almost done with the read-through

I am almost done with the read-through I've been doing of the novel to try to get back in my head where I was heading with things. It has helped a lot - I've been writing a summary as I went along to make sure I don't get lost again, and I have also been writing notes about plot themes and ideas I want to use later. It has been a good time to do it because I have been able to bring the hard copy with me to work when I get called in to sub at the school. The next step will be to take all the notes I've scribbled all over the hard copy and make those changes on the digital copy. Then I think I might actually be ready to go forward with the plot again. That will be both an exhilarating and a frightening experience. It is hard to switch from writer to editor and back again; they are two completely different modes of thought. I have been pursuing some other creative modes, or at least trying to. I have been knitting a lot - trying to make a bunch of stuff to sell at summer fairs and the like. I have also been trying to figure out a sewing pattern for cell phone holsters made out of recycled denim so i can make a bunch of those to sell as well. J succeeded in getting the tiller we inherited working, so now it is just a matter of figuring out where we want to put the garden exactly, and waiting for the rain to stop enough that we can till and prepare the yard to be turned into a garden. I thinned out the cabbage sprouts we have the other day, and most of them seem to be recovering well. J said they are fairly hardy plants, which is good, since I am working with them! I have a long history of not doing well in caring for plants. we shall see, I guess. I am doing a lot of creativity in the kitchen today - cooking up a chicken and dividing its meat among a few dishes to be frozen and served later. I am also making some bread and some english muffins. I will have a lot of dishes to wash today, I think. That is okay. Cooking is fun for me - one of the few times you can still make a big old mess without getting fussed at too much, and when I wash the dishes afterwards, I get to play with bubbles in the sink! It is the small stuff in life that is most enjoyable, right?

I have been plugging away at going over the draft of the novel thus far in a hard copy. I don't know if it is the warmer weather, or that I have gotten to a certain point where I feel the need to review, or a combination of those sorts of things, but going back through what I have so far is helping me get a better picture of where I am going with this project. I think it might be partly that I am trying to get what I have so far in long-term memory better. Whatever it is, I feel like I am actually making some progress now instead of just beating my head against the wall. As far as creativity for the outdoors goes, we have a lot of sprouts starting to come up. They are still in the sun porch, being protected from weather, and also waiting until the garden plot outside is ready. J got the tiller to start yesterday after slaving away at it for several evenings. I am proud of him for getting that figured out. I know I don't have nearly the capacity he does to look at things and how they are supposed to work and be able to figure out how to fix them. So far the sprouts I have coming up are peppers, cabbage, sunflowers, eggplant, and some melons. I think we are going to buy tomatoes that are already started because those are supposed to be really hard to start from seed. I have been knitting some - mostly pot scrubbers with the hope of selling them at different events over the summer. I am thinking about trying to figure out how to make a cell phone holder out of denim that has a loop so it can button onto a belt, belt loop, or purse strap. I am still working that out in my mind. We'll see what I can come up with.

I haven't posted in a while, mostly because it is prime substitute teacher season, and I have been busy. I have gotten some work done despite the subbing, though, since I decided to go with a hard copy of the novel draft - one that I can bring around with me (and bang against my head if necessary)! I have felt more like I know where I am going again after reading through some of it. As of today, I have gotten done reading through about eighty single-spaced pages of it so far, and written notes and ideas on there, as well as writing a summary on notebook paper for me to refer to as I go along, to make sure I don't get the story line too mixed up in my head. It is coming along better; even though I am not adding new stuff to the word count each day, I do feel like I am making progress again. That is reassuring. We are almost to the end of the school year now, so J will be home more before too long. He is still trying to convince the inherited tiller to work; his current suspicion is that it might have too much engine oil in it, and that is why the engine won't start. In the meantime, our seedlings are happily hanging out in small pots in the sun porch. I have a lot of cabbage sprouts, some sunflowers, lots of peppers, and melons and eggplant are also starting to sprout. It is fun to watch them grow and think I had a small part in their growth. Most of what I have been knitting these days is small pot scrubbers. I am hooked on using them instead of sponges because they are machine washable. After washing something like a greasy frying pan, it feels good to just stick it in the washing machine instead of trying to get it decent again with dish soap and running water. I am told that doing it this way doesn't give bacteria nearly the chance to grow, either. I am thinking about trying to sell some at craft fairs and summer events as the season goes on. I have a friend who does other handmade stuff to sell at those sorts of events, and he is willing to sell some stuff for me. I am also thinking about making some sort of cell phone holder out of recycled denim that can be buttoned to a purse strap or a belt loop, but that idea is still very much in the works. we'll see if I can figure it out.