2024 intersessional post: TLQuest epilogue

 Hi everyone - well, that flew past!  Both summer and my week off, which has mostly been spent napping, feeling fed up, and at least doing some reading - but NOT doing normal chores, never mind the other things I hoped to do.  I REALLY wish Augtember was a real thing - Augtember, shorthand for a four week period between the 31st of August and the 1st of September, 2 weeks for rest and 2 for work, is something which me and some of my colleagues wish for every year, but it never happens... 

THIS WEEK'S GAMEPLAY.

By late afternoon the next day you are walking towards Silas' cottage on the edge of the village, and as you get closer you can see Silas sitting on the bench outside the front door.  The three-legged dog galumphs to the gate to greet you, and Silas waves a greeting - he doesn't get up, but that is reasonable as he is currently acting as a cat seat.  He still looks tired and drawn, but he's clearly feeling stronger than he was when you last saw him.

His neighbour, one of those middle-aged women who is in a state of perpetual motion, has a very big heart, and is completely oblivious to how their presence and energy can wear on the nerves of people who are not like them, sweeps out of the house on hearing you arrive, tells Silas that the kettle is on the stove and the cake tin refilled, and that she'll be back tomorrow midmorning after milking, and gives you a slightly suspicious, warning look over her shoulder as she departs.  Silas seems slightly embarrassed as he says "she has a good heart, just an awkward manner sometimes.  Would one of you mind making tea?  And, of course, fetching the cake tin?"  Cornelius and Alice will go into the cottage to manage refreshments, whilst Linnet and Martha present Silas with the herbs, and start to recount their adventures. Scout will settle back and listen, ready to add details if requested, but mostly keeping an eye on the Talking Cats who are keeping a suspicious eye on the tripod dog and the cats, but so far respecting that the garden is not actually their territory.  

Silas reacts most rewardingly to your story - he says it sounds like you did all the right things faced with the Ladies, and that he hasn't encountered them for years, so they must have felt they needed your help with the fish but were not going to ask, so they created a situation where you felt you needed to do it yourselves.   He frowns over the news that the fish was apparently delivered by goblins; he doesn't tell you any more, but it seems to fill in a space in a puzzle for him, and not in a good way.  Once the tea arrives, along with slabs of an excellent apple cake with crunchy maple sugar crystals, he checks the herbs and expresses himself more than pleased with your haul. He carefully extracts a leather purse from his pocket, not disturbing the snoozing cat, and hands you five gold pieces each for your efforts (for reference, staying in one of the private rooms at the tavern with dinner, access to the bath room and hot water, and breakfast would cost less than one gold piece unless it was a very busy time so this is a decent enough reward).  

Alice shows him the fish scales that somehow came along with her, and he will inspect them seriously and advise you that if you go to a particular alchemical workshop in the city you will be able to sell them easily, and you should be prepared to barter but not accept less than 15 gold per scale.  This inspires the rest of you to check your stuff, and together you find you have 15 scales, Alice has 10, Cornelius has 2, and the others have 1 each.  You might want to keep it as a souvenir!

You finally say goodbye to Silas, his dog and his cats and go to the tavern, with a quick detour by Scout to fetch her new socks (which are comfortable, perfectly fitted, much better than anything issued to the company, and only cost 1 silver which Scout knows is an excellent price by city standards).  The tavern keeper recognises you and assures you dinner is on the house, since everyone benefits from Silas' remedies and he appreciates that your arrival stopped a couple of local youngsters trying to make the trip alone without Silas along to act as common sense and guide, so you sit down for one last meal together, sharing a large pan of sausages and onions and root vegetables in a savoury thick gravy along with fried potatoes and buttered spring greens, and a fresh white soft cheese and crisp rolls on the side.

For some reason describing fantasy food is a very important part of D&D - if a DM tells players "you get dinner at the inn" they ALWAYS want to know the details...

Thank you again everyone for coming along on this Quest and for creating such an interesting array of characters!

The comments section, as usual, can be used to talk about your week, set some goals if that helps you, and plan for the new session, whatever anyone needs.  And if you want to speculate about what your character might do next, as DEH did last week, that's another good use!

2024 Session 2: TLQuest week 14

 And here we are, come to the end of the second session of 2024!  I hope you've all enjoyed the quest and been able to tackle some important tasks this summer.  There will be an intersessional post up next week, an epilogue to the quest - thank you all for being such enthusiastic and engaged players, and reading all my excessively wordy posts!  

This week's discussion prompt is to plan the next session of TLQ, from sometime in September until sometime in December , to help us get through the semester without totally losing track of top left things.

THIS WEEK'S GAMEPLAY

Scout and Cornelius join Ramstein to work on the dam.  Ramstein turns out to be a huge help... when he can remember what he is supposed to be doing.  He can spend minutes underwater with no strain, holding things, bracing stones, explaining what he sees.  He also talks, chattering away about all sorts of small details of life in the woods as an otter, and occasionally pounces at a leaf or a tiny fish just for the splashy fun of it, or slides sinuously off a large rock into the water mid-sentence, and you find you need to be ready with dam-related questions for when his sleek head pops up above the water or he will be off into the reeds, chattering about some prank he played on a friend, or the nature of dragon-flies, or plunging into the deeper water to show off some amazing underwater acrobatic move you can't really see through the swirling bubbles and ripples of his movement.  You don't learn much about how and why he is doing a penance, but you do get the strong impression that being an otter is not very painful for him, for all his chatter of missing pastries and having been really very handsome and much admired in his normal form.  Rolling dice, I get 11 for Scout, 11 for Cornelius, and a 6 for Ramstein.  Mending the dam is not your normal work, but you both have a solid understanding of how to see the weaknesses in a structure and where a smaller blow might cause larger damage; with Ramstein's help and despite his distractions, you are able to turn your skill to creating an effective, if not entirely beautiful, barrier.  As you stand back to check your work, aware the afternoon is wearing on and mindful of the sprite's advice to be out of the woods by dark, you can see that the water level is already a little higher, smoothing over the exposed mud and rock.  Ramstein is utterly delighted with your work, and unties the knot of his necklace, sliding off two of the teeth, then retying it securely even though his otter paws don't seem quite designed to be able to do the task.  He hands one to each of you, bowing a little. "Ramstein has greatly enjoyed this opportunity to see your work.  Perhaps, when you eat a pastry or an especially crusty fresh loaf, you will think of Ramstein, and one day, maybe, when I am repentent enough, I will see you in the wide world, lordsnladies grant it be in a bakery or at a feast or festival, a place where Ramstein's true form may be most justly seen and admired, and then, well, you may still have this tooth, and we may help each other in some way.  Perhaps.  The world is wide and full of wonders!"  He turns, poses on top of the dam, waves gaily to you both, and dives neatly into the pool.  This time he doesn't resurface, as you turn to walk away.

Alice, Martha and Linnet follow the gnome, who speaks very softly, but you soon realise she isn't really timid, just quietly spoken.  Asked politely for her name, she says "oh, you can call me Enner, if that pleases your tongue", and when you admire the apron, she shrugs and says she likes ducks, although they are usually far too busy squabbling and dabbling to talk to properly.  She will be happy to talk about herbs and about the trees you pass, which she seems to know as individual friends, and will confidently lead you to the best places to collect the herbs you need.  I rolled a 20, a 17 and a 4 for the three of you, which means that Linnet and Martha do an efficient and effective job of collecting a goodly sample of the herbs needed, and Alice tries to help by holding things and not getting in anyone's way, and succeeds fairly well although she'd swear she can hear something suspiciously like a giggle coming from high up in one tree as she tries to remain patient and disentangle a bramble from her sleeve.  Enner appears beside Alice silently and helps with the bramble, saying only "I would be completely lost in a city of your people, I'd probably just hide under a table until I went back to the ground!", and reaches up to pat her on the arm before trotting off to join the other two.  As you walk back towards the edge of the woods, herbs all carefully stowed, she will tell you a little about how Ramstein came to the woods as a very confused newly-otter, and how, well, someone had to help him stop trying to eat the wrong things because his brain said one thing and his body another, and to try to stop him from trampling on too many customs and manners of the many different peoples of the woods, so he'd ended up being absorbed into the clan of her Great Aunt's Kitchen, because that was just the kind of person her Great Aunt is.  "And we are all the hands of the Ladies, one way or another, or of the Woods Herself".  She bids you goodbye at the point where the light ahead has changed, showing where the trees end, and has disappeared into the growing shadows of the late afternoon wood almost before you have replied.

The five of you arrive at the same camping place you used the night before just as dusk is closing in.  You anticipate a chilly night as most of your blankets were carried off with the big fish, and trying to make camp and prepare food or eat cold things in the dark does not appeal after your long, tiring day, but when you go into the sheltered area behind the old walls you find a pile of ten neatly folded blankets waiting for you, high quality, light but warm, and each embroidered with a single fish scale in one corner.  Next to them are six leaf-wrapped bundles - the talking cats sieze on one and drag it apart to tuck into the raw fish steak it contains.  Unfolded, the others each contain a slab of fish on a layer of root vegetables, perfectly roasted, and still warm.  Alice, as you sort out your things, you find several fish scales somehow made their way into your possession.  Held up in the fire light, they are iridescent and slightly translucent, flexible rather than brittle, and each the size of a coin.

How do you all feel about yourselves and your companions now you've come safely out of the Woods? 

LAST WEEK'S GOALS

DAISY

Read and edit new thesis chapters
Fun pop science article
Sample curation
Advising stuff
Plan out next paper or two
Contemplate grant application
Real summer: one existing friend patio wine, one hoping to make new friend lunch

DAME ELEANOR

- swim x3, weights x2, yoga x4
- finish Alms!
- finish syllabus for new class
- work out points and due dates for other class
- Greek 1 unit
- defrack habitat as energy permits
- campus run (scanning, library, office sorting, help a retired colleague move out)
- get a massage

HEU MIHI

1) Journal catch-up! Two revisions and two new articles to process.
2) Research! Write the Coda for my manuscript ("Conclusion" would be a misnomer); submit book review;
3) Teaching! Finish syllabus, try again to figure out the new CMS (and contact Help Desk if necessary), order desk copies, figure out readings for second day.
4) Admin! Secure replacements for TA who suddenly took another job, start planning (and requesting funding for) guest speaker at end of September, find an adjunct for a spring course, review spring schedule, schedule fall faculty meetings.
5) Admin+! Contact faculty about fall events (party [siiighh] and AI workshop [extra siiiiiiggghhhhh]).
6) Household! Begin the Great Tomato Processing of 2024; look at some recipes; vacuum the rug that the cats shed all over while we were gone (it's also one of about a dozen of our annual Pine-Tree-Part-Shedding Seasons, so there are piney...things all over the house, not needles, but these little things that grow at the base of the needles and seem to fall off eight times a year. The other four P-T-P-S Seasons are when the needles fall all over everything).
7) Self! Continue/resume daily sun salutations, run x 3, swim x 2, yoga class x 1; read a silly mystery novel; knit

JANEB

1. self-care: 75%+ of regular chores list, additional intentional movement three days, practice rest as needed. physiotherapy appointment, try to make some bookings/order stuff for a project for the leave week, get quote for cat fence, plant seeds when they arrive
2. fun: play D&D, crochet or knit some, draw something, read something, do some paintgemming (still no space for fun writing)
3. teaching and administration: do at least two blocks, mark any late resits, prepare for and do call line thing.
4. research: spend an hour writing notes about what my project idea might look like for the grant application that opens in September, an hour on my "pre-grant documents chore list", one article to referee, reconstruct Consultancy Paper, draft discussion for Slowly Evolving Paper, work on what was a Nearly Ready Paper but now isn't, sigh.

JULIE

I have driven home this morning in soupy heat and feel quite unmotivated, but here goes...
1. Finish archival material.
2. Mark resit exam(s).
3. Finish looking at corrections to a PhD thesis (another extra thing that came in last week)
4. Review postdoc applications.
5. Finish book if time
6. Phone tiler & get back to plumber about estimate.
7. Exercise
8. Fun stuff: dinner with local friends; weekend trip to see outdoor play by Susan's Famous Author and dinner with best friends from PhD days.

SUSAN

1. Finish promotion review that is due this week. (I've read the book ms., started the letter, so should be able to do this.)
2. Rewrite the prospectus for my book using comments from the editor.
3. Send packages (two more to pack, and then a trip to the Post Office)
4. Pack and organize
5. Enjoy time with brother and family when I get back to California
6. Unpack, and then start organizing for a year away.
7. And an additional goal: finish the tapestry project that is almost done so I can start the new one I carried on the plane home. (I'm hoping I can finish tomorrow, as this justifies my having carried the new one in my luggage.)

SESSION GOALS

Daisy

• Two big accepted papers and one smaller paper revised and finalized
• One new paper drafted
• One abandoned paper revived and submitted [maybe]
• One student thesis finalized and defended
• All the field work
• Go kayaking and camping
• Have small local adventures with kid when field work and teenager camp schedule allows
• Exercise to survive August fieldwork and field teaching
• Gardening

Dame Eleanor Hull

- finish the Alms chapter that is still hanging around and send it to a friend for comments;
- plan all my classes for next year;
- do what I hope is a limited-scope manuscript-related project;
- work regularly in my garden, taming various portions of it;
- regular exercise, yoga, and other self-care;
- at least two trips to see friends.
Alms really is almost done, I think, so I'm imagining devoting roughly a month to each of my other work projects, with gardening being an on-going effort. What do I most want to do this summer? Swim a lot. I think it would be very satisfying to get next year's classes all planned out, so that all I have to do is show up, teach, and grade, without having to plan while teaching. I always say I will do this, and never have really done it, so let's see if I can manage it this time around!

Heu mihi

1. Write an introduction for this book
2. *Really* finish the draft of chapter 6 (now chapter 5), revise chapters 3 and 4, start working on tightening up the whole very long manuscript
3. Read and review book by August 1, I think it was
4. Edited collection: Prepare and submit a proposal
5. Job-related: create info page for international students; line up workshop guests for TA practicum; prep new book(s) for fall course; fall syllabus; ORDER BOOKS for fall course
6. Grad students: I have one who is supposed to be finishing his dissertation, like, now. This student will take a lot of work. I must prepare for this.
7. Submit conference abstract IF I decide that I want to.
8. FUN: Make at least 3 books; finish knitting a cardigan; read a lot of novels; take forest days; finish France photo albums
And added at mid-session review:
9. second book review
10. read other student’s dissertation
11. edits to proceedings article
12. finish sustainability committee pamphlets, plural

JaneB

1) self-care: moving intentionally, eating mindfully, listening to my body and resting as needed, being kind to myself, caring for my home environment both through regularly doing the basic chores and through making improvements/doing one off tasks. it also includes the ongoing processes of healthcare and negotiating reasonable adjustments.  
2) fun: addressing most of the seven types of rest one does whilst awake, refilling my reserves and working out who I am as an neurodivergent late-50s person recovering from burnout, not just as an academic. 
a) knitted shawl and crocheted blanket - finish one and progress the other
b) writing – attend at least 75% of the creative writing course
c) D&D - play once a week if possible 
d) read at least as many books per month as last summer!
e) do something in at least two of the categories (handicrafts, drawing/painting, writing, reading, D&D) and at least one social thing every week
3) Teaching and administration - at least 3 teaching-related work blocks of time (half a day each) every work week of the summer (list has 30 blocks so far)
4) research.  submit three papers, start a new paper-project just for me, apply for every PhD student funding opportunity that comes up, and start to write the case for support for a fellowship (one year buy out) application that opens in the Autumn.

Julie

1. Teaching/admin - for this session, that consists mostly of marking, plus PhD students. I am thinking of leaving teaching prep for the next session, aside from sending reading lists to the library, which has to be done by July.
2. Research
i) Finally submit the grant application!
ii) Present at a workshop in France in June
iii) Submit an abstract to a call for papers for a special issue of a journal. This is something I actually feel excited about, so am adding it even though it might be a distraction.
3 Kids
i) Steer daughter through GCSEs without either of us losing our minds and have fun with her afterwards.
ii) Try not to neglect son in the process! Plan things to do with him in August while daughter is away.
4. House/life admin
i) Start one big house project (new bathroom(s)). On the list of projects for a while, but forced upon me now by leaking shower.
ii) Garden work - plant pots, get shed built, new patio furniture.
iii) Some small to medium jobs e.g. decluttering, frame photos
5.Self-care
i) Keep reading pace up - I've read a lot more this year already
ii) Exercise regularly
iii) Work on healthy eating and sleep.
iv) Keep up with journaling.
v) Fun activities - see friends, do creative stuff.
The one goal for Summer Me is probably the grant application, which is about 80% there, mostly costings and fiddly bits. It would be a huge load off my shoulders.

Susan

Research:
1. Figure out how I will revise Famous Author to meet editor's suggestions. (They want a longer ms, so I have to figure out where and how to do that.) Do it.
2. Finish last little bits (for now) of Big Collaboration (Maybe will be done today, but I'd like to say it's done for now!)
3. Start work on "Rest of My Life" project, which will really get going when I get to My Favorite Library but I'd like to start now
ADMIN:
My Admin job lasts until July 1, and it's not clear who will take over then. So just keep up with it and share information as I get it.
LIFE:
--house organizing
--read for fun
--plan trips for the summer
--exercise/ sleep / eat well

SUMMARY

TLQuest: how do your characters react?

TLQ: Reporting in on last week's goals and session goals, plans for the next session

2024 Session 2: TLQuest week 13

 I'm not sure how this happened, but this is the penultimate week of our summer TLQ session.  Out adventure might wrap up in the intersession week, but next week is time to check in on our summer goals.  After a couple of nice seasonally normal days the heat and humidity are ramping up again and my temper is shortening accordingly - not helped by another very depressing tranche of news about the Change Programme delivered on a Friday afternoon, and restricted to 45 minutes so we could all ASK questions, but only a few were dealt with - and several of THOSE were "that's complicated" or "that's down to Heads of School" (who are also in the at risk pool, so are themselves facing redundancy).  But that's my personal rant and this is where we try to keep things more general - as it's the second-last week of this session, let's talk about "back to school shopping" this week - can you suggest any work purchases which you enjoy making every summer for the new academic year, or something that turned out to be unexpectedly good at its job, or at just making  work life a little nicer?  I'm late to the game on this brand, but my sister introduced me to the Energel gel pen, and it plays SO nicely with my leuchturm1917 dot grid A5 notebooks - and comes with a lovely brown ink colour as well as the usual black and blue and that, so I have already bought a bag of refills for my pen and made sure I have a spare "work coloured leuchturm" on hand.  Oh, and a commercial sized box of the healthy snack/safe food fruit/nut bars which I always keep in my bag!

THIS WEEK'S GAMEPLAY

When none of you immediately say anything, the Ladies nod as one, and talk briefly to the Sprite who seems to be in charge, at least of talking to them.  They then say "let the words spoken be" in the common tongue, in their strange wood-sounds tones, and you can almost see those words drifting out into the air, spreading like bright pollen, not fading, just spreading thin and laying softly over the whole landscape.  The Sprite bows in midair, and the Ladies all turn and walk back into the trunks of the larger trees in a swirl of leaves of all colours from the soft yellow-green of early budding through high summer forest and crimson-gold fall to the dull brown of a wet winter.  With the ladies and the starling-coated cats gone, the woodland feels a little duller to your senses, a little more mundane.

The Sprite turns to you all and says "that was well, as these things go - we would lean on your patience a little more, your guides will be with you shortly.  But we strongly recommend you return to the camp outside the woods by nightfall, lest you get caught up in a wider story not your business."  It then calls orders to others of its kind in it's high tones, and they begin to move briskly, some to talk to and aid the small folk by the pond, some in pairs returning to patrol or watch duties.  You have a few minutes to talk, cautiously, aware of possible listeners, and for those who haven't yet met the Talking Cats to make their acquaintance; although they are a little distracted by grumpiness about the Lost Fish, they will accept some of the dried meat you have in your packs.  Scout and Cornelius probably talk about the technical aspects of what is basic dam fix will look like, whilst feeling slightly offended on behalf of their beloved black powder, which was nicely effective thank you.

After a few minutes you are all surprised to hear a polite throat clearing, and jump/turn around to see two short figures standing diffidently a few paces away, even though they somehow managed to sneak up on you.  One is a young looking gnome with a green cast to their hair and skin, wearing multiple layers of homespun robes and draperies, all topped with a rather incongruous white linen apron which a cheerful embroidered line of ducklings running along the bottom.  The other is a large, plump otter who is standing like a bipedal humanoid and wearing earrings and a necklace made of serrated fishy teeth, and starts the conversation by saying in a cheerful burble of rapid common tongue, clearly not coming naturally from an otter face, "hello, new friends! I won't bore you with the whole tarradiddle, but this form, whilst convenient in water and pleasingly athletic, is not my own, but a penance I am making the most of, there being little point in anything else once the Ladies have spoken.  Ramstein, that's my usename, at least, the usename of my true form, does get tired a little tired of fish dinners since Ramstein once knew the pleasures of bread and cheese and cake, but eh, one day penance will be paid, and then there will be a wholesale massacre of baked goods.  And this body thoroughly relishes the fishies.  Those of you who are going to work on raising the pond-lip, I'm here to assist, I do still have some abilities beyond swimmin' and filletin'."  He slaps his front paws together then bounces over to the tumbled rocks and starts to stick his whiskered nose curiously into gaps.  Left alone, the gnome whispers "umm, you seek Feyflax?  I can show you..."

Martha and Linnet will go with the gnome, Scout and Cornelius with Ramstein; Alice, what do you want to do?  Both your guides will turn out to be happy to talk - do you have any questions for them?

LAST WEEK'S GOALS:

DAISY

• Admin interviews and decisions
• Read and edit new thesis chapters
• Easy grant report
• Countless small but important admin things
• Real summer: 3-day trip

DAME ELEANOR HULL

- swim x3, weights x2, yoga x4
- finish Alms!
- finish syllabus for new class
- run some assignments for other class through one or more AI text generators to see whether I need to tinker with them
- Greek 1 unit
- defrack habitat as energy permits
- campus run (scanning, library, office sorting)
- take Mor to vet

HEU MIHI (carried over from last week due to BEACH)

1. Many, many tasks to get ready for the week at the beach (defrost freezer! set up cat sitting! clean the house! pack! shop! cook!)
2. Finish reading book and draft review
3. Draft prologue??
4. (Siiighhh) Help pack up retired colleague's office--it's not clear to me why this is my job, but there's no one else to do it, really, because the colleague (who retired about 3 years ago) has dementia and apparently our facilities people don't do this kind of work....
5. A couple of fun things with friends (lunch on Tuesday, a drink with my erstwhile Italian professor/colleague/hopefully new friend on Wednesday).

JANEB

1. self-care: 75%+ of regular chores list, additional intentional movement three days, practice rest as needed. electrical work, gardening tasks, reschedule hospital appointment again, get quote for cat fence
2. fun: play D&D, crochet or knit some, draw something, read something, do some paintgemming, find a corner to read the new Penric & Desdemona story (still no space for fun writing)
3. teaching and administration: do at least two blocks, check timetable, meet team for handover of final year project module, do homework and stupid training
4. research: spend an hour writing notes about what my project idea might look like for the grant application that opens in September, an hour on my "pre-grant documents chore list", and set up new version of Slowly Developing Paper. Two articles to referee.

JULIE –

1. Finish going through archival material.
2. Finish reading book.
3. Mark resit assignment for difficult student.
4. Chase even more difficult PhD student

5. Chase plumber for bathroom estimate.

6. Exercise

7. Eat healthily.

SUSAN

• Have fun on mini-break
• Start reading dissertation that may help with New Project
• Prepare to go to exhibit I’ve agreed to review. I’ve been but hav3 been sent a PDF of the catalog, so need to look at it.
• Send some things back home?

SUMMARY

TLQ: goals update and suggestions for back to school shopping list items for academics

TLQuest: are there things you want to ask your guides or to do whilst you're still in the woods? 

2024 Session 2: TLQuest week 12

Wow, it's really been a week of challenging news and challenging weather.  This is not good for my motivation!  And August to me is always an odd month - it is clearly still summer, but it's also a season of fading and change, as the leaves go dusty then start to turn, nuts swell and berries form, harvests come in and back to school signs flourish.  Even in England, where children have barely started their summer holidays & don't go back until September, and university years start around the equinox, August has a weary-of-this, drifting towards change feel to it.  And this session of TLQ has only two more weeks left to run!

So before the new academic year gets too attention-demanding, let's think about ways to make the most of the summer that we still have - are there a couple of summer bucket list items that you want to prioritise in August?  Things you do to capture a taste of summer for later in the year?  My mum, despite her age and arthritis, always spends a good chunk of time in August jam-making and bottling (canning in US speak) tomato sauce, because home-made strawberry, raspberry or blackcurrant jam or sauce made from the garden is summer whatever the time of year.  Or one or two work things which are also summer treats, and carry the pleasures of the season into the rest of the year?

THIS WEEK'S GAMEPLAY

Last week you extracted the fish from the pond and had it wrapped in blankets in the stream, and then the Ladies of the Wood arrived.  You all tried to show appropriately respectful attitudes whilst one of the Sprites gave a report (you assume - you don't know the language they used).  When the sprites finished talking, the party felt the Ladies' attention fall on them. Cornelius responded to the sense of pressure with a dorky little wave and a "hi, um, we thought this would work? To get the fish out? Because it, um, wasn't in the right place?"  

"Indeed it was not, monk, and not there by any natural or well-intentioned means.  To kill it here might foul the stream further" It's not clear which Lady is speaking to you, or which is also talking to the Sprite in that other language - a small detachment of Sprites dart away purposefully as they finish speaking.  One of the Ladies drifts over to view the state of the dam, another gives the fish a firm kick that shudders the whole wrapped package, and a third crouches down by the pond, making chirping sounds as several small and bedraggled fey creatures cautiously creep out of the water onto the muddy slabs exposed by the lower water or cling to the stems of the irises and cheep or speak back at the high edge of hearing.  You will also be uncomfortably aware that one of the cats is eyeing up the sprites with interest and the occasional wiggle.

After a few minutes, the Ladies will reconvene, stare at each other for a few moments, then turn to you and speak.  "We accept that you intended to do us a service, and you have certainly drawn our attention.  We had noted the lateness of the herb collector, and see you are his agents, and not yourselves ill-intentioned.  But you have wielded the iron world's foulness against our wood, the black-of-heart powder, and that colours our considerations".

At this point, the Talking Cats suddenly freeze, then start to look Very Nonchalent.  The Ladies are looking at something behind you, and if you follow their gaze you will see three great cat-like creatures, sleekly black although the sun dapples call out a starlings-wing corruscation of colour from their pelts, with fine tentacles shifting in an almost prehensile way where the Talking Cats have whiskers, stepping out of the woods to position themselves around the wrapped fish.  Their air of competent lethality makes all of you instinctively freeze, but they ignore you.  As soon as they have dragged the fish a few feet away from the stream the wood seems to wrap itself around them and they and the fish fade from view in what magic users will recognise as localised teleportation magic.

The Ladies continue to talk.  "To restore balance between us, restoring the level of the pond would level the scales for one thing, and we will send a guide with you to collect all the plants you asked for in reasonable measure for the other.  Is this acceptable, or is there some other boon you would have of us or offer to us?"

How do you respond?

LAST WEEK'S GOALS

DAISY
Field work with students
Proofread and submit difficult paper
Book two short camping trips for me and kid
Read and edit thesis proposal
Read and edit new thesis chapters
Real summer: two outdoor theater shows, yay!

DAME ELEANOR HULL (and New Cat, welcome New Cat!)
- swim x3, weights x2, yoga x4
- finish Alms!
- create syllabus for new class
- create syllabus for other class
- Greek 1 unit
- defrack habitat as energy permits
- dentist (again!)
- vet appt for New(?) Cat

HEU MIHI (may have departed for beach?)
1. Many, many tasks to get ready for the week at the beach (defrost freezer! set up cat sitting! clean the house! pack! shop! cook!)
2. Finish reading book and draft review
3. Draft prologue??
4. (Siiighhh) Help pack up retired colleague's office--it's not clear to me why this is my job, but there's no one else to do it, really, because the colleague (who retired about 3 years ago) has dementia and apparently our facilities people don't do this kind of work....
5. A couple of fun things with friends (lunch on Tuesday, a drink with my erstwhile Italian professor/colleague/hopefully new friend on Wednesday).

JANEB
1. self-care: 75%+ of regular chores list, additional intentional movement three days, do physio recommended stretches with great caution at least once, practice rest as needed. reschedule electrical work done, try to schedule gardening tasks, call dentist, reschedule hospital appointment, go to physiotherapy intake appointment. (Clothes Pile of Doom gets a reprieve this week).
2. fun: play D&D, crochet or knit some, draw something, read something, do some paintgemming, find a corner to read the new Penric & Desdemona story. (Writing is not going to happen outside of work and some ranty journalling)
3. teaching and administration: survive away day. Go over plans for the rest of the summer. Do at least one teaching block.
4. research: do homework for stupid training. Attend stupid training. Attend meeting for Slowly Developing paper (aka venting/support session as all three of us have jobs at risk), spend an hour writing notes about what my project idea might look like for the grant application that opens in September and an hour on my "pre-grant documents chore list", chase up application for that masters by research student (which local academic is in charge of graduate recruitment changed lately and this was NOT a change for the better).

JULIE - no check in last week, on holiday!  Goals from week 10:
I have four days, then we leave for a break on Friday. Away the following week, so no check-in this coming Sunday.
1. Finish working through archive material.
2. Finish reading book.
3. Send comments on dissertation proposal to student.
4. If time, read draft article for post-doc (not urgent).
5. Shopping, packing etc for trip on Friday, and for daughter's longer trip (taking her to the airport on the way back for her first solo flight)
6. Bathroom project - two meetings with plumbers.
7. Exercise

SUSAN (leaving for a trip on Sunday)
1. Do final revisions on Famous Author, get as much of Further Reading set up as possible, as many details...
2. Start identifying sources for new project (at least one day)
3. Have some fun, get in touch with people I need to contact
4. Eat/ sleep/ keep walking 

SUMMARY

TLQuest: how do you respond to the Ladies (and the Talking Cats)

Real life TLQ: what are your top priorities for the last weeks/month of summer, now we're in August? And check ins.