Novelist's List of Things To Do

I like to be as organised as possible. Writing and 'writerly' activities 6 a.m. to 10 a.m., even if I break off mid-sentence at 10 a.m.when drafting my new novel,Tuesday's Child a sweet Regency romance, and between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. Mind you, the hours are not set in concrete but I do write etc., nearly almost every day.

Lists help me to plan what I'm going to do. I have three lists titled, Urgent, Necessary and non-urgent. At the moment I have the following on my lists. Complete 30,000 words of my novel by the 30th September. Complete 60,000 words by the 31st October. Write a blog for Love Romance Cafe, which will be published in mid-October. Learn more about Amazon alogorithms and social media. Add my author's page to amazon.ca. And various other 'writerly' matters.

On today's urgent list. Sow the broad bean seeds which have been soaking in water overnight and also sow rocket outdoors. Cover the turnip and radish seedlings with fleece because an animal - probably a fox - dug a hole at the end of the rows. Plant green and purple basil in pots and stand the pots on the heated propagator. Make spiced vinegar for beetroot pickle made with beetroots from the garden which I have already cooked - this is on my urgent list but it won't take long.

However, lists are not infallible. Yesterday, one of the most urgent things on my shopping list was sugar because I plan to make more marrow and ginger jam spiced with cardamon, and some apple butter with windfalls this week. I forgot to buy the sugar and had to pop into the corner shop to buy some before I attended my 14 year-old grandson's birthday.

Writing, Gardening and Cooking

Very successful writing session this morning. I wrote a thousand words and solved the problem of how to reveal the heroine's dilemma.

The weather forecast was bad but this morning it was mild and the rain held off. I'm growing first early new potatoes and second early potatoes in large containers. As I added covered them with more compost I remembered an incident with my late husband,  who knew nothing about growing fruit and vegetables.

I was chitting new potatoes i.e. waiting for them to sprout before I planted them. "Strange," I thought, "where are they?" So I asked my husband. He shifted from one foot to the other like a guilty schoolboy. He had cooked them for lunch.

Anyway, today I put my runner beans outside to harden off during the day before I return them to the   greenhouse for the night, re-planted my bay tree and stood the pot on the doorstep, I also planted
out a new hosta and put organic slug pellets around each of my hostas. Next I did some weeding and picked flowers for the house as well as  picking the first broad beans of the season and Swiss chard,
which has cropped since last year in the early summer.

I steamed the baby broad beans in their pods, and when the were ready cut them as I would cut French beans, and I steamed the Swiss Chard. I also cut the stalks into 3 quarter inch pieces, cooked them quickly and served them in a white sauce flavoured with parsley from the garden, salt, pepper and English mustard. Yummy.

My Garden in November

If the rain holds off it's time for me to get on in my organic garden. The broad beans are flourishing and will withstand winter weather. There are bright red apples on a tree, some of which might be ready to pick and store for later in the year. I already have eating and cooking apples and desert pears wrapped in newspaper and stored in trays in my cold greenhouse. Today I plan to harvest the rest of my carrots and store them in a box of dry compost as well as harvesting the beetroot. I shall store some, make beetroot pickle, give some to my daughter and make apple and beetroot juice. Nothing will go to waste - the beetroot greens are delicious cooked like spinach and sprinkled with a little lemon juice.

Writing and Gardening

After I blogged and checked my e-mails yesterday, I completed my goal, which was to write 2,000 words of my new novel, Monday's Child. (The heroine is the younger sister of the main character in Sunday's Child published  by MuseItUp Publishing.) I had finished Chapter Nine so I e-mailed it to a friend, another historical novelist, for her opinion.

I could sit happily at the laptop or computer writing all day, but that would result in all sorts of aches and pains. So, on most days I work for four hours in the morning and four hours in the late afternoon or early evening. The time is flexible, but I try to write and deal with writerly matters for two four hour sessions every day.

Yesterday was a mellow autumn day, so I worked in the garden. I tidied up the narrow flower bed on the right of the path leading to the front door and planted frilly rose-pink and peach coloured tulip bulbs in bare patches. I did some more weeding, replanted some broad bean seeds which recent rain had brought to the surface, and then planted out some purple sprouting broccoli. It's late in the year to plant it, but I bought a tray of plug plants in a sale at a garden centre for a pound. If they don't thrive I won't have lost much.

All in all an enjoyable morning.

My organic garden plus a reciepe

Yesterday, I gathered my marrows and summer squash, cleared the  veggie patch where they grew, and then spread lime over it. Recently I bought a tray of winter cabbage and another of purple sprouting broccoli for next to nothing in a sale at a garden centre. It's a little late to plant them in the garden, but I've limed their patch and if I cover them with fleece to protect them from the worst of the weather I hope they will thrive.

The broad beans I planted two weeks ago after enriching the plot with manure are coming up. They are hardy and will survive even the worst winters. The plants toughen up so much that few blackfly attack them. Early next year, after sufficient pods develop, I shall pick the topmost leaves and cook them like spinach.

At the moment I'm enjoying apples, pears and plums from the garden. Today, I plan to make a plum pie, yesterday, I made vegetable marrow soup.

To serve four.

2 lbs of peeled, cubed marrow, seeds and pith removed.
2 ozs butter.
1 & a 1/2 pints vegetable soup stock.
1/2 pint milk.
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp powdered ginger
1/2 tsp pepper or more to taste
(I added a tbs of hyssop leaves from the garden but it's not essential.)