Days of the Week...

This morning when I let the boys outside, I got the first, long-awaited, cool scent of Fall in the air.  Cool in both senses of the word:  very good, and wow, it's actually chilly out here!  I stood there, letting the goosebumps rise, and took a deep cleansing breath of fresh, brisk, tantalizing air...and oh, it was beyond heavenly.

Course, hardly two hours later whilst walking the dogs in the park, I was sweating, they were panting--thanks to the steaming humidity--while the temperature continued to rise into the 80s.  Bah.

I had a bunch of backyard work to do today, so I wasn't pleased, but managed to forge ahead anyway, starting with the work to fix the leak in the drip irrigation hose.  And I have to say, that new Mend-It tape worked like a dream.  It self-seals as you wind it around the hose (or pipe or whatever), and much like electricians tape, it's stretchy.  Then I cleared out most of the dead flowers and weeds, and pruned other stuff.  By 12:30 I was too hot, too sweaty, and figured enough already.

Cleaned up, gave the boys their lunch, had mine, did some laundry, baked some Fairy cakes, and now I'm finally getting around to posting something I meant to do yesterday...

On one of the sites I read, Should Be Reading, there is a regular event called Teaser Tuesday.  The gist is that you randomly open the current book you're reading, and pick a sentence or two--without giving anything away that could spoil things, of course.

I've been meaning to do this for a few weeks now, but either got too busy or forgot.  So, even though it's a day late, here's my teaser for Tuesday...

The book I'm reading right now is this one:

It's been out since March, though I've just discovered it, and let me say that this is an amazingly good story; bizarre and weird and strangely compelling.  The guy on the cover is Criminy Stain (and holy crap, is that a name, or what?!); he lives in a place called Sang, sort of an alternate England.  He runs a circus and has been waiting for...well.  If you want to read reviews--because I'm not saying another word--here's the link:  Wicked As They Come

The snippet I've chosen:

I watched him playing with the long blades of grass, weaving them into patterns as he hummed an unfamiliar song, a waltz.
"What are you doing?" I asked him.
"I'm letting you get used to the idea of me," he said idly.  "I'm pretending to be harmless.  Is it working?"

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Another thing I've been meaning to do is this: Waiting on Wednesday, by Breaking the Spine, another weekly blog event.  In this one you're supposed to post about the book you can't wait to get your hands on.  There are actually several great titles coming up over the next few months that I'm interested in, but this one is not only top of my list, but comes out next week:

It's due out September 4th, and I will be reading it two minutes after it hits the bookshelves.  This is Book Five in a brilliant series about the ten archangels who rule our world.  It's edgy, harsh, exciting, and so, so clever--to say nothing of being well-written.  Reviews here: Archangel's Storm.

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I would have posted my contribution to Magpie Tales by now, but I couldn't come up with a single thought about the picture.  Funny how that goes.  Usually a story, or a simple haiku, or something will stir my imagination, but this one just left my mind blank.  Oh well.  There's always next week.

Okay, time to taste a Fairy cake, then get back into my book.  Overall the day hasn't been too bad.  Got lots of work done, made treats, and now get to enter another dimension.  I'd say that's pretty good for a Wednesday...