I used to plant cosmos, the tall brilliant orange kind (below) along my driveway. They're very pretty, and they also come in a stunning pink and white variety. Unfortunately, they're also very tall and they kind of got in the way when driving in and out. So I eventually stopped planting those.
Sunday, September 8, 2024
Why I Love to Plant Cosmos Flowers
Tuesday, August 20, 2024
Replanting Late in the Season
Sigh. Every April I plant pansies in a whiskey barrel in front of my house. After the spring bulbs (I have mostly daffodils because the rabbits eat the tulips), pansies are my first pop of color and always make me smile. After I plant them, I feel as if summer is truly on the way. It's a good feeling.
Have a great day!
Myrna
Monday, August 5, 2024
It's August and the Dahlia Show is Beginning
Most years I plant dahlias. It started on a whim years ago, a chance encounter with tubers on sale at the local big box hardware store, but it's grown into much more. I order them months before planting time. I cage them in to protect them. I diligently monitor them and at the end of the summer, I dig them up and attempt to save them over the winter, so that I can repeat the whole thing the next summer.
But at some point of every summer (usually in late July) I begin to question why I do this, because most dahlias take a long time to reach the bloom stage. After planting I fret until they emerge from the soil. Then for weeks I fret some more. Should I pinch them back so that they'll produce more buds? What's chewing on the leaves? Am I watering enough? Am I watering too much? Is that a slug on one of the leaves? Should I fertilize? Am I overfertilizing? Why is the plant so very tall and yet there are no blooms?
Because that's the thing about dahlias. They're really not difficult to grow, but they require patience. Lots of patience, because some of them bloom quite late.
And then...
Wednesday, July 17, 2024
Movies I've Watched Recently
Besides reading (and reading and reading), we tend to watch a lot of movies. I confess that I only occasionally stream movies. For the most part, we watch Blu-rays or DVDs which we either get from the library or buy at library book sales or estate sales.
When you watch that many movies, there are bound to be ones that don't appeal (at least to me. I'm sure the ones I don't care for may be someone else's favorites). But there are always some surprises, movies you thought might be just okay, but strike a chord. Two of the ones we watched recently fall into that category: The Holdovers, starring Paul Giamatti and American Fiction, starring Jeffrey Wright.
Wednesday, July 3, 2024
What I'm Reading Now (and some cute puffins)
I've been reading Jenny Colgan's Little Beach Street Bakery series (I've read most of her series and loved them all--such great characters). I highly recommend them. They take place predominantly on an island, a seaside resort in Cornwall, connected to the mainland by a causeway that is only above water twice a day. Of course, there's romance and interesting neighbors, drama and--because Polly, the main character, is a baker--recipes.
Saturday, June 22, 2024
Larkspur Adventures
For years I've had larkspur in my yard. I'm not sure where the flowers came from. They weren't here (at least not that I remember) when we moved in years ago, but along the way the wind or a bird must have carried some seeds our way, and there's always been a small patch with a few odd ones elsewhere here and there.
Now if I could just figure out what's gotten into my Cosmos patch. I'm guessing earwigs or snails, but I could be wrong. Another mystery to solve.
Have a wonderful day!
Myrna
Wednesday, June 12, 2024
What I've Been Reading Lately (Sort of)
This is really more of a post about contemporary romance, something I rarely read (I know. That sounds a bit odd since it's what I write/have written). Back when I first started publishing, I tended to stay away from reading contemporaries because I didn't want to risk accidentally (subconsciously) absorbing something from a book I'd read and then somehow incorporate it into my own work. Plus, I like historical romance a lot and that, along with some odds and ends fantasy, science fiction, literary and nonfiction tends to be what I focus on the most.
But there are some awesome new (or newer) contemporary romance writers, and their work is part of what I've been reading lately. I just finished The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood. This isn't the first book I've read by her and it won't be the last. She does a great job of world building (her books are set in the scientific community because the author works in that world) and the dialogue is sharp and snappy and funny. I highly recommend her.
Monday, June 3, 2024
Why Would An Author Retitle Books? Here's My Story
For the first twentyish years I was writing and selling books, Harlequin was the publisher of all of my books. Then I moved on and started requesting that the rights to some of my books revert to me. I re-edited them, got new covers and republished them myself, but Harlequin and I had reached an agreement wherein they still retained the manga rights of some (not all) books, while I retained the English publishing rights. That meant when readers looked for the book under the original title, all they would see was the manga cover, so it looked as if the book was just a cartoon graphic novel. To find the other version, you had to click through. So, in the cases where Harlequin was/is still publishing a book in manga form, I've changed the titles, either slightly or completely. However, in the book description, I always note what the original title was. I hope that clears up any confusion and prevents people from accidentally buying a book of mine that they already own.
Here are the pertinent books. If you click on the cover, it will take you to the Amazon version, although (of course) they are available at other booksellers, such as Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books, Smashwords, etc., or via the library (not sure about the manga versions, but I've enabled all of my republished books to be available in libraries).
Saturday, May 25, 2024
Cicada Chorus
Since I posted the other day, the cicadas have multiplied. When I go out to pick up the newspaper every morning, my clematis plants are covered in them. And apparently they really like one of the lilacs.
More than a few have ended up inside the house. I have to check my clothes when I come inside, because they 've been known to hitch rides (or even crawl under an article of clothing). Yikes!
Weirdly enough, we visited an arboretum about a half hour from our house and there were far fewer cicadas there, despite all the trees.
It's all very interesting, and I'm glad they're having their fun in the sun (and their chance to live above ground), but I won't be sad when they're back underground and I can garden without having them fly in my face (they apparently set their sits on anything that's vertical).
Have a great day!
Myrna
Monday, May 20, 2024
Cicadas Everywhere
Well, it's been 17 years since the last cicada invasion, and they're back again. Actually, there are usually a few every year (maybe they've lost their way or their little cicada clocks don't work properly). The two summers before this one, there was actually a decent smattering of them, but this year is the big one. I live in the area of Brood XIX, and fortunately not in that small overlap area of my state where two broods (a 17-year and a 13-year) are emerging the same year. That would be both amazing and crazy insane, just for the noise alone.
I've been seeing their holes for weeks now. They begin digging holes early and then wait until the ground is warm enough before they emerge, but in my area, they only started showing their big red eyes during the past few days. They're not at full strength yet, and the noise is still relatively low, but already they're making themselves known.
With holes in my garden where I just planted dahlias:
They also seem to love clinging to and leaving their shells on the lily-of-the-valley plants along the driveway. Today I found one with those unmistakable red eyes inside one of the tomato cages.
And, of course, they're a bit noisy. In this clip, you can hear birds, but also a bit of cicada chatter. It will get noisier as more and more of them emerge.