The Palmeran violet, Viola palmensis Today the whole family wound up at 2,400 m. My husband works up there, at the Galileo telescope. My son had a school trip, helping to plant out native flora, like the violet above. The island government’s been doing this for a while, and the results are really starting to show. And I was tour guiding. I showed two groups round the Isaac Newton Telescope….
This is the Palmeran Violet, Viola palmensis. It only grows on La Palma, above 1,900 m. (There’s a similar violet on Tenerife, but it has smaller flowers). It used to be rare, but the island government has a program of replanting areas. You can find them beside the road from Santa Cruz to the Roque de los Muchachos well above the tree line.
I can’t believe I got everything done yesterday. I took Julio to school and little Sam to nursery and got home about 9 a.m. That gave me just under two hours at home to mop the kitchen and utility room floors, have a shower and read email. then I took Lou to the doctor, to get the official letter to say her foot’s still in plaster. They were a little…
“Dear Sheila:Thanks for entering the fifth “On The Premises” mini-contest. We received 48 entries. Yours didn’t earn a cash prize, but was one of three chosen as an honorable mention.” The story is up at On The Premises Mini #5
Yesterday afternoon I went to a party. I wanted to ask a fellow writer there how he manages to write so fast. This is a man who produced a first draft in a couple of months. Then I had such a good time that I forgot all about it. Until he said, “Excuse me, I must go and do some writing,” and disappeared for maybe half an hour. He came…
Flash Fiction Online want to buy my Feghoot, “The Mummy’s Curse” for the April 2009 issue. It’s a long wait, but a great market, so I’m chuffed. What’s a Feghoot? It’s a very short story ending in a groan-worthy pun. I’ve got three on my website: “Caught in the Oort”, “Oh Baby!” and “Conan the Librarian” The editor of Flash Fiction Online described “The Mummy’s Curse” as “pretty funny, in…