A few weeks ago, I finished the first draft of the third book in the Patriarchs series. My critique partner has kindly read it and had some great comments! I also heard from my editor, who is the midst of editing Rebekah. I will receive galleys from her soon, which is where I dig in deeper and fix the glitches she finds. In the meantime, however, I’ve been taking a much-needed break to clean and garden. The garden is still a work-in-progress. Randy dug up the soil a few weeks back in between a visit from one of our sons and a quick trip to Indiana Wesleyan for a race. We bought all of the plants the following week with intentions to get them in the ground, but then Randy had to fix a front brake rotor on one of the cars. The tomato, one of the peppers, and the cilantro looked pretty sad, in dire need of planting and water. So while he worked on the car, I planted in the wind.
The day was beautiful except for the wind, so I decided to work in bare feet. (Love the feel of grass beneath my toes!) As the wind picked up later, though, and exhaustion started to set in, I will admit the herbs and peppers got a quicker planting. I may need to redo a few of those – particularly the mint chocolate herb, which I have no idea what to do with! It sounded good! I’m told it works well in brownies, so we’ll see.
Speaking of brownies…which go good with ice cream – we don’t eat the stuff like we used to. I know, sad, isn’t it? It’s mostly a dairy issue, and I’ve become quite addicted to SO Delicious frozen coconut milk products. So it was time to clean out some older ice cream that had seen better days (and should have been in the home of someone who loves the stuff!)
Of course, if you give a mouse a cookie…or…if you start a cleaning project…you’re going to end up doing more than you intended. (The freezer got a thorough work-over.) I have cupboards and closets I need to do next. Maybe someday I will actually paint the fuchsia closet in the upstairs hallway. (Color came with the house and though we washed everything down, closets are always the last to receive attention, I suspect!)
In between projects, I’m reading two stories – one published, one not. Almost done with both. And I’ve begun research on another project that I hope to discuss more in the future.
But I have noticed that breaks like this one can be cathartic. I discovered that I now particularly like working outside on nice days. This was not always true of me, but sitting in front of a computer is not good all day. So I’m mixing it up a bit. Perhaps my garden will stay weeded and watered this year!
How about you? What summer projects do you love? Any gardeners out there? Spring cleaners? I’ll clear a closet if you will!
Shalom~PersonalJune 6, 2012
