Vera Stewart

It's already been three weeks?

I have not accomplished much yard/garden wise. (Although I got my indoor spring cleaning all done - and a new chore list made while going through the house doing that!)

I see that one of my currant bushes is not doing all that well this spring, compared to the other, and I'm probably going to take it out and make myself new space for squash or something else like that instead. I'm not too upset as it turns out that I don't really like currants.

I planted some tomato seed in pots on my patio almost two weeks ago but there are no signs of life from them yet. I will probably try again soon. I've also planted some leek seed, and thrown some poppy seed around. The temperatures have been near freezing at night but warming up to around 20C in the afternoons. Three mornings ago we had a rain/snow shower.

I had forsythia and daffodil blooms in time for Easter. Now it looks like my lilac bush is getting ready to bloom.

And the kale seeds that I planted three weeks ago have been growing, and I've got three clumps of sorrel that are looking almost ready for a little light harvest. Some rhubarb is popping up and I've tried dividing off another plant from one. (Not sure I succeeded, the division is looking a little sorry for itself at the moment.) I've transplanted some hollyhock as we're expecting the neighbour to do some fencing work that would otherwise trample them. I need to prune some of my bushes as the deer were busy over the winter, biting branch ends off.

Just as soon as I get out there and give the place a good rake-and-tidy, everything should look much better! And I'm looking forward to starting some more seeds soon.

March 18 - Saw a honey bee getting a drink at the neighbour's bird bath today.

I've started a little bit of poking around in the garden this spring although it is still below freezing at night. I have quite a lot of seed to plant, and did start a seed tray of kale early this week. I'm sort of easing my way towards an hour a day of yard/garden work, as well as doing interior spring cleaning and starting to think about maintenance tasks such as painting the house trim - which I didn't do last year. I am also in the process of editing a novella and that project is taking longer than I expected. (When I first started writing this story I thought I'd be done by about now, but I'm... nowhere near done.)

My hope for this year is to provide updates to this thread at least monthly, but they may be short, along the lines of the update today.

I may add a little more to the last 'row' in my vegetable section, even it up with the rest of the rows, once I get winter debris picked up and whichever seeds need to be started early-ish started.

Update on Second Round of Competition: Darn Tough v. Wigwam v. Smartwool

Well, now my Darn Tough socks have wandered off on their own adventure somewhere. Hopefully I'll be able to find them during the spring cleaning that's just getting started here today. This is the second time I've had a pair of socks vanish on me during this long experiment, and I feel I need to explain why this may be so.

Sometimes even in the middle of winter, I take my socks off while I wander around the house.
Sometimes I put them some place odd when I do. I drop them on the 'wrong' side of the couch, or put them on a dinning table chair that's only pulled out from under the table once a month when I get around to dusting everything properly. I stick them in a back pocket, and then maybe one or both fall out during my wanderings, or maybe my dog, who loves playing with socks, decides to help herself and I don't notice until I've done the week's laundry and I'm missing my socks.

Last time this happened to a pair of Darn Toughs, I found them again. I am expecting to find my newest pair again.

However, it is also mid-March and I found my first flowers outside today (dandelions) and it's perhaps just about time to wrap up this experiment for the season anyway.

The Wigwams are my least favourite of the three at the moment. I've found them a bit too warm most days. It has been a very mild winter. I've found these so warm that when it's come to be their 'turn' in the sock rotation I sigh a bit.

The Smartwools are holding up well and have been quite comfortable.

The Darn Toughs are holding up well and have been quite comfortable and if anyone sees them wandering about let me know.

The demise of the first competition's winner has come. They have at last sprung a leak. (I will probably darn the hole soon.)

I'm not doing such a great job keeping track of how many washes the current competitors have had, but they're still being worn and washed here.

I've added Evolution Device to my list of books to read! (Warning: There are about 200 books already on the list.)

Here is my blog, where I mostly post reviews but sometimes get to announce a story of mine will be published: https://vtdorch.wordpress.com/

And here's the link to my most recently published story: http://frontiertales.com/2020/12Dec/horseshoe_nail_stew.php

I have another story that's supposed to come out later this month, but it's not really 'permie.' It'll be in the winter edition of All World's Wayfarer - http://www.allworldswayfarer.com/upcoming/

Well, I like the idea of alien life appearing somewhat fungal like.

If you're anything like me though, you've got three dozen other ideas you want to return to some day, too.

Please post links or otherwise share your fiction or other writing projects here in this thread! (Thank you for Pearl!)

I am hoping one day to make a partial income through writing fiction. This winter, I've been working on editing a cozy mystery novella that I desperately hope to have ready for publishing some time next year. (I'm a bit slow.)

But my real passion is for historical, speculative fiction and western genre stories (and sometimes stories that blend those genres...) and I'm happy to have a western story published this month online here, it even has a somewhat permie message, as it's all about sharing food! : http://frontiertales.com/2020/12Dec/horseshoe_nail_stew.php

(I know there is a 'sharing our art' thread - is there a 'sharing our stories' thread?)

Snow on the ground this morning, and wool socks on my feet. The competition resumes!