plants

There are 5 posts tagged plants.

wraps up V

the same plant as from the previous few years still has purple flowers, has many fewer leaves

The wrap-ups of the wrap-ups are now their own thing! You can view past wrap-ups here: 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022. Here’s what was up for 2023.

  • libraries visited – no new libraries which is probably fine
  • books read – fewer books is a better outcome
  • places stayed – I’ve been enjoying not really going anywhere, though I was happy to get a chunk of time in Westport
  • I stopped keeping track of “other events” which I think is fine. Like I did until February and then for some reason I just stopped.

I’ve now completely moved over to Mastodon and I like it there. I have an account on Bluesky which I use a lot less often.

Big news this time around is that I have one new regular job which is that I do community management for the Flickr Foundation, working with the folks in Flickr Commons. It’s tricky work because most of the organizations which have accounts there have been left on their own for years. There are a lot of accounts which are dormant or in some cases not really known about by the people who currently work for the organization. We’re trying to meet with those folks and talk to them and also bring in new people. It’s challenging work but also enjoyable. Thanks for reading.

wraps up IV

the same plant as from the previous few years only this time it has big flowers

OK now the wrap-ups of the wrap-ups are becoming their own regular thing. You can view past wrap-ups here: 2019, 2020, 2021. Here’s what was up for 2022.

  • libraries visited – had a lot going on, did not do a lot of library visiting but I did get to see one new place
  • books read – a banner year for reading books but only because the year was stressful. Hopefully not to be repeated.
  • places stayed – pretty uneventful
  • other events — still keeping these lists on Medium for now

I’ve moved some of my Twitter activity to Mastodon and I’m on an instance called https://glammr.us which pleases me. Same username as my first name, I have no real creativity when it comes to usernames. If you’re exploring that space go find me there.

The biggest news which happened between the time I started writing this post and the time I hit “publish” was that my mom’s house, aka the Magic Castle, aka The Haunted Castle, aka Heathen Meadows, aka just “Boxborough,” finally sold. Closing was yesterday. Definitely one of those End of an Era things. Kate and I were an incredible team and even though everything took much longer than it should have, for every reason you can imagine, we got the job done and still get along. I can now also wax poetic about all the nuances of getting a new septic system installed in a place that is a designated wetlands, ask me anything! More news in other posts but that’s the biggest wrap-up there is. Thanks for reading.

wraps ups III

a very healthy looking plant on my kitchen table in a new pot from last year

This is maybe getting a little in the weeds but I like to start the new year by wrapping up the last one, even in this ridiculous Groundhog Day of a global pandemic I am living through. The plant I took home a few years ago got a new pot that it seems to like. I am now a person who mists my plants on the regular.

  • libraries visited – list just keeps getting shorter
  • books read – it was an exceptional year for reading
  • places stayed – I am still dreaming about going places, but at least I went a few places this past year.
  • other events — I am starting to really dislike Medium’s formatting options so maybe I do this on my blog next year, but it’s here for now.

There’s snow on the ground here and Jim is on his way home from a shortish New Year’s visit (compared to an extended Xmastime visit, pix) and I’m back from a walk and regrouping and thinking what makes sense for this year. I did a lot of walking last year, 650 miles, and I think it helped. Working on my compassion for myself and others. Pulling out a few Wikipedia projects that are enjoyable–mainly uploading images of recently-deceased people, contemplating a blog post called “How You, Too, Can See Dead People”–and marveling that after all this time and MANY home improvement projects completed, I still don’t seem to be able to mop my kitchen floor. We managed to clean out the Magic Castle but still need to replace its septic. If you think you might know someone who wants to buy it before then, there’s a little FYI website here. Hoping to be able to continue to stay the course this year, wishing everyone luck and courage in dealing with adversity and the unknown.

wraps ups II

image of the same plant as in the post from a year ago, looking a little more raggedy but still doing okay

This wrap up is a lot different from last years, but this plant is still chugging along, kind of, as am I. Here are my year-end lists in total.

  • libraries visited – shorter than usual
  • books read – not as long as you’d think
  • places stayed – bit of a bummer here, I don’t think I’ve spent a year only sleeping in one place… in my entire life. When I dream, I dream about going places.
  • other events — i.e. timeline of big events in 2020 that I remembered, longer than you’d think!

2021 has come in nice and snowy and Vermont remains a place I am very pleased to have landed in the late 90s. I’ve got a lot of winter hobbies that can basically double as COVID hobbies–cooking, Wikipedia, keeping all these plants alive, writing letters–and about as much work as I want. Wishing the same for everyone else: may you have hobbies you like and enough time to do them, may you have as much work as you want, may you sleep at night and dream of better days.

wraps ups

a small plant in a small plant container, held by a pale looking hand

So I got all my wrap-ups written and here’s the short list

I’m a few days behind last year but more or less on schedule. And like last year, January is a Wikipedia month, staying busy writing articles and making edits. I’ve made sure that all the library associations in the New England states (including NELA) have at least stub-length articles. Only one of them (MLA, Massachusetts, not Maine) was even written a month ago. If you’re reading this and you’re interested in helping make articles for state library associations (so many left to do) ping me, I have a formula.

I know it’s not surprising to Very Online people, though it does surprise local folks, but tech projects make me happy. The big hurdle this month was slowly moving the Vermont Library Association to membership software from the unpleasant spreadsheet that they had been using. Tough work! Slow going! But rewarding because it’s going to make future stuff that much simpler. Next up: moving VLA website to a new web host and getting a new WordPress theme working so it looks a little more kempt. Then maybe I’ll look at my own stuff. Phone needs a new battery (I have the battery, and tools, but lacking motivation). Taxes need assembling. There’s really no end to the tech tidying I could do but I’m also trying to attend to real life stuff. Applesauce making. Friend visiting. Dish washing. Bird feeding. Plant tending.

The little plant in the picture is one I got from the library. I’m not even sure how it happened just I was there and at some point I was walking home with a plant in my hand. I got a new rack to put more plants on. I can hear my mother’s voice “This is how it starts….” Well okay then, let’s get started.