Cats, I dunno.

I spent a lot of money on toys for my cat. You'll never believe the shit they end up getting joy out of.

Like a shred of shiny heavy material that I accidentally dropped on the floor. It happens to look like a lizard, I think, and Rogue is going fucking BERKO over it. I've never seen her so happy to play with something before. And it cost me nothing.

Bloody cats.

The Magic is in me.

Well, I finished my umpteenth rereading of "The Secret Garden" by Frances Hodgson Burnett today. It's a delightful little kids book with a horrible case of run-on sentences, but there's something so innocent and positive about it that never fails to make me feel better about life. It's really important for people like me, too, who have a chronic condition and need all the optimism they can get.

I love gardening, and for a long time I've been just too sick to do it. The day was too beautiful for me to ignore it, though, so in the afternoon I went out there and went madly to work planting things.

My garden is a very special place to me. If I show you my garden, I'm showing you my heart, the little piece of earth that echoes my spirit. it's an overgrown, messy garden but I think there's a lot of interesting little nooks and corners in it.

I planted honesty blooms, a rockery mix and some cosmos (the latter owes its new place in our garden entirely to Animal Crossing, as do the Pansies that will be grown in late summer). I can't wait to see them shoot up, though I know patience is needed, hence why I tend to plant stuff all the time, so I have lots of things to watch grow. Plants are so darling when they're just coming out of the earth, so tiny, green and perfect. I love watching them grow bigger and become different from one another. And if they're a flowering plant, when they first bloom - it's so exciting. I'm so proud of the little plant, even though it's doing what it was evolved to do.

Gardening is a nice low-intensity way for me to get sunlight and exercise. I have a reasonably big garden so I have to move about quite a bit. If I'm cramping, it's ideal, cause moving about helps shift the cramps. If it's not cramps, if its something else, then nothing will shift the pain, but the activity often distracts me.

I feel like I've achieved something today. I'm very, very happy.

Sometimes I wish I could meet Frances Hodgson Burnett. I wish I could tell her how her Magic has changed me too. And not just once, but again and again in my life. When I was depressed years ago, I took to gardening. I fell in love with my garden and with nature all over again. And this year, when I thought I couldn't do any gardening at all because I was sick, I found it to be comforting and not at all taxing for my body, it was a way to have an indication that I was doing things, that I wasn't just existing but helping things grow. I look at all the hard work I did and I think, "I'm sick, but I still planted a bunch of seeds and watered all my seedlings. I hugged my cat in the sunlight and enjoyed the sea breeze. I watched the gumtrees sway in that breeze and their beautiful glossy leaves shine. I checked the olive tree and saw its buds turning to tiny green fruit. I cut back the dead daises so the new buds might flower. And tomorrow I shall transplant some new healthy catnip seedlings, and separate them from some chives. I'll water my plants again and prepare places for the seedlings to go once they're big enough. And when I go to bed, I'll know that my day wasn't one spent for nothing. I made the most out of a beautiful day, a most wonderful blessing. I won't feel bad about falling asleep, because the day wouldn't have slipped away for nothing."