L. Johnson

Checking in, since I've been away from Permies for a while...

I was really really not okay for a while. Went through a moderately strong depressive episode with a series of panic attacks. It was impetus for me to go get help. I feel really lucky that I'm a 4 minute walk away from a public office that offers some mental health support/guidance. I had thought about asking for help before, but never went for professional help until this time.

I just want to tell any of you, if you feel like you can't manage your brain on your own, there's nothing wrong with asking for help. The hard part is knowing where to go.

Anyway, I'm re-organizing my life with fewer ideals, lower standards for myself, less work, and more "hakuna matata". Also, accepting that I needed, and still need professional help to get to where I want to be.

I'm on the way up again.

My presence on permies will still be minimum for a while. Though I'm wishing you all the best in your lives and endeavors.

The moss grows! and grows... and the succulents do too... they need to be mowed, but mowing isn't really something the fairies seem to do.

They overturned the table and threw the cups around though. Must have been a raucous party. My son wanted to make a swing for them, but it didn't happen, so we haven't seen any more action lately. I'm sure though that if we build it again, they will come to enjoy.

Today I'm grateful that permaculture gardens are remarkably resilient, at least as much as I am, probably more.

The last 4 months have been one whammy after another with a few silver linings in between. My newer garden though has grown despite the weeds and pests, which I have mostly just completely ignored. Stepping on the grass and plants around most of my crops is usually enough to suppress it and let the crops win, we'll see how that goes.

I had thought I was going to just give up on planting out my eggplants... but today it seemed like something I could manage. So I put them all in the ground, a month late. They'll probably still fruit later in the year.

Anyway. I'm grateful that the plants I planted want to grow, whether I had time for them or not.

Angela Wilcox wrote:I have an item to add to the list. Since this list was made into a Wiki, I was wondering if I could please edit it and add my item to the list in order to complete an item for a scavenger hunt?

Please add it! Don't worry about messing it up, we can always clean up after.

Recently the extent of my contributions here is on the level of giving apples and likes... Very busy, so I appreciate the cooperative effort!

What I realized this season is...

Self-seeded annuals like tomatoes are preceded by other plants. If we can take note of what those plants are and watch the timing, we can plant very close to the natural germination timing of the self-seeded ones.

Another observation was, getting the seeds in the ground early gives them a chance to come up when they're ready. Not that they necessarily will, or that they will out-compete the other plants without some nurture, but they have a chance. So if you have a lot of seeds, then just getting them in the ground where you might want them, a month or two early might be beneficial.

Obviously much depends on context.

Jeff Steez wrote:This is all absolutely remarkable.

It was my dream for a while to live in Japan. I started learning Japanese, but due to my unsociability (which is actually not uncommon in Japan) I have since forsaken it. I figured it would be extremely difficult as a non-wealthy foreigner to find opportunities in the countryside.

Off topic, but:

If you have a bachelors degree it's pretty easy to get a job teaching English in Japan. I'm not sure how hard it would be if you don't have a B.A.

Once you get here anyway, if you do get involved in the community there are often many ways to stick around. You just need that first visa and a chance to build relationships. The japanese countryside is not particularly expensive... and with the exchange rate right now the USD has a lot of purchasing power.

I'm grateful for birdsong and budding new leaves to remind me that every spring brings new life and new possibilities.

Yesterday I had a hard time being grateful, I'm grateful that the silence and peace of sleep has given me a brighter view!

Gir bot finally deemed me worthy. Looks really good Andres. Timestamps will make it really really good!

By the powers combined of the Garden Master Course and Guide book, I am CAPTAIN PLANET!

,,, Sorry, thank you.

The Japanese Bush Warblers have started singing their signature, "ho-hokekyo" sometimes I like to sing it back to them.