This certainly is a surprised chook but no this is not the surprise –
This is the surprise! But in a way no surprise at all. 
The Matriarch walked into a wild scene at the hairdressers yesterday, they were all excited because a stray kitten had wandered into the salon, walked down the back and was sleeping on their couch. Everyone wanted to keep him but no-one really could.
My mother in law looked him over, pronounced him worthy then tucked him under her arm and brought him out to the farm. Problem solved. 
His real name has not yet been discovered but he seems to answer to Little Puss. I am not a real cat person, I just hate mice but Our John and The Tall Teen are smitten.
Good morning I hope all is well with you. I have my second-to-last tomato sauce in the crock pot and then I will make as much sweet thai chilli cauce as I can. That should about clear the frozen gardens of anything worth preserving. The wine is doing what it is meant to be doing and there are green tomatoes lining the benches in the cellar.
Now for my other surprise. This year I am going to participate in Nanowrimo. This will last a month. During that month I will write a short book as at the end of the month I have to present a book containing 50,000 decent words. This is under 2000 words a day.
I have been practicing each day, to see if I can fit it into my day, and writing flash-in-the-pan fiction with 2000 legible lightly edited words takes me just over an hour and a half.
This fits very well into my schedule as it is set up now. I will be replace my short story writing period from 1 – 3 with this writing challenge. (My short story for Writers Digest is in it’s final draft). Have no fear Nanowrimo will not affect my daily blog. I can do both, and the farming and the house and the family. This is the quiet time of year.
So how about that for another surprise. This is part of my training to be a proper writer. It will force me to pound the keys for two hours or at least two thousand words a day. Until November 1st I shall work on the planning. Life is full of exciting challenges. Are any of you doing the challenge? Quite a few of you gave me a good nudge on this one so I suspect I will not be alone.
Now you all have a lovely day.
celi
On this day a year ago. parmesan crackers
The Kitchen's Garden 
72 responses to “A little Surprise, then Another one…”
So Little Puss, unlike Mary’s Cat decided it was too far to walk to the farmy and waited at the hairdresser for the Matriach to give him/her a lift. Smart cat 🙂 I like the way you look on the upside and take advantage of your winter downtime to participate in Nanowrimo. 2 very good surprises.
Little Puss sounds like a fitting name for the new addition. Good Luck with the Writing:) Have a Great One on the Farmy!
Good luck with the challenge! I’ve never done it in November because I tend to get in such a flummox leading up to Christmas at the best of times. But I really wanted to do it so last year I resolved to do it five days a week over six weeks (in February, I think it was). Unfortunately, my computer of the time broke down part way through and had to go away so I took several days out and shifted the deadline. 😀 I didn’t get a plot completely finished, but despite the setback and dragging things out, I did get the number of words done and some more besides. I hope you really enjoy it. 🙂
I had to laugh at your comment that Little Puss has the alarming habit of jumping onto your shoulders as you pass by something high. I can just imagine the start…but as things go you will probably get used to it and then he will change tactics!
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
http://deltacountyhistoricalsociety.wordpress.com
The only surprise that I can see with regards to Little Puss is that he went to the salon and not directly to your farm. I predict that you’ll have another 2 cats before Christmas.
Wonderful news about your joining NaNoWriMo! I know someone in Michigan who is going to be sending you all kinds of positive thoughts — and maybe a prayer or two — because she thinks you should be writing books — not “a book” but “books.” She will be thrilled to hear this bit of news. Good luck, Celi,
I love Zia.. she would be a wonderful character in a book.. c
Excellent! I have never done Nanowrimo – never had heard of it until a year ago – but I really like the concept. I’m excited for you!!
I signed up for NaNoWriMo last week. I signed up last year, too, and then bowed out. This year, I have my idea and I’m doing it! woo hoo.
I used to try the blog-every-day effort in November. I can’t recall the name of that, but it teach me one thing about blogging – I don’t have something I want to write every day. Hopefully that won’t be a problem for you.
Luckily for me my animals do the talking!! i certainly do not have a worthwhile THOUGHT from my own head every day.. c
Here’s where I wrote about that during the heat of the battle. http://jomegat.wordpress.com/2009/11/17/like-the-duct-tape-calendar/
I look forward to reading your book!
Thank goodness the kitten found its rightful home!
When I read your schedule, I marvel at what it is like to be young – comparatively!
Celi, if you want to follow up on our other e-mails the other day, my e-mail is merlincourtpress@gmail.com
I now know I have ‘met’ a person more disciplined than I 🙂 ! Two thousand words a day: have done enough writing since I was a teenager to know I could not fit that into my 24 hours: oh, Celi – good luck and lots of enjoyment for the month!! Love the addition of ‘Little Puss’ to the farmy – one very lucky cat indeed!!
What a cute surprise kitty!
Little Puss looks very sweet! And how exciting to have such a writing project to focus on. You’ll have to keep us updated. Guess what? Our house sold! We just had the inspection today so I want post anything until the actual sold sign goes up. Now it’s time to find a house back east. It’s going to be a whirlwind!! 🙂
How exciting! You are such a good writer, so full of stories, and it’s marvellous to have a focus.
I am in that potentially delicious stage of releasing after 3 years hard writing. (Daisy must feel like that when she lumbers in for milking.) BUT computer problems are interfering and I’m sending it to computer hospital for a transplant while I head out west to wander by the ocean.(see latest blog post). So I’ll miss my visits here for a while.
The initial stage of writing is always exciting I find. So much energy moves, and the creative process is as juicy as a good crop of grapes. And then there’s the fermenting. . .
May the Muse be with you and may you make the best of wine (in all ways)
Best of luck to you with NaNoWriMo! I know several people who do it every year, and it never fails to astonish me. I’m sure you’ll surpass the 50k words!
Both great news, Cecilia!! The kitty is cute and the writing, well, that’s fantastic. I can see myself buying a book by Miss C in amazon very soon 😉
Good morning to you too!