Newcomers to Dreamwidth

Got outside and watered some plants just now. The self-heal and arnica are in the ground as of this weekend, but the salad burnet is still waiting to get planted, along with the chamomile and dill we picked up at the nursery last week. They'll be fine, though. I'm also still trying to figure out where to put the lemon balm where it won't take over everything. I could put it in a pot, I suppose, but last year I did that and it didn't re-seed itself at all so I had to start over again.

There's another bed I've been letting grow into a bit of a catch-all butterfly garden until I sort out what to plant there long-term, and it'll probably have some of the oregano come back that I tried to take out last year. Oregano is pernicious, but also delicious, so I don't necessarily mind, as long as I can keep it from crowding out everything else again. Maybe I'll put the lemon balm there too and let them duke it out over the season. I'm not reclaiming that bed for myself this year, anyway.

Lots of things are blooming. The comfrey and the borage just put out flowers, which are gorgeous as always. Though the borage somehow planted itself in a crack between the steps instead of the garden bed this year, so I'm going to have to figure out a way to move it so it doesn't get stepped on and can seed itself somewhere better next time. The calendula is going absolute gangbusters already, so that's promising for a good harvest this year. I'll have to make more salves or something to make good use of it all. Maybe an arnica-calendula blend? I'll have to think on it.

On another note, poking around on DW is reminding me just how many fandoms I haven't gotten into yet. It makes me so happy to see book reviews and the like, too! It would be a good idea for me to get back into a regular reading habit, I think. It's been hard to find the time, and when I do pick up a book, I usually feel compelled to read something that's serious non-fiction and/or somehow related to research I'm doing for my writing. It's usually depressing stuff, even if it's also very good and interesting, and I could stand to read something more light-hearted from time to time. For some reason I just have a hard time prioritizing happier things. But maybe seeing people get excited about things on DW will help me break out of those habits. If there's an incentive of getting to chat with people about it, I imagine that might make it easier.

Anyway. Blogging is a nice hobby. I'm finding it calming to reflect on the easier beats of the day. The rest we can just pretend doesn't exist, which is nice to do for a little while. I'll be off to dance class soon, attempting to go in person instead of resorting to online like I had to do last week. One of these days I'll be able to get back to dance more than once a week, but probably not yet. And then when I'm home later I might see if I can crank out another chapter, but that might be wishful thinking.