Seven years ago today, I started this blog. I just went back and reread the first entry, and I see that I haven’t changed much, and the blog hasn’t changed much. Anyway, that’s how it seems, but time has passed and, in truth, things have changed. Jonathan and I are both retired now. The cats are a little different, but the universal cat distribution system sees to it that we maintain a minimum of two. I still garden, and I still write, although this winter has been harder than usual for both of those.
In the winter, I am usually hopeful about writing and gardening. To chase away the winter malaise, this year I haven’t waited for seed catalogs to get me started–I’m sprouting seeds for fresh greens to put into salads and stir fries and onto sandwiches. This winter I took all the old, sad onion sets left over from the spring and put them into dirt. They are sitting in a sunny window and growing very nicely. Fresh green onions are imminent. I planted some microgreens, but they were a bit of a disappointment, so I followed them with a salad green mixture. The seeds have sprouted and are on their way to something fresh and tasty (I hope). I’ve also already started (yes, I know it’s January, but nevertheless) leeks and onions from seeds. Leeks take forever to grow so I thought I might as well begin as early as possible. I would have started chard, too, but I’m out of chard seeds. Time to check that seed catalog I got in the mail last week.
I have my Old Farmer’s Almanac and have laid out the planting days for everything I intend to put into the ground. I have a blueprint of how I want my beds to look. But I’m not stopping at growing things in dirt. My good friend, yeast, has done me proud by growing away nicely and giving me a lovely loaf of bread. As an experiment, I made my first batch of yogurt from non-fat dried milk. In spite of my slovenly approach to this imprecise art, I managed to end up with a pretty tasty pint of Greek non-fat yogurt. I advised my husband that, if eight hours after I ate it, he found me cold and unresponsive, to toss the experiment. So far so good. My next endeavor is going to be making cheese out of the same starting material–non-fat dried milk is indestructible, but also, almost inedible. We’ll see how that goes.
What about writing over the past seven years, you may ask. I’ve completed two more novels and am well on my way to a fourth. One has been sent to a publisher, the other was nibbled at but ultimately passed over by another publisher. It’s out to a new place now, so fingers crossed. A few short stories have been rejected and accepted, but the later are for anthologies, and those take FOREVER to get published. I’ve given some interviews and done some book signings. And I’ve served as editor for several books, all published now. Finally, I’ve just been asked to help a friend write her autobiography. That will be new territory for me.
We’ll see what the next seven years hold, if I make it that long. I plan to. No matter what happens, I’ll keep writing and gardening. But maybe not all the time every day. I have to take some time out to hang with the cats and husband.
Image: Bread, yogurt, and sprouts. By Marilyn Evans
