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Week 7 of My 12-Week Year

This week I managed to keep up my normal routine, but I also found ways to move beyond my routine. On Sunday, I had a great conversation with my daughter about her writing. She’s started writing a murder mystery who-done-it role-playing game where they try to figure out who-done-it and any of them could be the murderer. She’s enjoyed developing the characters.  I suggested that she create this…

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In Willow Springs, Missouri, June 25th!

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Beans, Planting, Canning, and Harvest

Sometimes the best defense is a fence Tis the season to be gardening and I have been doing exactly that. On Tuesday this past week,  I finished planting my summer garden. this week, I canned kidney and pinto beans. I also planted pole beans and harvested lettuce. Planting Pole Beans I planted the pole beans next to one of the fences where we had planted the tomatoes last year. I believe that…

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My Sixth Week of My 12-Week Year

Here I am finishing week six and we’re at the mid-point of my 12-week year! Certain days of the week are developing routines that I am doing every week, Sundays I have been completing these valuations of the week and preparing the posts for my blog (Author Cygnet Brown) and Medium. (Medium is a paid reader site,) On Sundays and Mondays, I jump into my weekly projects. These projects include on…

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We Couldn't Pass These Up!

Blackberry plants in ground and mulched with chicken litter and grassclippings Even though blackberry plants were not on our radar this year, we found such a great deal on them that we couldn’t resist picking up five healthy plants to plant. At the farmers market last week, one of the Amish families was selling blackberry plants that they had dug up that morning. The blackberry plants were…

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Evaluating the Fifth Week of the 12-Week Year

During most weeks, Sunday mornings are designated for me to do laundry, catch up on the dishes, and complete this blog post for the blog and Medium. During the week, my daily goal is to write down what I have accomplished that day and my thoughts about my next moves. On Sunday while doing the laundry I like to schedule my activities from the week. I also finalize this 12-week post on Sundays. I…

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Why Are Routines Important?

A few days ago, I talked with a man on “X”. He asked, “Do you follow a routine or just go with the flow?” This post is based on that conversation. I do both. I pre-plan so I know what I intend to do the next day. By knowing what I will do, the decision is already made.  I follow a routine because I get so much more of what I really need done every day when I do. The conversation that we had…

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Planting the Main Garden

Small apples are on the trees, irises are in full bloom, trees have for the most part leafed out, and most importantly, we have just had blackberry winter. What is blackberry winter? Well, here in the Ozarks, when the blackberries are in bloom, we get our last patch of cold weather and after that, it’s time to plant the main garden plants like tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, and pole beans. Here…

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Evaluating the Fourth Week of the 12-Week Year

What did I accomplish in my business this week? I started the week behind schedule. I didn’t work as I like doing during the weekend because I was busy with family matters. My husband was out of town, my daughter and her boyfriend were visiting, and we had the birthday party that Saturday. I was the manager at the farmers market too where I worked my tookus off. I was extremely tired on Sunday…

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The Fruitful Corner Behind the Barn

Mullein (strawberry plants are in the background Behind one of my sheds is a patch that I don’t have to plant, weed, or fertilize anymore. It can’t even be called a bed because it’s just a collection of plants that are growing as companions to one another. Every one of these perennial plants has a use. Some are for food, some for flavoring, and some for eating either fresh or cooked. In this…

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The Evaluation of the Third Week of My First 12-Week Year

What did I accomplish in my business this week? Last week I finished the taxes and set up my new accounting program this week my goal is to get ahead on these blog posts I am writing. I set up a template for this article. I have several questions I have been asking myself every week, so all I have to do is add to them daily. Then at the end of the week, I look at what I wrote and rearrange the…

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A New Kind of Revolution

KONICA MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERA This week we celebrate the 249th anniversary of “The Shot Heard Around the World.” Did you know that the American Revolution didn’t begin when the first shot was fired at Lexington Green in 1775? They started the revolution shortly after the Seven Years’ War (French and Indian War) because the British wanted them to pay taxes to pay what the crown felt was their…

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My 12-Week Year-Week 2

One Step Back but Three Steps Forward in Book Marketing On Sunday, I was supposed to go to an event that was supposed to be going on for the entire weekend. However, when I got there, no one had been there. In addition, it was very windy and it was raining. I decided to return home. I could have beat myself for having made this decision. It’s easy for “what ifs” to plague me. I let it go and…

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What to Do If Your Plants Are Too Big for Their Containers

Healthy young tomato plants in peat pots I still have a few weeks before I can safely plant the tomatoes in the garden. However, the tomatoes have outgrown their pots so I need to transplant them into bigger containers. How to transplant tomatoes At this point in a tomato plant’s growth, it is important to plant them in a large enough container to allow them to grow deep roots, but not so big…

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Week One Evaluation of My First 12-week Year

What a Big Week this has been! (Get pictures) In the past few weeks, I have worked hard to get as much publicity for my latest book Oregon County, Wild and Scenic within my county. The book is about the county so because the eclipse is happening this afternoon, the local towns have prepared for the influx of visitors to Oregon County. I had strategically placed books in various venues around…

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Does Gardening Really Help Your Emotional Health?

A few days ago, someone asked me why I thought everyone was so angry and unhinged all the time and I said that I thought it was because they weren’t spending enough time getting their hands dirty. There’s science behind the idea of the emotional benefits of gardening. Scientists have long wondered whether humans boast this kind of magnetoreception like animals do. By exposing people to an…

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I'm Beginning my first 12-week Year in April!

Happy New Year! Who says that the New Year has to start on January 1 and who says that it has to be 365 or 366 days? Beginning my Twelve-Week Year Do you ever feel like the world is going so fast that you can’t seem to accomplish what you want to do every year? Do you promise yourself that this year is going to be different, but you already feel like you’re behind and have already given up on…