Photo of the Week

My bonsai starter kit – just getting started. If all goes well with these trees, I’ll have three beautiful bonsai trees in ten to twenty years.

General Discussion
Before I forget – for the other plant-lovers out there, check out the PlantNote app if you use an android phone. I sprang for the premium version (I think it was a whole 5 bucks), and it is incredibly handy with reminders for watering, repotting, fertilizing…whatever you need to be reminded of.

I skipped last week because typing was painful due to a sprained wrist (which is partially why this post is late too). I was making sure Apollo didn’t go over the neighbor’s fence after a tiny fluffy white dog on the other side, and he’s kind of a brute when he gets all spun up. It’s taken pretty much a full week for my wrist to feel decent again (there are still parts that don’t work right yet – I suspect healing will take awhile), and I’ve had to walk the dogs individually so I could use just the “good” hand for control. Thankfully, they’re still doing very well with the reactivity training on-lead, so the incident at the fence wasn’t a setback with that.

Needless to say, I’ve made a few changes in how the dogs are allowed to enter the backyard late at night when said neighbor is more likely to have visiting pooches (which helped this past weekend when the aforementioned fluffball visited again). Training, training, training. It takes time and consistency, but it’s well worth it to have decently-behaved canine family members.

Once my hand and wrist are feeling more normal, I really need to pick up my crochet hooks again. Not much better for hand/wrist strength than working with fiber. And it’s not like I don’t have a huge yarn stash to play with (*ahem*).

I was thinking the other day about how all the recent changes I’ve been making connect – how a lot of the things I used to do and enjoy are coming more to the forefront of my days, so to speak. And the one thing they have in common is a time and attention requirement that I lost for a (long) while there. Growing plants, crocheting larger projects, dealing with longer hair, dog training (I’ve been really spoiled with older dogs for years now), heck, even writing and revising stories…all of these are “long games” – they aren’t things you can sit down and complete in an afternoon. They’re ongoing, and require a certain amount of…not just focus, but long-term dedication to really see any meaningful results.

I’ve noticed that the more time I take with these hobbies/interests, and the more I remind myself that they’re long-term commitments rather than short term activities, the more focus and patience I’m cultivating again. My brain feels like it’s rewiring itself, which is another slow process that requires determination and commitment, but because I know all these things take time, I don’t feel so rushed and overwhelmed with everything. I’m teaching myself to slow down again, and enjoy the process, rather than just trying to get to the end point as fast as possible.

If I can apply that to the draft revisions I need to do, I’ll have won a serious battle. And I’ll also have something publishable in far less time than it takes to create a nice bonsai tree.

Currently Reading
The Runaway Princess by Christina Dodd (Seriously – this is why I can’t read right before bed. Because…how do you even stop?!)

Video Highlight
It’s spring, and I have a Jade that got overwatered by accident (never talk on the phone while watering plants), and is now saggy and needs…well, I need to pull it out of it’s pot to see if the roots are salvageable or not, but I found this video helpful and will be working on mine soon.
How to Prune & Straighten a Jade Plant: httpss://youtu.be/8I0D4U6ayio

Song of the Week
Dark Horse by Katy Perry…because it’s cool, and the video is really fun.
httpss://youtu.be/0KSOMA3QBU0

Pop Quiz!
What is your favorite plant? It doesn’t have to be one you grow, just one that speaks to you or that you identify with in some way.

Personally, while I adore African Violets and hybrid tea roses, my favorite plant is an unknown woolly columnar cactus I’ve been growing since my husband and I got married. He gave it to his grandmother, and kept it when she died, and he brought it to our house nearly seventeen years ago. I can baby it or ignore it completely for months on end, and it just keeps growing away, stalwart and unwavering.

Post Round-up
The Writer’s Desk (last updated: March 26, 2022)

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