Happily Ever After

Life in The Rural Retreat with a beautiful wife, three cats, garden wildlife, a camera, a computer – and increasing amounts about running

Earlier posts can be found on Adventures of a Lone Bass Player, where this blog began life. Recent entries can be found here.

Let The Presses Roll

by admin - 20:59 on 17 June 2011

Suddenly, it's just days until the third print run of The Bumper Book of Black Isle Snappery is completed. How did that happen?

One thousand copies should be available for collection on Wednesday, Tigger told James today in response to his query. Printing is finished and binding has begun, so it might even be true. I'm not counting my chickens, however. Norman's Great Binding Disaster, followed by the The Unbelievable Printing Calamity, are still too painfully fresh in the memory.

Ever the optimist, I've made sure we have enough to cover the final printing payment by collecting a cheque from The Emporium, which has done sterling work in selling The Great Work. Book-related activity also featured a trip to Frank Nicol who gave us the bad news that Black Isle Show rules bar them from sub-letting part of their stand to us, but that they're willing to sell it on our behalf. Good news.

But even better was a call from the editorial desk of The Scots Magazine, where a review copy was sent mere days ago. They like the book so much that they plan to make it a pictorial feature towards the end of the year, which could boost worldwide pre-Christmas sales no end. We might have to put Tigger on standby for an even bigger print run.

The combination of a busy day and deteriorating weather meant no snappery today, so the best I can offer are woodpeckers from yesterday morning. Their sharpness still leaves much to be desired but I'll persevere.

The busy day began with a knotweed-stamping session that was almost the death of what seems to be our resident hedgehog, who I found unexpectedly in the wilderness beyond the willow tree. He played dead after I almost stepped on him but was gone when I checked in the afternoon.

My guess is that he's made a home in the bonfire pile, which means the heap will be spared from the flames. It also means I'll have to be more careful in the undergrowth.

Pine Marten Update: After visiting on three consecutive nights, Master Marten didn't call yesterday evening. Nor did Lumpy. Their food was gone this morning. Cheek.

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