Reading, writing, and garden -- OH MY

Our Victory Garden is looking healthy and the vegetable plants growing like weeds. From the sound of the news -- why can't I learn to stop listening to the news? -- we'll need every veggie that comes of our efforts. We're substituting meatless meals a couple evenings a week, and may have to do more of that. Not long ago we discovered our local stores were selling meat from Mexico, beef raised by American growers with their operation in Mexico now. That may explain why beef has not tasted as good as it used to. Why would stores in Kansas and Nebraska have to import beef from Mexico or other countries? Must have something to do with NAFTA. Not sure what we will do about it, other than to stop buying meat unless it's been processed at our local locker plant. As for the veggies, those grown in our organic backyard garden we KNOW are not laced with pesticides and god knows what else.

We decided to take a lesson from friends in the UK. They plant tomatoes and green peppers in five gallon buckets, so that's an experiment we tried this year with a couple tomato plants and green pepper plants. We're eagerly anticipating the first peas from our garden. My mother-in-law always planted peas with edible pods so we planted the same.

Reading and writing? I barely have enough concentration to read very often anymore. No, I don't have dementia or some other condition causing my lack of concentration. I can't explain this turn of events in a woman who has loved reading since kindergarten. Writing has suffered the same fate. I have nothing more to say to the world. Two major writing projects are patiently waiting for my muse to return. Somehow, I feel that won't happen. I have six books in my resume. That's enough for me.....unless I change my mind.

Right now I keep my writing muscles flexed a bit by making Squidoo lenses. Some recent topics include:
http://www.squidoo.com/dissociativedisorder-me
http://www.squidoo.com/maydaymemories
http://www.squidoo.com/laurelspoetry
http://www.squidoo.com/laurelsheroes

So if any of my fans out there get lonesome for my writing, you'll have to check out Squidoo. Meanwhile, I'll dream of a garden overflowing with veggies.