I have exciting sketchy things in the works but, as the way things are with these things, I am waiting to sign contracts so I can’t really share much yet, BUT I can share this potato.

One of my favourite places on this island is Auntie Pesto’s cafe — where you might find me eating breakfast (or lunch or dinner) quite often.

I love the Pesto’s breakfast potatoes almost as much as I love the bacon. And that’s saying something, because if the menu offered “Plate of Bacon” I would order that every day (and I am almost serious).

songsfortheday is my most visited blog these days. I blame Adam entirely for me clocking up a large bandcamp/itunes bill. Bad – but good.

And of course, don’t forget Jordan Stratford’s Wollstonecraft kickstarter! I am so excited to be spending some time illustrating these books.

Check out that sun – yes, we got some sun. It confused me with its lovely warm brightness and I was momentarily stunned and sat on the back deck saying “gahhhh!”. It only lasted a day or so and now we’re back into the reassuringly consistant rain, but boy, it was good while it lasted.

I planted vegetables, I finished a quilt etc. If I’d cooked some kind of bread or boiled my own soup stock I would have completed the trifecta of domestic awesomeness.

Other things of the non-domestic awesome variety:

- Waxy.org turns 10 – Happy blog birthday Andy! I love his thoughts on blogging in a world of microblogging. Encouraging and inspiring, as always.

- Jordan’s kickstarter page which is mind BLOWING (I’ve been hitting refresh every… oh, let’s say…minute?). The wonderful response to the campaign has been incredible – and yet again I am reassured that the old saying “do what you love and good things will follow” (or whatever it is) has some truth in it.

Speaking of female leads in the fantasy genre:

- Game of Thrones – which I watch from the very edge of the couch. There is the story and the art direction and the whole fantasy genre which I have always loved – but also worth noting is the fact that in this second season there are so many fantastic, often cliche-busting, kick-ass female main characters. You won’t find any token females playing elves looking ethereal and beautiful in a magical forest, but instead at least a dozen interesting three dimensional characters. The sexual violence, while still apparent, is toned down this season – sexual politics is still a main focus but the unexpected twists and turns are part of what makes the show interesting. I am waiting for Sansa to start kicking it – I hope she does. Some of my friends say “girl, it’s so violent, how can you bear it?” but I just can. And I will. And I love it. The story surprises me.

Back closer to home:

Salt Spring Island’s Saturday Market – is back for the warm season and is bubbling away with homemade soaps, goats cheese, heirloom carrots and fresh baked treats. Don’t expect to escape without spending any money. Just try to resist.

Music – I’ve been clumsily figuring out a couple of songs on the ukulele (Lumineers! Damien Jurado! Oh and this one! So good! Watch out folk scene – I am totally hot on your heels) and then singing them badly over and over to the point where even the smallest members of the household are groaning “NOT AGAIN! SPARE US, PLEASE!”. Regardless, trust me on this: when you turn 40, buy yourself a musical instrument. It’s the healthy part of the whole mid-life crisis thing.

Jordan’s kickstarter is up and away — we hope you’ll feel compelled to support the project. I almost did after watching this video and then stopped myself because, well, hey, that’s not how it works. But you can!

Hey! I’m working on something fun and steampunky for author Jordan Stratford. I finished this sketch of the two main characters today. Ada and Mary. This has been such a great project. I can’t resist drawing girls in pretty dresses. I feel like I’m 8 again when that’s pretty much all I drew. Jordan is launching his kickstarter.com campaign on Sunday to fund the production of this fabulous sounding book:

“Wollstonecraft
by Jordan Stratford

London 1826: The Advent of the Steam Age

11 year old Ada has a problem: her governess, Miss Coverlet, has quit her job to go get married (a dumb idea if ever there was one, if you ask Ada) and her new tutor Percy (“Peebs”) is a total drip.  She’d rather be left to her own devices – literally – inventing things and solving math problems and ignoring people altogether.

She’s also forced to study alongside the imaginative girlie-girl Mary, who’s always going on about romance and exotic travels.  Fortunately, Mary’s appetite for adventure leads her to propose the two girls open a detective agency, and when an heiress shows up with a case about a missing diamond, it’s the perfect puzzle to coax Ada out of her shell.

This is the made up story about two very real girls – Ada, the world’s first computer programmer, and Mary, the world’s first science fiction author – caught up in a steampunk world of hot-air balloons and steam engines, jewel thieves and mechanical contraptions.  For readers 8-12.

This is a pro-math, pro-science, pro-history and pro-literature adventure novel for and about girls, who use their education to solve problems and catch a jewel thief.  Ada and Mary encounter real historical characters, such as Percy Shelley, Charles Babbage, Michael Faraday, and Charles Dickens – people whom the girls actually knew.  If Jane Austen wrote about zeppelins and brass goggles, this would be the book.”

Because I like the ukulele.

And I like you too.