Happy Update

Life has been pretty good. We have welcomed a new animal into our brood and soon we will have cats again! Our neighbors have begun spearheading the effort to curb the cat population in our neighborhood. They have managed to trap a mom and her litter of seven. After they have been neutered and spayed, we will be bringing some of them to live with us. Then the neighbors will be taking on another family of kittens that they are monitoring right now. My partner is beyond excited and trying to take in more than I think we reasonably should. I am fairly firm on my limit of three.

We have been harvesting from our garden and our fruit trees. The plum tree produced four times as many plums as the year before so we are drowning in plums. We gave some to our neighbors and some friends in town. My partner still has a lot left that he has been turning into jam. He is very proud and I am happy for him. Usually I am the one making all the jam. Apples have also begun to be harvested, but we have a lot less this year than usual. He wants to make some pies. Then we will be trading some apples for lemons that our friends in town have been growing. They are going to have a plentiful harvest.

I have sold copies of my novel. Very excited to report. Not many, but they are complete strangers buying my book so it is a very happy surprise. I now have two novels I am working on and a bunch of short stories that I post for free. I have been getting some great feedback on my work. Especially my last two short stories. And from other writers that I truly admire!

We finished up some painting projects that have been sitting around for over a year. And done a few home improvement projects like upgrading the animals’ quality of life stuff. As well as replacing annoying things that have bothered us for years, like a faucet that was way too small for the utility sink.

Life has a way of continuing to move forward even when all we want to do is curl up and hide from the world some days. It is important to remember all the good that is in your life and remember that you are more than the challenges that you face. While I struggle with certain parts of my life, other parts are going perfectly well and some even better than I had ever hoped.