truepenny | Five things

1. Dave Freer could use some help. He and his family are emigrating from South Africa to Australia, and their definition of "family" rightly includes their dogs and cats. As Dave says in his FAQ:

They had always been part of moving budget: we’re selling our home to do this, and will have to start afresh in Australia. The part we didn’t figure on was currency fluctuation and quarantine costs. Thus we have some money towards moving them, but simply not nearly enough.

Dave is putting his novel Save the Dragons up on the web, a chapter at a time on the Scheherazade model, to raise the necessary money. Waltz over to the website to read and/or donate.

2. Also, while I'm here, I missed Outer Alliance Pride Day--not in any sort of deliberate fashion, but because I've fallen into a hermit-like hole. I can, just about, nag myself into making posts, but keeping up, even with my minuscule reading list, has become more than I can cope with. I've probably missed a lot more than Outer Alliance Pride Day.

So anyway, yeah, Outer Alliance. Support thereof. A story of mine featuring queer characters.

3. Instead of the internet--or actual work--I've been conducting guerrilla warfare with various parts of the yard. Started with the Anthropophagous Rosebush, cleared the sidewalks of encroaching sod, cleared some breathing room for the Grandfathered Rosebush, removed dozens of tiny maple seedlings. I like gardening when it's a full-contact sport.

4. We have thought for years that the big green thing in the back yard was a flourishing bush, but closer inspection reveals a tree stump: the "bush" is a thicket of saplings. My question, revealing my complete lack of woodsy lore: what kind of tree is it?

ETA: It's the rootstock of an apple tree.