As many of you know, I'm kinda on "hold" right now with my professional writing.  The requested material for Book #2 has been sent off to my editor and I'm waiting to hear if it's a "go" for me to complete the novel.  So for the past month or so, I've just been "playing."  ie:  Doing things I truly enjoy and other things that I committed to.  One of the tasks I committed to is being the Chairperson for the Florida Writers Royal Palm Literary Awards.  It's time-consuming, but also gratifying to help other writers be recognized and acknowledged.  As you can see, my writers studio is being taken over by all that this entails......the entries, the manila envelopes, mailing labels, finding space for the books in the published category, etc.

All of this takes up a fair amount of my time, but the deadline for entry is August 1, so this task will be coming to an end.  I think most of you know what an avid reader I am and that keeps me busy.  I'm one of those readers that will prop the book while I'm having breakfast and lunch and just read away.  But the bulk of my reading is normally done in the evenings.  I'm not much of a prime TV kind of person.  If we're not watching one of our Netflix movies, I'm generally reading for 2 or 3 hours.

I also love knitting and I usually schedule in this enjoyment while watching one of my soaps in the afternoon.  I've come to realize that I'm very much like my mother and my aunt were........except for when having my morning coffee and allowing my thoughts to wander on plans, a writing project or whatever flows into my mind, I find it very difficult to just "sit" watching TV.  So this is the perfect time to indulge in my knitting while watching those mindless soaps.  Yes.....I do watch them.  It's a hangover from my young-mom days.......kids in for their naps and while I stood at the ironing board pressing clothes (not many young moms in the 60's had dryers to take away those wrinkles) I loved watching those soaps.  And years later, when my working life slowed down, I found myself returning to Erica and her gang, One Life to Live and Guiding Light.  Poor soaps have always had a negative connotation, so I guess I feel less guilty watching while I'm sitting there knitting.  Something my mother did five days a week after she retired.  Here's the dual projects I'm working on at the moment.

I've always wanted a cashmere scarf and I'm making it in the dusty rose color pictured here.  It'll be perfect for those crisp, autumn days in the south of France.  And a million thank-you's to my dear friend, Alice, in Salem.......she patiently helped me via telephone when I ran into a problem starting this.  I only have a few inches done so far, but as it progresses I'll get a photo of my work.  And to accompany this gorgeous scarf, I found a great sweater/jacket, also to wear in autumn in France.  However, I'm making it in granite, a really nice shade of gray that will go with the requisite black worn in France.

With 3 months left before I leave for France, my knitting needles are clicking away at every opportunity.  I always take my knitting with me for drives into Chiefland or Gainesville.  Can't waste precious moments just gazing out the window!

There's something else I've been doing for the past week and a half.  With the heat and humidity of Florida summer upon us, it's downright miserable to be out there walking the dogs in the morning for my exercise.  They get plenty, chasing each other and running around the yard.  So I decided to purchase a treadmill and make sure my own exercise was up to par.  I put it here, in my writers studio and yeah, it's a tad tight, but......the a/c is on, I turn on the Today Show and for 30 minutes, I walk away in comfort.  Well, relative comfort anyway.

So that's what I've been up to.  How about you?

See you here next time.........