How a friend tended my spirit as she taught me about gardening.
I say I’m a self-taught gardener, but that is incorrect. I first fell in love with gardening when visiting a neighbor’s garden. My friend Glennis gave me my first gardening lessons.
Seemingly a strong independent person, the truth is I was an injured bird, not raised but grown up in poverty. I hid a deep reservoir of pain from abandonment and various tortures. Having no interest in pity for myself, I kept busy and found joy in my child and the things I could learn and do.
But injured birds are fragile.
It was over 50 years ago. I hadn’t…
I published my first Medium story, Gathering Ground Ivy, on August 2nd of 2020. So I've been here a year — in two days.
It has been almost as much fun as Farmville and scrabble and tickle fights with my cuddle buddy. Did I mention sudoku? Or dancing? Nooo, dancing’s way more fun.
But, I’ve loved it here. So many interesting stories. And oh my the writers, sigh. You all fill my heart with your humanity and magic.
I didn’t know what I’d write except inspiring the love of growing food. But I like to write about everything! …
Thank you to The Daily Cuppa writers — you have created an amazing collection of stories for our readers.
The photo above is from my garden. You see flowers, herbs, and vegetables growing together throughout my home and yard. This is my secret to an easily maintained garden and healthy plants.
My garden has taught me that diversity is the way of the earth and we are of the earth. Your stories are inspirational, comforting, fun, interesting, informative, witty, and more.
And you have agreed to limit self-promotion. That’s an enormous gift to our readers.
Three Things
- I will publish collections in The Daily Cuppa Grande.
- I will add new writers to The Daily Cuppa this week.
- The Daily Cuppa Grande will promote you! Write profiles, which include your books, websites, and whatever you have.
The Daily Cuppa writers are first at The Daily Cuppa Grande.
My admiration,
Katie
Have we a gem with our JM Heatherly or what? Did you see what he did for us on Twitter? I told him I didn’t understand how he did the list, so he told me.
I went to the Daily Cuppa settings.
I viewed the profile of each writer.
If you click on their “About” tab, it will show a bird icon if they are on Twitter.
On Twitter, I clicked lists.
I made a new list for DC writers and added the Cuppa logo.
For each writer with a handle, I went to their Twitter profile.
On their profile…
Oops — read the small print, there’s more than one reason I don’t enter challenges.
I love lots about writing on Medium — mostly my readers. Thank you.
Another thing I love is that we keep full rights over our work. I could sell gardening stores elsewhere but would only make the $25 they pay. At Medium it takes longer to make $25, but I keep making it year after year. I could also post the same Medium piece elsewhere and earn more.
And my work would remain mine!
I finally got around to reading Medium's writing challenge and there…
Writers — I didn’t get this, but several of you have messaged me about it.
I doubt I’ll do it as I’m not into competitions for myself — they interfere with my playtime. Drum roll laughter. I have committed to helping two writers with their entries.
My before you start advice:
— Read the work of the judges and take notes on how they structure their work and anything else you observe.
— Enter multiple categories to increase your chances.
— Read Shaunta Grimes's simple framework for structuring posts.
— Brain burp out your ideas before you begin.
I’d love…
