Garden Dreaming and the New Year~

Here it is the dead of winter and I'm already dreaming about next summer's garden. If only this place weren't infested with rabbits. I feel like Elmer Fudd. If I want a garden, I've got to get serious about my rabbit problem.

Seems brutal, I know. But when you're driving down the driveway early in the morning and you see jackrabbits the size of small dogs running from your garden patch, you know sh*t just got real.  All I really want are some tomatoes and a couple of squash. Is that too much to ask?? I just gave up last summer, hoping the winter would kill them off, but it doesn't seem to be happening.

I've got the most amazing salsa recipe! And an Italian friend gave me an awesome pasta sauce recipe. I just want to grow the tomatoes. So here I am, trying to draw plans for a rabbit-proof garden, which I'm thinking is basically a rabbit-proof cage for vegetables.  If you've got ideas, I'm all ears!! And I have a few months to get it figured out.

Where's Wile E. Coyote when you need him?

#5Things on #valentinesday

Happy Valentines's Day peeps :)

I wrote the whiniest blog post the other day. Thank goodness I didn’t save it. It was terrible! Suffice to say, I must have been feeling sorry for myself, which is never pleasant to read. I am decidedly not a winter person. Instead, I want to tell you about a new twitter friend I’ve met who almost exclusively tweets with the #5Things hashtag. Don’t roll your eyes! Hashtags can be fun. J

Paulette Waltz (also known as @5THINGSaDAY on Twitter) encourages followers to tweet five things each day they’re grateful for. I think it’s a perfectly lovely idea. It’s so easy to fall into the trap of focusing on what’s not working in your life instead of all the wonderful things you experience every day.

I haven’t posted #5Things every day yet, but I’ve posted a few times.  I challenge you to give it a try too. Today, I’m going to post #5Things I’m grateful for this month – February.

5) a roof over my head and food in the kitchen.

4) my children, especially my son who was born in February. He’s driving me crazy counting down the days until his party!

3) a writing project that’s creeping steadily along. Forward is always better than backward.

2) the love of friends and family. You all mean so much to me.

1) Hmm…this is a hard choice. I think I’ll say ‘coffee’. I’m grateful for coffee. J

How ‘bout you?

Go away, January!

 

I must confess, I've always considered January as something to be endured. More and more I find myself imagining it’s almost over, always thinking ten days ahead of myself. I have to admit, this winter we’ve been very lucky that it hasn’t been very cold or snowy. All the weather went east again and Idaho has been blessed with some very fine days, which has made January all the more bearable. It’s just that some mornings when the frost is thick and the fog is thicker, I think “Uhg! Will this month ever be over??” The cold and the dark sap my energy and it takes all that I have to keep going. Thankfully, we’re almost there. February can be a hard month to get through too, but at least it’s short.

 

I’ve been reading a lot, which is good since I rarely get time to do that. I’ve read The Asylum, a gothic novel without any paranormal elements, and I’m finishing Clockwork Angel, which is WAY far on the other end of the paranormal scale (maybe too much?). It’s entertaining, but I was a little disappointed to see vampires appear in the story. I had started City of Bones by the same author, but I’ve enjoyed Clockwork Angel better, probably due to the historical, steam punkish setting more than anything. The two plots don’t seem all that different to me. I’ve been tinkering around with a steampunk idea of my own, but I need to read some more of it before I tackle that project.

 

 

 

I’ve also been editing a manuscript here and there, my own paranormal ghost tale. It’s been fun and I’m finally getting it fleshed out. It’s always been too short to satisfy a reader and I’ve stumbled a few times over how to improve it. Honestly, it takes me forever to finish a manuscript! This one was started in 2010 or 2011? Geesh. However, I do feel like I’ve worked out some kinks and devised a better way to finish novels. The next one will be quicker, promise!  This novel, when it’s ready, will be presented to Month9Books, who has an option on my next work of speculative fiction. I hope they like it. J

 

Starting in March, I should have edits back from Month9Books on Vessel, my dystopian/scifi manuscript. I’m excited to jump back into that world and get that manuscript ready for publication. I’ve been kicking around potential ideas for a fun sequel, but it’s all contingent on Vessel doing well in the marketplace. I’ve got my fingers crossed and will be working hard on making that happen in 2015.

 

For now, I'm trying to find things to keep myself busy until January goes away. How do you cope with winter??