I got the 1100 word article done in two days, for which I felt quite proud, since the slowness of my writing is something that plagues me and prevents me from getting as much accomplished as I would like.  I did one or two more short Textbroker articles, but that's been the extent of my writing this week.   I'm leaving tomorrow morning for a week-long seminar on herbalism and Traditional Chinese Medicine, and I wanted to get some housekeeping and gardening done before I leave.  Sometimes it is a actually a pleasure to do mundane tasks and see the immediate result of a clean kitchen, a patch of soil devoid of weeds, a happy plant stretching out its roots in a larger pot.  The last frost is passed, and the Earth is fully awake. 

I put up some new photos in the Photogallery, take a peek.

Oh, that's why I can't seem to finish any of my partially-written articles!  Because something new with a deadline is always popping up!  I can't seem to resist writing travel articles when they become available on Textbroker, so I just had to write one on Salisbury, England.  Unfortunately, they are spirited away into cyberspace without benefit of a byline, poor lost children.  And although I've been neglecting Helium since I started writing for AC, I decided to start browsing the Marketplace over there again, and there was something that struck my fancy, but it's 1000-1200 words, and the deadline is Monday... aaaackkk...  I guess those half-baked projects are going to have to wait a while longer.

Well, I didn't reach my goal of 10 AC articles this month, but that's OK.  I got one more AC article published for a total of 8 this month, and wrote 2 new articles for Textbroker since Monday, but I won't publish something that isn't my best work just to get the number up to 10.  In fact, I don't think I'll set anymore numerical goals.  What I want to do is finish up and publish some of the half-finished articles that have been languishing in my folders.  That will be a worthy goal for May. 

The other day my husband came in from working in the yard, saying he had found an injured bird. He led me to where it was huddled on the ground. I don’t know what kind of bird it was, I don’t remember ever seeing one like it. It was small and delicate, with hints of glowing color in its feathers. I put my finger under its breast, and it grasped my finger with its tiny little feet. I lifted it up and held it briefly, weightless on my hand, and looked into its bright, alert eyes that seemed to hold an understanding of the transience and beauty of our sojourn in this world. Then it rose up and flew into the bushes, seemingly unhurt. A lovely gift.

Well, now that I have this blog, I feel like I should produce something witty and erudite on a regular basis... no pressure, of course. 

My new AC article, Herbal Remedies  for Stress and Insomnia, is published, here's the link:  https://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1673871/herbal_remedies_for_stress_and_insomnia.html

I'm studying herbalism and Traditional Chinese Medicine, and hope to write a number of articles on herbs.   Speaking of which, I'm going to start an herb garden in my yard.  I already have a raging patch of lavender, as well as the peppermint that took over the world and a healthy amount of lemon balm, since these are easy to grow and the deer don't like them.  I have all sorts of little starts from the Herbal Intensive class I'm taking, including mugwort, yarrow, hops, pennyroyal, and a number of others.  Hopefully I won't kill them.

Now, if I want to meet my previously stated goal, I need to finish 3 more AC articles by the end of the month. Since I'm making up the rules, I say if the articles are in the queue by the 30th, I win, even if they aren't published yet.  Can I do it?   Time will tell.

I'm just setting up the website, and figuring it out as I go.  Hmmm, I can't seem to edit the menu so that it says, About Me and Contact Me, instead of About Us and Contact Us.  Makes it sound like Gollum, or else the Queen of England, neither of whom I resemble in the least.  Perhaps I'll figure out how to do it eventually.  Or not. 

I am excited and hope to use this website to communicate my interests, the progress of my writing, and whatever else the wind blows in. 

Progress: slow.  I have so many interests, it makes writing articles difficult, because I tend to start one, then get distracted and start another without finishing the first (or second, or third, or fourth...)

I set a goal to publish 10 articles on AC this month.  Let's see how I've done so far... uh-oh, only 6, plus one more has been accepted and I'm waiting for it to be published, so that makes 7.  Better get cracking.