Let's talk about reading again...

This week I did all the things: reading, writing, sewing, baking, and gardening. For each one, I read something. For pleasure, I'm reading Case Histories by Kate Atkinson, recommended by someone whose recommendations I trust. (Who, though? I can't recall.) It's not a page turner, but it's an interesting concept, and I'm trusting the author.

For writing, I had a workshop on how to know when your play script is ready to send out, led by playwright Lucy Wang, sponsored by the Dramatists Guild for free. I'm a lifetime member of DG, with no regrets. Lucy has created a checklist, and she led us through each checkpoint, having us write our responses based on our current work. I'm also reading the book On Writing by one of my favorite authors, Eudora Welty.

Do you like reading writing books? If so, what are your favorites?

For sewing, I read sewing machine manuals, and pages and page on the internet about how to service a sewing machine. I'd been given two machines to "fix." Neither of them had ever been cleaned or serviced as far as I could tell. I wanted to do the best possible job. I treat my own machine with the care it deserves, and I always have. Sewing machines are like any other machine, a car say. They have needs. We don't just buy a new car and drive it until it is dead, do we? (Some might I guess, but not most of us.)

Unfortunately, most of us are not taught to sew, and even if taught to sew, we aren't taught how to care for the sewing machine. Things happen: it comes unthreaded, the needle breaks, lint is caught on the bobbin, it won't start, it won't run, it makes a funny noise. Most of these things can be fixed by the sewist if she reads her manual, and cleans and oils the machine.

If you can't find how to fix the problem in your sewing manual (many now are only available online), you can do an internet search. You can probably watch a tutorial regarding your very problem.

I enjoy sewing, I enjoy teaching others how to sew, and I enjoy maintaining my machine. Do you sew?

For baking this week, I read a new veggie or vegan recipe every day. I baked a pudding I'd been wanting to try. I hadn't made it yet because the recipe calls for lemons, and life didn't give me lemons, it gave me oranges. So I made a Baked Orange Pudding, and it was delicious. I'll be making the lemon version once I get some lemons, preferably Meyer Lemons when they're in season.

Do you bake? What was your most recent bake?

And finally, gardening. I'm always reading gardening books and magazines, even catalogues. But this week, I had to get out my own gardening journal to help me remember what I planted last year. We moved back to Portland in October 2021 and bought a house. There was nothing growing on the property besides grass, weeds, and one massive and old dogwood tree. I immediately set to work planting trees, rose bushes, 150 bulbs, peonies, lilacs, as well as many native plants and bushes.

Last spring brought snowdrops, daffodils, tulips, hyacinths, and allium from the bulbs I'd planted. Many of those have not come up this year. I'm pretty sure the squirrels ate most of them. We had looked forward to the pink dogwood tree's blossoms, but it was a meager showing. It turns out that the previous owners had rented the house for years, and never watered anything. It's a wonder the dogwood tree was still alive, given how hot the summers get. I gave it plenty of water all summer last year, so I have hopes of a better showing. And soon.

The rose bushes are alive and green. I'm not sure how many years it will be before there are blooms. One rose was a transplant, and it bloomed even after I put it in the ground, so it should bloom this year.

You have to be an optimist to garden for flowers, unless you plant only annuals every single year. The rule of thumb for trees and bushes is first year sleep (you just want them to stay alive), second year creep (now they're growing), and third year leap! (now you have a garden). But one of the trees we planted last year, for my daughter, is a weeping cherry tree, and though it hasn't grown much it is blooming.

Do you garden? Veggies or flowers? We also garden veggies, but not with the same enthusiasm I have for trees, bushes, and flowers.

After I finish Case Histories, I will begin the doorstopper nonfiction The Years of Lyndon Johnson: The Passage of Power by Robert A. Caro. I was moved to read this tome when I read Avid Reader: A Life by Robert A. Gottlieb who edited it (and all the other volumes in this series). What are you reading right now? Any books you want to recommend?