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Kimberly Brubaker Bradley  That's one of my favorite words: summertime. It sounds so nice, and it feels so great. I love the smells and tastes and sounds of summer. My daughter and I are getting ready to go to a fabulous event camp for a week. It'll be the third year I've gone, but the first that Katie's been ready to ride in it--it's not for beginners, and, in fact, she's a little young, but she's ready. We've been working on getting her horse in shape and keeping mine in shape. With all the green grass, it's been an uphill battle. Last weekend we actually took our horses with us to a resort where they have miles of riding trails (as well as golf for the guys). My horse, Gully, wasn't entirely at ease. I suspect he kept wondering when the competition was going to begin. Katie's horse, on the other hand, was as happy as I've ever seen him. He loved cantering through the woods. Pal is a been-there, done-that, stoic old Quarterhorse who's willing to put up with just about anything. It was nice to see enthusiasm light up his old eyes. Our new sheepdog, Gabby, is now pretty much in charge of the sheep now, as our beloved Xena is now entirely deaf and inclined to spend her retirement sprawled out in the sunshine. On the farm it's nearing the end of strawberry season, but the red raspberries are ripening to take their place. We've got a lovely peach crop coming in, and some nice pears and plums, which we're looking forward to since a late hard frost last year took out everything but a few apple trees. Our hay fields were cut this weekend. The barn's been painted, the dead maple trees replanted, and everything looks fresh and lovely. My son graduated from his tiny Catholic school (first in his class!) and has just started summer basketball practice at the big public high school he'll be attending in the fall. It'll be a big change, but I think he's more than ready for it. I'm wondering when we'll be so far out of drought that when I wake to the sound of rain I'll be annoyed instead of thrilled beyond measure. The plans I had for the morning--riding and preparing for the pony club horse trial, to be held on our farm this Saturday--were washed out entirely, and I didn't mind. All I could think of was grass growing and the footing being soft for the horses' hooves. We're back to school and work now after a summer of fun. My children and I spent Labor Day cleaning out their bedrooms, bookshelves, and closets, and my closet, and now I'm working on my bookshelves. I've moved a lot of books from my office floor to my shelves, and some from my shelves to my office floor. But the ones now on the floor are due to be given away--starting today if I get the time. I've got one pile that's going to the Janie Hammit library, but I'm waiting for more reinforced tape, to put the covers on tight. Work: I'm 13 decentish pages into a new novel, which feels wonderful. This one took a boatload of research, and will probably require a boatload more, but at least I'm at the point where I can write. I don't have anything firmly in the publication queue and it's past time for a new book--I do have something still in submission. The St. Peter book deal with the Pauline Press fell through--we had an agreement on a contract, and then they backtracked, and I wasn't willing to go with them--but I'll probably still write a St. Peter book after I finish the one I'm working on now. I've got some school visits scheduled, just about the right amount for fall. Horses: Gully and I are entered for Jump Start, the first weekend of October, and hope to do the Virginia Horse Trials in early November. After that our season will be done, but with luck I'll be able to go down to Florida for a few days of training this winter, and my big goal for next year is going to be the Training level Three-Day Event at Waradeca. Reading: Tons lately. My book club read The Friday Night Knitting Club, which I liked but didn't love. I just finished The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, which was very fun, and the new Dick Francis, which was good but not great. And Katie and I are reading The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, which is probably one of my all-time favorite books. Knitting: right now, finishing baby gifts for my friend Cheryl, who at age 40, after 16 years of marriage, has had her first children, twin girls. Yay! And I've made some more socks, of course. Spinning: Alpaca fiber bought from my friend Debbie, who raises alpacas. I experimented with long-draw method, but am not too happy with the results. Well, that'll be all for now--but it's good. I don't update this as often as I mean to, that's for sure. We're nearing the end (school starts August 19th!) of a really great, jam-packed summer. I haven't worried much about writing during the summers these last few years; I had a sudden realization that the children were growing up fast, and I might as well enjoy them while I had them with me. I write just enough to keep me from being crabby about not writing, and leave it at that. One manuscript I had high hopes for this year was the story of Theodore O'Connor, a remarkable eventing pony ridden by my friend Karen O'Connor (the similiar name is a coincidence, as both were named years before they met). The manuscript was on hold while we waited to see if Teddy made this year's Olympic team; he did brilliantly at the selection trial and was the closest thing to a lock we had. Teddy was quirky, adorable, and jam-packed with talent; it took talent to ride him, and he and Karen had forged an amazing partnership. You'll notice the use of the past tense. On May 28th Teddy died. He spooked at something while out on a hack at his farm--Karen thinks it was a bear--bolted back to the barn, slipped, and injured his back leg so badly that there was no hope of saving him. I'd been halfway through knitting Karen a pair of Olympic socks, which I gave to her anyway, at the adult riding camp she ran a few weeks later. They were excellent socks of my own design: gold around the leg, with the Olympic rings knit in as cables, then red, white, and blue stripes on the instep, finished with a gold toe. 100% Merino wool (Claudia hand-painted yarn, one of my favorite indie sock yarns), just the thing for Hong Kong in the summer. "Here," I said, "these are for you and Mandiba." Karen had been short-listed for the Games with two horses, Teddy and Mandiba, but Mandiba was clearly a back-up--a lovely and very talented horse, but young and comparatively inexperienced. I didn't have a whole lot of hope that Karen would end up at the Games--the short list was 15 horses, and 5 go to the Olympics. After camp Karen took Mandiba to England and did pretty well there, and you've never seen anyone work as hard as she does--took dressage and show jumping lessons, worked out like a mad fool--they ended up as one of the 4 named alternates. Those 9 horses went into quarantine, and on the day before they shipped to Hong Kong, Heidi White's fabulous horse, Northern Spy, came up lame, and Karen was in. They flew to Hong Kong yesterday. My thoughts went with them. We miss Teddy. On to other things: Leap of Faith has started showing up on some state book award lists, to my intense pleasure: I wasn't sure a novel about religion would be used in schools. (I am generally wrong about what I think schools will use--Halfway to the Sky, which I didn't think schools would touch, stayed in print for years simply because so many schools used it; For Freedom turns out to be extremely popular with high school introductory French classes.) (Which leads me to an entertaining story: we were flying to Italy this spring break. I had a seat behind Bart and Katie's seats, and I got settled and fell asleep instantly, and stayed that way most of the flight [to my family's amazement and disgust]. Katie was sitting next to a woman who turned out to be a high school French teacher, and somehow--I don't know the details--For Freedom came up. Katie said, 'Oh, yeah. My Mom wrote that.' The teacher didn't believe her at first...) Lacemaker and the Princess just hit a fourth hardcover printing. I'm working on two historical fiction books now. One's under contract with the Sisters of St. Paul, a Catholic publishing house who contacted me after reading Leap of Faith. They're a good house, with interesting nun blogs. Reading: Lots and lots this summer. At the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games, I was pleasantly surprised to find Diana Gabaldon signing books, and bought a new copy of Outlander just for fun. So, of course, I had to read the whole series through--and they're fine meaty books, so it's taking awhile. Knitting: lots of socks this summer. Lots and lots. I've actually got some Christmas gifts knitted and squirreled away--a first for me. Spinning and weaving: not so much. I plan to get back to the loom, but have to clean my office first. Too many books on the floor. Riding: mmm, great joy. Gully and I loved being back at the O'Connor camp, and I was gratified by how much better we were than two years ago. I love the instructors there. A few weeks later we ran training at Midsouth, with Cathy Wieschhoff as our new coach: Cathy teaches at the O'Connor camp, but also has a big group of students like myself. Cathy rode four horses and coached a dozen students that weekend and never seemed in a hurry: amazing. Right now Gully's in a bit of a vacation mode--we spent twelve days in Linville, are home for five, and are about to embark on another vacation. But after that we'll pick it up again, go to a dressage show, then run Jump Start and the Virginia Horse Trials this fall. In the winter I hope to spend a few days in Ocala training with Karen. Sea change: My husband has mostly recovered from his injuries: he's playing golf again, to our great joy. Life got tough again in March when his stepdad died; Bart's an only child, and his mom lives far away. We'd planned a trip to Italy over Easter, and asked his Mom to come with us, and she did, which was brave of her. We had a fabulous time. Bart was still in a leg boot, and it rained and even snowed in Sienna, and it was just wonderful. And now Bart's become adventurous. Over the winter he spent a lot of time posting and reading on an online Golf Course Architecture board--the topic is close to his heart--and next thing I know he's made friends online. First Ed, who has a house near our place in Linville. Ed turns out to have a lovely wife, a daughter just our daughter's age (and another I haven't met yet, because she was at a ballet camp all summer), and a passion for interesting golf courses that matches my husband's. Also he's articulate, interesting, and kind. So he and Bart are now heading out Labor Day weekend on a little trip to play some Western golf courses. Next thing, Bart invited another online friend to come spend the weekend with us in Linville, with his whole family. "I'm sure we'll like his wife," Bart said, "She's Australian." When they arrived the men immediately departed for the golf course--the Australian and I looked at each other and burst out laughing. We had a really lovely time--and are now probably joining them on a group trip to Africa in February. Africa! It's the wildest thing. Sarah, my love, wool is always the answer. You don't have to wear it in the summer--but cotton is hard to knit with, it hurts your hands. It's been a difficult few weeks at the Bradley house. My husband ruptured his Achilles tendon while coaching our son's basketball practice two weeks ago--tons of pain, emergency surgery, and a long recovery hampered by the shoulder surgery he had two months ago. So. He needs lots of help for daily activities--he just resumed driving yesterday, and he won't be able to climb stairs or fully dress himself for a couple of weeks, at least. He also usually does a lot of work around the house that he can't now do. The children have helped a great deal, and our supporting network of friends have come through for us over and over again, but of course it's changed my schedule quite a bit. I've decided that really, wool is the answer. When I'm feeling stressed, the answer is wool. I can spin it. I can knit it. I can swathe my body in it from head to toe and go ride my horse even in the crummy cold weather we've had of late. I can even go on-line and buy more of it, just to get me through this challenge. Wool is the answer. One of the things I knit was a little toe-cover for Bart's cast. His toes were sticking out, and freezing, and the cut-off tube sock wasn't enough to keep them warm. I went through my stash and found some bulky alpaca yarn, warm and cozy and not itchy at all. The only downside was that it was bright blue. But better a blue toe-cover than blue toes. Riding: a fair bit, all things considered. I was supposed to take a jump lesson this morning, but the ground's frozen hard, so we're postponing until tomorrow. I need to start scheduling my events, but I can't find my Omnibus, which lists the show calendar. The house is a bit disheveled. Writing: After a small break, I'm back working on a new story. It's not the new one I was working on a few weeks ago--that's still back in the shop for repairs. (ie, I'm thinking about it). Reading: Mmm! I've started reading Marian Keyes Irish chick-lit books, and I've also just discovered Morris L. West, who died 10 years ago. He wrote a lot of books--I read The Devil's Advocate, and loved it so much I've started Shoes of the Fisherman. Knitting: Rockin' Sock Club January socks, nearly finished. Cashmere house socks, one down, one to go. Spinning: a lovely Lisa Souza dyed silk/merino blend, that I bought at Stitches last year and just dug out of my closet. Weaving: The loom is folded and set against the wall in my office, to make room for Bart's rented hospital bed. Happy Valentine's Day, everybody! P.S. I realized in my last post, I forgot to put where I got the heading. My son is writing an autobiography for school, and he let me read part of it. He wrote: "Everyone in my family shares the work we do. We make time to eat dinner together every night. It is a blessed and beautiful life." This made me so happy, because two of the cornerstones of our family life are that we all work, and that we eat dinner (and, nearly always, breakfast) together. The kids do chores every day--not token chores, but real ones. And we eat dinner together if it means I pick up fast food and meet Bart at the ballpark with it, and we eat in the car before Matthew's game begins. I've always thought that eventually these things would mean something to Matthew and Katie; I'm glad they mean something now. Don't I always say I'm going to update more often? ROFL..... I figured out that it's because, if I'm writing, I'd rather be writing my novel. But I'm officially "between" novels right now, and the one I started last week is putting up a good fight--I figured out a major issue that I have to resolve before I restart (the first attempt will be consigned to the circular file), and I'm working on that in my head for a bit. It's coming, it's just not quite what I thought it would be. It never is. Book stuff: The Lacemaker and the Princess is on a third printing. Leap of Faith is on a second printing, and is a finalist for the Cybil award for middle school books. Cybils are internet-blog awards. I don't know sales data for The Perfect Pony, but at every booksigning this year little girls would see the cover and shriek, "PONY!" and I don't think that can be a bad thing. I've got one recent short novel shelved because it's not quite good enough. I wrote it for my son Matthew, and it's okay with me if he's the only person who reads it. I've written a draft of a book about uber-pony Theodore O'Connor, but it seems the publisher who would be best for it wants to see if he makes the Olympics (yes, a true pony in the Olympics!) first, so we're waiting. Then I've got another manuscript in submission that I think will fly. However, for the first time in a long time, I don't have anything in the pipeline--I probably won't have a book published in 2008, thus breaking the at-least-one-book-a-year streak I started in 1998. I'm trying not to mind, but I do. A little. Meanwhile the horse strained a back muscle in late fall and had some time off to recover; we're working on regaining fitness now. Gully's a Connemara, and they don't keep fit as easily as Thoroughbreds do--so we have to work hard. Logan's started talking spring show schedule to me, but my calendar doesn't fit with the event calendar in the way I'd like. I am going back to camp this summer, which thrills me. I knit a zillion Christmas gifts, and then some birthday socks for Katie, which I just finished on her birthday, January 14th. Now I'm working on my latest Rockin' Sock Club socks, and doodling with an Olympic sock design. Two friends are good shots to make the 2008 Eventing Olympic team (one on the aforementionned pony) and I want to make them good-luck socks. Spinning--weaving--I started to weave some Christmas gifts and realized that it was wicked hard to do because I had the tension screwy and the thread was very fine. I shut down the loom and am going to retie the front warp, and hope that fixes it, but I haven't gotten there. And I traded an unwanted Christmas gift online for a pound of pure white Merino fiber, but haven't spun it yet. All the animals are good. Winter is the hardest time on a farm, but we've started to think about the garden plans for spring, and it won't be long. My daughter's favorite sweater. Socks for my son and husband. My favorite shawl (think cashmere security blanket) for me. So, two weeks ago I was thrilled when we got a day of rain. Guess what? It wasn't enough. In fact, it was all the rain we got in September. Three-quarters of an inch. Normal September rainfall is nearly three inches. So the worst drought in history for my region gets worse. I'm fortunate in that I can afford enough high-priced hay to feed the animals I'm responsible for(high-priced because it has to be transported here from areas with excess hay and no drought: I bought 30 tons from west of Knoxville, which came on two big tractor-trailer loads. The hauling can cost more than the hay itself.), but a lot of local farmers and horsepeople are really struggling. There's been a big uptick in abused horse cases around here, because people simply can't afford to feed them. The last U.S. slaughterhouse, in Illinois, just closed down--and believe me, I think that's a good thing--but it means that there aren't any "kill" buyers at auctions anymore, which means these thin grade horses are being sold for, like, $40. It's awful. I wouldn't go near Kingsport Sales right now for any amount of money. I'd come home sobbing with as many horses as I could cram in the trailer. Meanwhile, I'm writing away, but in no mood to discuss the work in progress. I've read a few really amazing books lately. Born On A Blue Day; Animal, Vegetable, Miracle; A Countess Below Stairs; Animals in Translation. Oooh, those were all good. This week I was very excited about the release of Naomi Novik's fourth Temeraire book, and Robin McKinley's new Dragonhaven. I loved the Temeraire, except for the ridiculous cliffhanger ending (5th book due out Summer '08); I finished Dragonhaven last night and am still thinking it over. It's very very different from anything else McKinley's done. I mostly like it. I hope to have some more profound thoughts about it soon. Knitting: socks. Weaving: nothing. Spinning: goat hair. Riding: heading to the JumpStart horse trials, in Lexington, KY, on Friday. At Training level, which despite the name is pretty high up the totem pole. The levels go: Beginner Novice, Novice, Training, Preliminary, Intermediate, and Advanced. Advanced is Olympic level. My goal is to someday do Prelim. Someday--several years from now. I sheared one and a half goats last week before the clippers gave out, so today I have to go buy more clipper blades. The half-shorn goat looks hilarious out in the field. Current mood:  loved.
Well, I swear, I'll start updating more often. It was a good summer except for the horrible drought, the worst our region has had ever, not what you want the summer you open a boarding barn. But last week Hurricane Humberto kindly sent us an entire day of rain. It was the first rain we'd had in six weeks. It may have saved my pastures from dying entirely. We'll see. Meanwhile, critical response to both my new books, The Lacemaker and the Princess, and Leap of Faith, has been excellent; though it's early to tell, sales seem good too. Last Monday I spoke at Farragut Intermediate School in Knoxville, TN, and kids kept coming into the library asking for, "that book where the girl stabbed somebody." Um, yeah. That would be my religious book. Kind of humorous, really. Right now I'm working on a book about Theodore O'Connor, the greatest eventing pony of all time, and a memoir about myself and my best friend in middle school. I've finished a draft of the Theo book. The memoir goes slowly, at least today; I'm at a sad part. Fortunately my dog Polly came to cheer me up, and is sitting on my lap as I type this. Riding news: Gully has moved up to Training level! We managed to get 100 penalty points while still jumping clear cross country, which is pretty darned hard to do, but I'm wicked pleased with us. Our friend Donna Smith is coming to the farm this weekend to teach a clinic, and we'll compete again two weeks after that, at Jump Start horse trials in Kentucky. I plan to go for a double-digit score (like golf, lower is better). Fiber: Weaving is at a small standstill, though I'll go back to it soon. I'm on a sock-knitting kick, fueled in part by my membership in the Rockin' Sock Club. Yesterday I got out my swift and my ball winder and wound off about a dozen skeins that I hope will be Christmas projects. Reading: The last Harry Potter rocked. I've also been reading a lot by Eva Ibbotson, finding her delightful. I loved Born On A Blue Day, which I read for my bookclub. And right now I'm partway through both 1776 and In Another Time (?), a book about the Roosevelts in WWII. Library Lady: Range Elementary looked great when we finished. We'd weeded all the dreck out of the collection, rearranged everything, shelved all the books logically, and added tons and tons of new stuff, most of it donated, including a brand-new World Book Encyclopedia. We took down all the stuffy prints and put up book posters. Much better! Also, every child who registered got three or four new books to keep, and next week they'll get a few more, thanks to First Book. The Janie Hammit library is thriving, too. I'm taking pizza there tonight. Again because of First Book, the girls have gotten more books to keep. I can tell that the culture of the place is changing--more and more girls are reading. I'm really proud of this. More soon! Before spring! I've posted here about the library at the Janie Hammit home. Since then, I've become even more of a library advocate. (The Hammit girls call me "library lady,"--and I like it.) In May I had the opportunity to do a full week of school visits in Johnson City, which is about 30 minutes from my hometown. It was a great week--lots of very good schools, and all of them well prepared. One school stuck out, however, because to be honest I'd no idea that there were public schools in this country so completely underfunded. It's a little rural K-8 school in a poor county next to the county Johnson City itself is in--94% free lunch--my visit was paid for by grant money, and a different grant bought each teacher a single copy of one of my books, for classroom use. I asked the principal about time for book signing, when we reviewed the schedule, and she said very gently that these kids weren't going to be buying books. They had neither the money nor the background. So, I brought a bunch of books and we gave them away, randomly, in a free raffle. The kids were excited and it was a good time. But I had a peek at the library while I was there, and I was horrified. The school as a whole--bad facilities, good kids (almost all kids are good), good faculty trying hard so far as I could tell. Horrible, awful, horrible library. No librarian--an aide instead, who dislikes reading. When I left I couldn't get the library out of my mind, so I emailed the principal and offered help, and she was more than gracious--she was thrilled. I emailed Karen Breen, editor of the children's portion of Kirkus Reviews, whom I am priveleged to call a friend, and she sent me a couple of big cartons of brand new glossy books. I sent off for grants, and I've arranged to go in there and start cleaning and sorting and generally raising hellfire. I decided that this sort of thing is something I am called to do. So I signed up with First Book, an organization that gives away books to children. I had to come up with a name, so I chose A Houseful of Books Appalachia. The Houseful of Books part comes from "A life without books is like a house without windows." I forget who said that, but I love it. Appalachia because I live there. I have a nice cushy life, but when you get out to places like this elementary school, not far from me--the mountains and fields and sky are so lovely, and the opportunities so few. Yesterday I was granted 846 books. When they come, I'll sort them out by age level and give them away. Every kids in that elementary school, every girl at Janie Hammit, will get half a dozen books to keep forever. I am so happy. We don't count in calendar years around here so much as academic years. So this is my new year's resolution: to make this a true blog by posting a LOT more often. Lately my life has reminded me of a line in the new Daughtry song: "Careful what you wish for, you just might get it all." We're really busy, and really happy, and really busy, and at the same time, we're all pretty good at relaxing. Usually as soon as I've got my pajamas on in the evening my work is done--I won't do anything more strenuous than an expert Sudoko puzzle. And I've been known to put on my pajamas at 6 pm. We've started a business boarding barn, Walnut Ridge. So far it has 2 boarders, both of whom work for me...but it's going to be gorgeous, and I'm looking hard for an eventing instructor, and I think we're going to have a big time. Donna Smith, an eventer who rode at the World Equestrian Games for New Zealand, came to teach a clinic in March, and we liked her so much we're having her back in September. Meanwhile, Gully and I got eliminated at our last event when I stupidly fell off in show jumping. Wasn't his fault, poor horse.... And now I'm going to sign off, and post more tomorrow. I promise. Or, at least, I resolve. |
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