Happy Monday

Hey everyone! Happy Monday! I hope you all had a wonderful week.

For me, it was a reset of sorts, with me getting started on my spring and summer clean-up. With a new class term starting this week, and me working on the new WIP that I hope to release before the end of the summer, I wanted to get out of my writing cave to get a few things done before I get deep into my work and forget the real world exists.

Since it was such a nice day on Friday, I started with something that I have wanted to work on for a while: my patio. 

Hubby and I have a lot of plans for what we want to do with the balcony. Which is what you see us discussing. When we moved in about 12 years ago, we didn't do much because we were renting the house. And now that we've bought it, we are starting to do more, and one of the things is replacing a couple of the deck boards that are showing signs of rot. 

Another thing is to make space for me to be able to sit out here on a nice day and write. I’ve tried doing that in the past few years, but because my allergies love to remind me that I'm not an outside girl, I’ve avoided it.  So hubby and I are discussing what we can do to reduce the pollen that sometimes gets as thick as snow on the balcony. 

We're looking into getting some deck screens that could be screwed into the banister, not for privacy because our backyard has a lot of tall trees that take care of that, but those same trees could also be the problem for the pollen. More things we want to do are replace the deck furniture. This furniture has traveled with us from when we were stationed in Italy to the Middle East to the States. Yeah, we've had it for years. Like I said, we’ve been living in this house for a little over 12 years, so you can imagine how old the furniture is. The furniture is still in good condition, but I'm looking for something different, more updated. I might even try making the furniture rather than buying it. We will see how it goes.

I also want to replace my dog's outdoor cot. He loves sitting or sleeping on the balcony on nice days, and he’s dug a large hole in the fabric, so it’s time to replace it.

So once I was done outside, I went inside and took care of my hydro garden. It was 23 days behind on refreshing the tanks. I didn't record that part because, honestly, it took me longer than cleaning off the entire balcony. I’m not sure how other people do it but I clean the stalks and any of the green buildup that occurs. I love the Kirby garden, but I cannot deny that the upkeep can be more demanding than planting a fresh garden outside. I do plan on doing a veggie garden outside. I want to grow more greens, cabbage leaves, lettuce, cherry tomatoes, and carrots because that’s mainly what my family eats in the way of veggies. Last year, I grew beans, and we really didn’t eat them. I ended up giving them to family, so I’m keeping things simple this year. There’s more cleanup we have to do in the yard, and we are hoping to get to it this week if the weather is nice enough. 

I love gardening; it’s comforting, and it gives me time to think about many things, like my book plots. When my mind is calm is when my muse or characters want to talk. It's how I ended up adding a garden in my book, Moor. Othello had a fresh garden on his rooftop. It wasn’t a main plot point, but having something I like doing being carried over into my fictional world keeps me connected to my stories. I really loved writing that book. It was my version of Othello and my first time delving into the mafia element and using Shakespeare as the backbone.

But enough about that, because right now I need to take care of this garden that has so many overgrown roots. Which is actually good because it means things are growing, but also bad because the roots can get into the motor and other parts of the system, which can cause problems and slow the veggies' growth. And what do you know, while I was inside cleaning up the Gardyn it started raining outside. I didn’t get a chance to write because, as I said, cleaning the garden took longer than I expected, and since it was a no-stress day, I brainstormed on points for my current WIP. 

The next day, hubby and I got dolled up for a date night. We went to Crown Providence on Federal Hill. So here is where more of my real and fictional life connect. A lot of the time, when I write my characters going on dates, I kind of model or use the restaurants on Federal Hill in Providence. Of course, I change things up to fit the story, but I love the romantic ambiance that most of the restaurants there give off. Not to mention the service was great, and for the most part, the meals and drinks are fantastic. I’m an espresso martini kind of girl, and if you can’t make that the way I like it, the rest of the meal is graded on a curve. I ordered the steak, and hubby had the lamb. The conversation over dinner was great. Even after almost 30 years of marriage, I’m still learning new things about my husband (good things) that surprise me. Since I wasn’t feeling for anything on the dessert menu, we went to Pastiche Fine Desserts, which was a short walk from Crown, got our dessert to go, and then headed home, where we relaxed for the rest of the night.

On Sunday, we jumped back into the groove of things. I didn't record, but Sundays are usually our reset day. I clean up the house while hubby does his meal prep for the week. His meal prep usually carries us from Sunday to Thursday, and then Fridays and Saturdays are either me cooking or honestly a fend-for-yourself kind of weekend. It may not be the most exciting, but we make it work. 

And that was exactly the kind of relaxing reset weekend I was looking for before starting a new week. If you have a favorite restaurant you love to model your fictional dates after, drop it in the comments I'd love to know! I hope you all have a great week, and I'll have more updates on my writing and more coming soon.

Talk soon! Gia