greenhouse-jungle I always dread being gone for too long when the greenhouse is going full bore. I never know what I’ll come back to. It only takes a few days before the growth reaches the point where maintenance requires more hours than I can give.

This time I was gone for five days. Just before leaving, Brandon and I gave the greenhouse a “crew cut,” with the hope that the pruning/trimming would prevent a total jungleclipse (where the plants grow so rapidly, intertwining to the point that finding any fruit/produce is a huge challenge). Of course, the place didn’t even look like it had been trimmed by the time I got back. But the gems hidden in the foliage were well-worth searching for.

I’m finding the same thing with the current novel I’m working on (Abby Crumb and the Night of the Golden Pea). If I leave it alone for more than a day, the story mysteriously grows (in my mind, of course) so when I get back to it, I’m presented with a tangle of characters and plot and description demanding to come forth onto the page. By the time I get it all down, I’m exhausted and not sure what has actually blossomed. But then I start finding the gems and with a little trimming and pruning and transplanting the story bursts forth in full color, ripe and ready to pick! Abby Crumb has taken longer to reach full growth than expected, but is rapidly approaching harvest time.