

He’d have to get her to look at him again. He’d have to do something to get her attention.

Alwin finished his beer and picked up a pool cue.

for the 3-Word Wednesday prompt here

From the middle of the apocalypse blogged on [tumblr.com profile] faeapoclive and [twitter.com profile] FaeApocLive

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/1106622.html. You can comment here or there. comment count unavailable

Writing is like the monkeys in the silo

May16

I was minding my own business yesterday, doing the dishes and thinking about something on the news, when bam, an idea hit me.

I was playing the “what if” game: “What’s his story? Why did that really happen? What if it happened this way?”

That idea is gone, sadly… I didn’t write it down… but it sparked the idea for this post.

When I was a kid, I’d ask my mom or dad while we were driving: “tell me about that silo out there” or “tell me about that chimney” (around here, you can often find chimneys sort of hanging around with no house). “Tell me why this road is named Hubbel… why this is named Euler.”

(there’s another story there, too…)

And my mom would tell me about the monkeys in the silo, or my dad would tell me about Hub Bill, who wanted the world to revolve around him, or the You Learns (our road is pronounced you-ler, not like the scientist, oddly).

Writing is like that. You look at a thing. You ask a question. And the question leads to a story.

Tell me about that chimney, mom. Tell me about Reed Road, Daddy.

Tell me about that guy walking down the street. He’s carrying bags on a ski pole like a modern yoke. What’s his story?

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/1106252.html. You can comment here or there. comment count unavailable

Landing Page: Edally Academy

May15

Getting into the legendary Empress Edaledalende Academy of Higher Learning at Ileltedez was just the first step; what will Tairiekie do now that she’s here? How will she and her new teammates get along, and how will they cope with teachers and staff that just don’t like them?

The Angry Aetherist posts Wednesdays; any week Paypal Donations reach $20, there will be an additional chapter posted on Sundays.

You can find the whole story on EdallyAcademy.com.

The Angry Aetherist

Chapter One (and on DW) Welcome to the Academy
Chapter Two (and on DW) Welcome to House Akaizepennen
Chapter Three (and on DW) An Introduction to Aether
Chapter Four (and on DW) Discovering the Power Structure
Chapter Five (and on DW) Into Threes, Nines, and Eighteens
Chapter Six (and on DW) New Friends and New Teams
the story continues on EdallyAcademy.com.

The Prequels

Getting Ready (Tairiekie) (and on DW)
Getting Ready: Saydrie (and on DW)
Getting Ready: Enerenarie (and on DW)
Almost There: Saydrie (and on DW)
Almost There: Tairiekie (and on DW)
Tairiekie a Year Earlier (LJ)

Character notes

Enarienarie (LJ)
Saydrie (LJ)
Instructor Getalréta (LJ)
Iesovyenyie (LJ) (Taikie’s Roomie)
Gaikvya (LJ) (Taikie’s Roomie)
Kotnelbyotke and Ledryainryie (LJ) (Enrie’s roommates)

Background

Inter-universal Women’s Day: Empress Edaledalende (LJ)
Broader Education (LJ)- Kaatetzie
Top Of Class, Bottom (LJ) – Lielbyim (an older student)

Naming Rights Auction (and on DW)

Edally Academy is part of the Reiassan setting in the Steam Era.

Draft Map of the School

(LJ)

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/766265.html. You can comment here or there. comment count unavailable

Rin & Girey’s Campsite, Updated

May14

The Cartographers’ Guild does a monthly Lite Mapping Challenge, so I took my Five-Minute Map sketch and … made it better.

Not perfect, but better.

And then I had a small panic attack, and then I submitted it.

It’s one of Rin & Girey’s campsites, early in the story.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/1105755.html. You can comment here or there. comment count unavailable

Time for Yardwork!

May13

~~It’s Spring! It’s time for all the chores~~

We’ve come to the time of year when I can almost rely on the weather not being frosty overnight – it reached the 70’s yesterday! (Low 20s C) – so now is the time for all the yardwork, and planning all of the house stuff.

I’ve started keeping a notebook, writing down everything that I need/want to do on the house. I think a couple basic things in the bathroom & the foyer are first there – especially the things we already have everything for.

But that’s this weekend. I started on the garden way back in March – the peas I planted are coming up; the carrots & beets aren’t. But that means it’s time for another round of seeds of both of those.

We won’t put starts in the ground until Memorial Day, but my Egyptian Walking Onions, Horseradish, mint, chives, and oregano are already up from last year.

And I’ve been making fire!

We have a Giant Brush Pile I’ve been working on knocking down, with the help of an electric chipper-shredder (mostly last year) and a small fire pit. Now that’s fun – sitting out there feeding wood into the pit, the table ton my lap, writing in between chopping up wood for the fire.

And last year’s firewood is mostly cured, so it moves into the garage now – it’s stacked along the garage door wall for the first year, to get the sun – to make room for the wood we’ll be ordering in a week or two. It’s hard, satisfying work with direct, tangible results. I like it.

Of course, today it’s raining. Maybe I’ll work on a skirt this evening.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/1105234.html. You can comment here or there. comment count unavailable

#ThrowbackThursday: 2012

May12

May 12, 2012: My “Call of Nature/Origins & Creations” Giraffe Call.

And I wrote two throwbacks: the origins, or some of them, of Baram:

“Monster.” The witch twisted in Barypos’ arms and spat in his face. “Monster. Cretin. Beast.”

He lay his knife at her throat. “Soldier.” Her language wasn’t his, but they were close enough, and a warrior learned what he had to, fighting in these lands that weren’t home. “Father. Son.” He shrugged in apology. “I fight where I have to.”

“You killed my husband. My son. My baby.”…

continue reading “Cursed”

… and the Aunt Family’s houses…

“Here.” Carrie and Thomas glanced at each other, and then back at the land, and nodded.

“The road’s almost here, it won’t take us much to bring it this far. We’ll put the main house right on the road, and then we can build two more there and there,” Carrie pointed down the road a ways, “and a small place over there.”

“Woah, woah.” Thomas grinned at Carrie. “The small house is for your sister, then? Sarah? What are the others for?”

continue reading “Building the Homes”

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/1104957.html. You can comment here or there. comment count unavailable