Daily Dose Of Positivity

[Hazel Moon]

Very happy to see my garden coming back to life this summer, with so many peppers and herbs. I seriously think I'm going to need some bigger jars when I harvest everything.

There's also a sense of satisfaction when you grow something yourself. And for me personally, I like sitting outside and picking all the little leaves from my thyme plants. It's like a soothing form of meditation, with the warm summer air in the evening and all the dragonflies flitting past. It makes me happy and grateful for all the little moments like these.

[Kisota]

That sounds fantastic, Hazel.

My friend’s balcony faces east and gets full sun (mine faces kind of south, which would be good, but it’s partially shaded by a tree). We’ve recently put a basil plant out on his. We used its leaves in a lasagna yesterday (that also had some mozzarella he made!) I’ve been wanting to grow more herbs and some vegetables on the balcony for a while. I’m thinking it’s finally going to happen now, between the two of us. Too bad the growing season is almost done.

Herbs should be easy, and some potted peppers or something. But I’m dreaming of a big bottled dwarf raspberry and a trellis with green beans… maybe someday. Got to start somewhere!

[Koba]

A lot of days I'll jump on WL for a few minutes and read the dailies, sometimes a discussion if I like the subject. Many a times I'll read something someone wrote and although I may have nothing to say I find much of it heartwarming. Considering how cynical I am, that is pretty darn impressive I think.

[Vintage]

Got free from a very temporary art block. As with other 'blips' in the road, I'm finally able to dream again from weeks of nothingness, paired with feeling the general flow of my energy once more.
On the mundane path...I am going to drop a draining career and take up teaching as my main now. I can get a full taste of the school year instead of part of it.

[Kisota]

Congrats on the new career path and art successes, Vintage! I have been having a pretty good time with art this year… having a portable tablet setup with an iPad has really propelled me back into drawing, which I’ve neglected for years.

I’m thinking more about my herb garden idea and considering selling a fake plant I have to make space for a new shelf specifically for herbs in my sunniest window alcove. If it doesn’t get enough light, I can install a grow light. I just like the idea of a consistent year-round little herb garden. Then, if my friend and I get really motivated, we can dedicate the balconies to actual food. It could be really fun to spend the winter planning out a true summer vegetable garden.

[TopBrass]

Gardening seems like such a great and wholesome hobby. It's also a time commitment, and is hostage to the whims of climate and weather, so that rules it out for me although I've dabbled with pepper plants a few times. I have one trinidad scorpion plant, and the others I planted either never sprouted or died almost immediately after sprouting. I think it was too late in the year when I planted them. Definitely a hobby that requires dedication and patience, respect for people who take it up.

I feel like I don't even have enough time for the hobbies I have, but I couldn't be more happy with them. This has been a really great year. I've expanded a lot more into the arts, poetry, and literature. I've been reading usually 200 to 300 pages a day. My record this summer was 500 pages in one day while reading Faulkner's Light in August, which is also a fantastic book(much like everything else he wrote!).

[cheetah]

Got to see a lot of bonsai and ikebana at the botanical garden recently. They were pretty nice--the bonsai were about what I expected (though still magnificent), but the ikebana took flower arrangements to heights I'd never even considered before. The use of branches and twigs for effect was particularly striking and unexpected; next time I have the opportunity to get cut flowers I may try my hand.

Turns out there are a bunch of Missouri native trees and bushes that can be convinced to be bonsai, which raises interesting future possibilities. A little bonsai forest of native bushes would be very nice; imagine if I could get a redbud to be a bonsai!

I don't really have the time to do bonsai anytime soon, but it's pleasant to think about.

[Kisota]

Got to have dinner with an old friend when I was out of town for work this week. He seems like he's doing really well; it was great to see him. I gave him a plant I split from my favorite Oxalis and a homemade pumpkin bar.

This weekend my best friend and I are having his belated birthday celebration. We're making German food - authentic Bavarian pretzels, sausages, beer cheese dip, (and hopefully German beer?), and homemade sauerkraut. We found a local European market that says they have blood sausage, so we'll go try to pick some up today and check another weird food off our list! Part of his gift was that I bought the supplies to make proper pretzels - food grade dye and diastatic malt.

He doesn't know what his other gift is yet. But it's all the supplies to make our own mead. I haven't bought the honey yet; I figure he might want to pick, since honey varies wildly and can dramatically impact the nature of the mead. But I am hoping we can source it locally. It took some research to figure out what we needed to do it right, but this is something we've talked about doing, so I'm really excited.

[Kisota]

My vermiculture bin has a THRIVING population of isopods (roly-polies) and the sheer glee I get every time I look around in there is fantastic. They’re just so cute. Pretty sure I’ve got some springtails and other things too. I’ve had overpopulations of mites in the past but I haven’t seen that issue in a while. I wonder if the other detritivores keep them down.

And I moved my epiphylum plants to a brighter spot and have already noticed one of the long strands of new growth flattening out into an actual leaf shape. Hoping they’ll grow better out here. A lot of the directions for Epiphylum care say they want indirect light or gentle morning light. But they are tropical and actually want more light than you’d think!

It’ll be years before the plant blooms, if I can get it to at all. But I look forward to it. The “lunar flowers” in Wolf’s Rain are based off a relative of this plant, whose flowers bloom open at nocturnally and only last for that one night.

I’m a big enough weeb to have gotten one largely for that reason. But the blooms are also supposed to smell awesome and I really want to smell it for myself.

[Primordial Scorpion]

Today, I found out I DON'T have eye Cancer! w00h00! Talk about relieved!