The house that I am living in at the moment has a garden. It is huge and rambly and filled with fruit trees: avocados and plums and figs and crab apples and persimmons. It makes me incredibly happy.

There is something about watching life grow that is incredibly good for the soul.

So, my friends. I have been having IT issues. Lordy! No email, lost blog posts, website down. So frustrating.

My web host changed platforms and everything went a bit loopy. I think. I don’t even know.

And that was mostly the problem. I didn’t know. And I didn’t know how to know what I didn’t know. It was all just happening [or not happening] and I was useless in making it work because I don’t understand IT stuff.

One of my strengths is persistence: when I want to make a positive change, I work out how to do it and then I go ahead and act. Then I pursue my goal despite any obstacles that arise. And if I don’t know how, I work it out and then I act. The problem here, is that I don’t even know how to get better at this stuff.

When you know what to do and the issue is motivation or courage, it can be tough to get started. But when you don’t even know what to do or how to find out what to do, it’s even harder.

I reckon one of the best strategies is to get talking to people. Ask them what they did, what they reckon you could do, who they think you could talk to. [And make sure to keep notes]. Chances are you’ll come up with some ideas to explore and while you’re talking, you’ll feel like you’re doing something, which will motivate you to keep going.

So, I was working when I heard: Mama!Mama!Mama! And there, out my window, was my gorgeous Little One. Swooping through the air on her swing, squealing with joy. Her crazy, curly hair everywhere, huge smile, arms outstretched towards me, clutching flowers. Mama!Mama!Mama! she yelped. Flowers!

Annie Dillard reminds us: how we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.

Friends: I shut down that computer faster than fast.

This can be a tough time of year for a lot of folk. I hope you’re all travelling gently.