Goodreads

On a whim, I created an account on Goodreads today.

(I’m not sure why it thinks I live in Delaware, but I haven’t corrected it yet.)

Goodreads seems like my kind of thing, as far as tracking what books I’ve read. I’ve been tracking my sparse reading habits elsewhere for the past couple of years; perhaps I’ll enter what data I have, just for grins.

I certainly have enough books that I haven’t read here at home, and in my Audible library — but if my To Be Read pile ever magically dwindles, Goodreads also looks like it’s ripe with recommendations.

Maybe just the act of recording what books I’m reading will spur me to read more. What gets measured gets done, as someone once said. Plus, I don’t want to embarrass myself by ONLY reading six books this year (even though I set that as my goal). I’m supposed to be this huge lover of reading… but I didn’t finish a single book in the second half of 2016.

My son told me the other day that “reading is boring.” Be still, my heart! My own son? Maybe if he sees his Mom reading more often instead of playing on her phone, he might get the idea that reading for leisure is a thing people do.

Plus, you know, a trip to the library every now and then never hurt anyone… even those of us with more books than can fit in our shelves.

Did I Really Order This Many Seeds?

Short answer: Yes, I did.

My order from Jung’s Seeds came in today, and that was my first reaction. They did send me two free trial packets — bachelor buttons and muskmelon — but I really did order all eleven other packets. For many gardeners, that’s just a fraction of what they grow… but for me, well, I’m planning to expand my little suggestion of a vegetable garden patch into something a little more substantial. (Note to self: don’t forget to call 8-1-1 beforehand just to be sure you don’t dig too close to any utilities.)

Last year, I had a few varieties of tomatoes, some basil, and eggplant. This year, here’s the rundown of edibles:

Vegetables (New)

Squash, Easypick Green
Muskmelon, Pride of Wisconsin
Tomato, Early Girl
Tomato, SunSugar (yellow cherry)
Carrot, Nelson
Carrot, Bolero
Cucumber, Diamont
Eggplant, Millionaire

Vegetables (2016 or earlier)

Eggplant, Black Beauty
Tomato, Yellow Pear

Herbs (New)

Sage, Broadleaf
Thyme, Winter

Herbs (2016 or earlier)

Basil, Asian, Cinnamon
Basil, Asian, Sweet Thai
Basil, Asian, Siam Queen
Basil, Lemon, Mrs. Burns
Cilantro, Calypso
Dill, Goldkrone
Lemon Balm
Parsley, Titan
Peppers, Paprika, Dulce Rojo

I also ordered a few new ornamentals: zinnias and sunflowers — plus the bonus bachelor buttons — and I have several others I plan to start from previous years’ seeds, like cosmos, miniature hollyhock, cinquefoil, woodland tobacco, foxgloves, sweet peas, and milkweed.

That might be too many. Or, like last year, some might work out and others will fall flat, and I’ll be glad that I started so many different seeds.

Designer Sunglasses

Let me state for the record that I am never again going to schedule a morning optometrist appointment with the intention of working in the afternoon. She dilated my eyes as part of the standard exam; I hadn’t realized the dilation drops can take upwards of four hours to wear off. I had a headache all afternoon from trying to focus close enough for computer-screen work.

Apart from that, though — and the fact that their Optical provider doesn’t accept my vision insurance — I had a pretty uneventful visit, and am looking forward to getting my new frames in a couple of weeks!