Monday Mojo

Twinkle, twinkle baby blanket

I've been struggling to do anything lately. If it requires brain cells, I can't do it. Massive burnout from too much stress the last few years. Unfortunately, writing falls into that category. Don't get me wrong, I'm writing new stories and novels, it's just very slow going right now.

In the meantime, I'm exploring other creative avenues. I'm crocheting again. Check out my profile on ravelry.com if you want to see my projects. If you do knitting, crocheting, spinning, or weaving, you should join up. It's a great site for connecting with other crafters. I find way too many free patterns on there. It's inspirational to surf through the collections.

Mmm, fresh raspberries

I'm gardening now more than ever before, mostly because we finally have dirt that I can dig in. Our house in Utah had clay soil that was like trying to garden in cement. We grew the usual veggies there—tomatoes, peppers, a little squash—and tried a few fun ones—popcorn, rhubarb, and some herbs—but most things just got choked out by the weeds or failed to grow much. Something killed my zucchini every year. But here, we have sandy soil that is easy to dig. Of course that means we need to mulch and fertilize, but I'm having fun with that, too. We're trying out vermiculture. That's using worms to create compost out of kitchen scraps, lawn clippings, and cardboard. It seems to be helping the garden areas. So far we have harvested raspberries, red currants, peas, herbs, and potatoes. We've got tomatoes, popcorn, squash (including zucchini!), melons, cucumbers, onions, and a whole row of assorted berry bushes. I can't wait for more produce.

The view from my kitchen as I'm writing this.

And I'm spending time learning to relax again. We have a swimming pool. Floating in the water is very relaxing, although figuring out the chemicals and cleaners and stuff is not.

The clouds here are amazing. The variety and beauty is astounding. The skies are wide open, too, and mostly dark at night so the stars really shine. I'm tempted to take up painting just so I can do clouds. And so I have an excuse to watch Bob Ross more. I find him very soothing to listen to.

My question to you is: What do you do to de-stress, unwind, relax, or whatever you have to do to let your inner creativity loose again? I would love ideas.