I don’t have a clever title or any huge revelations to share today, but I thought I’d give a couple of updates. I have two projects vying for my attention right now, and my focus shifts from one to the other by the day, it seems. I have made a lot of progress on my writing. I have completed (meaning third/final drafts after being read by my editor) 25 essays with a total word count close to 74,000 and a page count at 126! I have at least three more essays in the second draft stage. Having a finished product ready to shop around to agents and publishers by the end of the year is possible. While this is a fantastic goal to have, I don’t want to get my hopes up; I’m hesitant to write it in ink on my calendar. But I can’t help feeling excited and optimistic. I’m about three weeks into a writing class that was offered by The Porch: Sense of Place in Personal Essay. I’m really enjoying it so far. I’m signed up to present an essay on the last week of class, and I’ve just begun working on it. Fortunately, this essay will fit right in with the others for my book. I’ve been getting nothing but rejection letters on all of the essays I’ve submitted for publication. But I have so many more essays I can send out than I did a few months ago, and several publications have reopened their reading periods for submissions. All I have to do is carve out the time to submit my work.

My other project is the cutting garden. I didn’t have quite the germination rate I’d hoped for, but I do have some hardy annual seedlings ready to be planted which is so exciting! This weekend, Tim and I spread some compost over the half of the new bed I’ll be using for hardy annuals. The other half will be planted with a second sowing of hardy annuals in March of next year. I’m still consumed with lists and charts of what will be planted when and where. Next year will be my first attempt at succession sowing. I’m expecting three different plantings in March, May, and July of 2022, with some things like sunflowers and gladiolas being planted every week to extend the harvest. I’m about to realize just how crazy I went on ordering this summer as hundreds of daffodils, tulips, ranunculus, anemones, irises, and peonies will arrive soon for fall planting. Oh my. 

I’ve been inspired by an interview I heard on a podcast recently. Deanna Kitchen started The Growing Kindness Project after giving away the overabundance of flowers from her garden one week to residents at a local retirement home and witnessing their joy over the simple gifts they received. Soon she was giving flowers away to people all over her community. I am in love with this idea. You can learn more about this project here. Since I plan to grow all the things next year, I will have WAY more flowers than I’ll be able to use. I would love to partner with groups like homeschool co-ops, churches, clubs, and charities that would be interested in collecting my free bouquets and distributing them throughout the community to anyone in need of a little joy in their lives. It’s a little early to advertise yet, but if this is something you think your organization would like to be a part of, please let me know. I’ve already started collecting containers for these gift bouquets. I know there are cheap vases and jars available at dollar and thrift stores. But I have to anticipate that I may not get all of these containers back to reuse, so I need to get creative and resourceful. If anyone is willing to collect jars, soup cans, and wide-mouth 12-oz. bottles (like the ones that hold Starbucks Frappuccinos or Snapples), I would really appreciate your donations. 

Fall is almost here, and I am so ready for it. Enjoy the not-so-brutal temps this week!