My silences in this blog can be for several reasons. I have a couple of chronic pain issues and sometimes, it overwhelms a bit. I also don’t like to talk about it, so when they flare up and take some brain power (leading to a bit of depression especially in late winter), I stop talking publicly. I think it would be accurate to say that this reflected the lack in the early part of this year, though I’m still dealing with too many migraines.

Other times, I’m just busy. That would reflect this spring, and summer, and last fall/early winter.

My garden – man I need to get some pictures up. Hah! Just found an extra ipod/iphone USB cord, so that will be more likely now. It really is a pain to take the one from the charger two floors up in my room and bring it down to the basement.

Back to the garden: It’s beautiful. There are wild successes, and sad failures. The strawberries gave me a handful, and then somehow stopped getting enough water or something and the ‘straw’ I used did have seeds in it. So they failed. The onions: not a single sweet one survived and very few of the others are surviving. But one onion plant went wild really quickly and flowered. Crazy. The sugar snap peas grew beautifully, but the early and harsh heat reduced their production. I think I will start them earlier next year.

Note to self: Yes, you’re tough but hand watering a desert garden is just craziness! Pure crazy, girl. Get a soaker hose. Suddenly, your garden will THRIVE.

Did I tell you it’s organic? And we’ve now eaten the first tomatoes. Cucumbers, tomatoes, and peppers are all happy. The spaghetti squash is too. The watermelon and pumpkin, which are not near the main garden, are doing okay too.

Another thing that has kept me busy is my housecleaning.

It all started when I realized that to be as productive as all the projects on my plate, I had to be organized in time and space. At first I was thinking only about time, and tried looking for organizer apps and goal setting apps so I could get down a five year plan. But as I searched in this direction, it became apparent that having an organized space would lead to less stress and would give me more time.

My bedroom, including closet and main bathroom are clean and wonderful. My bedroom has always been the quiet place to escape, but now it’s quite literally a sanctuary. Finding clothes is easy.

My kitchen is easy to work in. This means more cooking, less expense.

One thing that has happened is that for a little while, I’ve dropped the kid’s regular chores in the kitchen. Instead, I’m trying to model the kitchen for them and give them tasks now and then. This is working better.

In fact, the whole main floor is in much better shape. My husband can inform me that someone will be over in just a few minutes, and that won’t be a problem at all. The upper floor as well. We could have company stay over with very little notice also.

The basement, however, is still the dungeon. It’s the next BIG THING.

These things, plus a family history project and a Japanese home stay student have kept me busy all summer.

And now, my brain is stuffed with things to say. Big thoughts about the world. Pictures of my garden to download. Etc.

Fall is coming and it is my most productive writing time of the year. I expect to finish my molecular biology book this fall, and work on my related molecular biology blog. Plus, the very big story, more than a novel, that I’ve played with and done fiction fridays with is still bouncing in my head. I think I’ll go all Tolkien on it and be happy with having it take years to simmer, and write short stories about it the world to flesh it out while I write the big one. The world is rich enough already in my head that there is lots I can write about.