Gardening – Diversify Your Garden
The weather in my part of the universe last year was…strange. And the vegetables I expected to do well didn’t. The vegetables I often planted for fun, however, did well.
I was happy that I planted a wide variety of vegetables.
The weather in 2026, I suspect, will be as strange. But likely in a different way.
So a big focus of my garden plans this year is diversity. I will plant just about everything and hopefully something does well.
(smiles)
Gardening is an adventure. Be adventurous in your plant selection!
Topics: Gardening | Comments Off on Gardening – Diversify Your Garden
2025 Gardening Lessons – Plant A Wide Variety
The weather during our 2025 gardening season was…wild.
It was scorching hot one day and near frost cold the next day. It rained hard for a day. Then there was drought for a month. Insects, both beneficial and harmful, were plentiful.
The plants I expect to do well in our garden (like tomatoes) didn’t. The plants that did well (like parsley) surprised me.
I think, with our changing climate, this unpredictability will become…predictable.
And the only way I think to combat this, while gardening outside, is to plant a variety of crops and hope some do well.
Topics: Gardening | Comments Off on 2025 Gardening Lessons – Plant A Wide Variety
Gardens And The Heat
It has been a tad bit warm in my corner of the universe. (grins) Unexpected and/or excessive heat can stress and perhaps even kill plants.
Climate change is very real. The world is getting hotter. It makes sense to prepare for the heat when planting a garden.
Mulch is a must-have. (I spread knee-deep dried leaves on my garden beds every Fall/Autumn for this purpose.) As is other organic materials in the soil. That helps to retain water.
And a mulch regulates temperatures and protects the soil from baking.
Gardeners often say, “Bare soil is death.” Plants die. Microorganisms die. It is rare for there to be any bare soil in nature. And that’s why.
Many plants, like lettuce, only require a few inches of soil. So I fill out containers by putting a layer of partially composed leaves in the bottom, under the soil. This organic material holds onto water, acting like a sponge, allowing the plants to access it later.
On hot, sunny days, I also water deeply in the morning, before the sun shines on the plants. I will turn the hose on, direct it at the base of a plant and count to 20. This water will soak the mulch, which will hold onto the moisture for much of the day.
I create partially shaded areas in the garden. Tomato plants, for example, love sun and (reasonable) heat. They grow tall and shade plants like the heat hating lettuce. The sun and heat loving butternut squash climbs over a frame, shading the more vulnerable plants under it.
During the heat of the day, I try not to disturb the soil. I don’t weed. I don’t plant. I try not to even walk on the pathways.
Any soil that I expose will dry out.
It also stresses the plants. And they are feeling a lot of stress already from the heat and blazing sun. Minimizing additional stress (like from, for example, pruning) might make the difference between life and death.
I DO weed. That’s necessary. But I do that in the morning or in the evening. And, when I can, I chop and drop, leaving the weeds on the ground to decompose. That returns more moisture to the soil.
These are little things but they add up to make a difference!
Topics: Gardening | Comments Off on Gardens And The Heat
Gardening, Climate Change And Bad Growing Years
This summer has been a VERY bad year for some gardeners in the Northern Hemisphere.
It is cold one day and extremely hot the next. There are hail storms, tornadoes, floods, drought, fires (sometimes several of these at once). The insects seem to either be missing or there are WAY too many of them. Animals like squirrels and groundhogs have been super aggressive.
It is challenging to have a productive garden.
I’ve been taking a few steps to try to increase my odds.
I grow plants as big as possible in the basement grow station. Sometimes I’ll keep ‘spares’ of plants in case the squirrels dig up and shred the ones I have recently transplanted.
I grow mini versions of some vegetables. Cherry tomatoes ripen much faster than those big beefsteak tomatoes. Mini bell peppers ripen faster than the full size bell peppers.
Growing vegetables in multiple locations sometimes also helps. The creatures are leaving the containers of eggplants situated on the deck alone, as one example. They are disturbing daily the containers of eggplants set on the grass.
What are you doing to improve your odds of a successful harvest?
***
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Drift Would
A cyborg and a spy fly into danger.
***
Drift is one of the best pilots in existence, and he has been assigned a perilous mission.
The G Model cyborg must fly to a distant planet, locate the sector-destroying superweapon the enemy is projected to be developing there, and obliterate that threat to the universe.
When Drift arrives at his destination and meets with an informant, he’s distracted by a mysterious human female seated in the shadows. She’s Drift’s genetic match, and she is the one being he’s destined to care for, claim, and protect.
She’s also a liar and a thief. And she might be working with the enemy.
Trusting her could kill him and everyone he cares about.
Liar. Thief. Seductress. Saboteur. Roshini has been called all of those things. And she has earned each label. She’s done some terrible things to safeguard the beings she loves.
A gray-eyed cyborg warrior with nimble hands and a shared need for speed won’t stop her high-risk activities.
She’ll sacrifice everything, including her lifespan, to complete her self-appointed top-secret assignment.
***
Drift Would is a standalone, enemies-to-lovers, Cyborg SciFi Romance set in a dark, gritty, sometimes-violent universe.
It features a cyborg who loves to break speed records, a human spy with a talent for changing her appearance, and a foe intent on killing them both.
Buy Today:
Amazon US:
https://www.amazon.com/Drift-Would-Dauntless-Cyborgs-Book-ebook/dp/B0CSJQC36S
Amazon UK:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Drift-Would-Dauntless-Cyborgs-Book-ebook/dp/B0CSJQC36S
Amazon AUS:
https://www.amazon.com.au/Drift-Would-Dauntless-Cyborgs-Book-ebook/dp/B0CSJQC36S
Amazon Canada:
https://www.amazon.ca/Drift-Would-Dauntless-Cyborgs-Book-ebook/dp/B0CSJQC36S
Apple Books:
https://books.apple.com/us/book/drift-would/id6476230561
B&N:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/drift-would-cynthia-sax/1144659255
Kobo:
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/drift-would
Smashwords:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/1508730
Topics: Gardening | Comments Off on Gardening, Climate Change And Bad Growing Years
Gardening – Transplanting Lessons
All the vegetable seedlings, except for the eggplant (due to the late start) and the second round of marigolds, have been moved outside! Woot!
It was a REALLY early last frost this year. In my part of the universe, it came at least two weeks early. That threw much of my timing off. The seedlings were smaller than I’d planned them to be.
But the weather was rainy and most of them survived.
The few that didn’t survive (mostly marigolds) died because…
I was lazy. (sheepish grin) I thought it would rain that day and I didn’t water them.
Then, of course, it didn’t rain. (shakes head)
My biggest lesson this transplanting season is…don’t be lazy. Unless it is actively raining when I’m transplanting, I should water the seedlings.
***
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Strike Zone
A cyborg devoted to duty…and to her.
***
While attending a party, Kesser, the daughter of her planet’s leader, witnesses the abduction of her best friend and her best friend’s mate.
She’s determined to rescue them. Preferably without fracturing the fragile peace agreement her mom has crafted with the abductors’ planet.
The only issue is…she has never participated in a retrieval mission.
Searching for assistance, she approaches the mate’s guard. The male, with his big broad shoulders and deep growly voice, affects her like no other being ever has.
Kesser wants him. She trusts him. And she requires his stealth combat skills.
Desperately.
Strike is no guard. The D Model cyborg has been sent to the sector to discreetly investigate a potential planet-destroying situation.
When a curvy human female with big brown eyes requests his help with a rescue, he doesn’t hesitate to say yes. She’s his genetic match, the one being he was manufactured to protect.
She’s also traveling to the next planet he has to search. He plans to claim his female while he fulfills his responsibilities to his kind.
Neither Strike nor Kesser realizes the dangers facing them are far greater than they imagine. Their enemies are converging, and one failed mission could doom the entire universe.
***
Strike Zone is a standalone, mistaken-identity, Cyborg SciFi Romance set in a dark, gritty, sometimes-violent universe.
It features a cyborg warrior with a finely honed sense of honor, a human support being taking on her first dangerous mission, and an evil that threatens everyone in existence.
Buy Now:
Amazon US:
https://www.amazon.com/Strike-Zone-Romance-Dauntless-Cyborgs-ebook/dp/B0CL5QZBQ8/
Amazon UK:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Strike-Zone-Romance-Dauntless-Cyborgs-ebook/dp/B0CL5QZBQ8/
Amazon AUS:
https://www.amazon.com.au/Strike-Zone-Romance-Dauntless-Cyborgs-ebook/dp/B0CL5QZBQ8/
Amazon Canada:
https://www.amazon.ca/Strike-Zone-Romance-Dauntless-Cyborgs-ebook/dp/B0CL5QZBQ8/
Apple Books:
https://books.apple.com/us/book/strike-zone/id6469583228
B&N:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/strike-zone-cynthia-sax/1144231998
Kobo:
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/strike-zone-13
Smashwords:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1466811
Topics: Gardening | Comments Off on Gardening – Transplanting Lessons
3 Body Problem And A Changing World
Spoiler Alert – This post will talk about the first season of 3 Body Problem, the TV series, and will contain spoilers. If you haven’t yet watched this SciFi show, you might wish to skip this post.
The Dear Wonderful Hubby and I watched season 1 of 3 Body Problem, an expected-to-be 4 season SciFi show based on a trilogy of novels written by Cixin Liu.
It was innovative and exciting and it held our interest.
But it is also based on a series started in 2006. Our planet is changing quickly and the way we look at the story has changed.
At the end of season 1, the multitude of bugs in one wild space is given as a reason to hope. We’re told bugs are plentiful, despite humans trying to eradicate them. If bugs can survive, humans can survive also.
Except insects are no longer plentiful. Their numbers are in steep decline. We’re in an insect apocalypse. That’s one of the possible human-ending disasters now facing us that we must ‘fix’.
The hope we’re given in 3 Body Problem, the TV series, is based on a situation that no longer exists. That made me feel not-at-all optimistic and I suspect that was exact opposite reaction the creators intended.
If this TV series had released in 2006, however, I WOULD have felt hopeful. At that time, the impending insect apocalypse wasn’t commonly known. We DID feel insects were plentiful.
The world has changed. Our knowledge has changed. The average person has changed.
And that changes our reactions to works of art.
In 2006, I would have felt hopeful at the end of season 1. In 2024, however, I feel tremendous sadness.
***
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Strike Zone
A cyborg devoted to duty…and to her.
***
While attending a party, Kesser, the daughter of her planet’s leader, witnesses the abduction of her best friend and her best friend’s mate.
She’s determined to rescue them. Preferably without fracturing the fragile peace agreement her mom has crafted with the abductors’ planet.
The only issue is…she has never participated in a retrieval mission.
Searching for assistance, she approaches the mate’s guard. The male, with his big broad shoulders and deep growly voice, affects her like no other being ever has.
Kesser wants him. She trusts him. And she requires his stealth combat skills.
Desperately.
Strike is no guard. The D Model cyborg has been sent to the sector to discreetly investigate a potential planet-destroying situation.
When a curvy human female with big brown eyes requests his help with a rescue, he doesn’t hesitate to say yes. She’s his genetic match, the one being he was manufactured to protect.
She’s also traveling to the next planet he has to search. He plans to claim his female while he fulfills his responsibilities to his kind.
Neither Strike nor Kesser realizes the dangers facing them are far greater than they imagine. Their enemies are converging, and one failed mission could doom the entire universe.
***
Strike Zone is a standalone, mistaken-identity, Cyborg SciFi Romance set in a dark, gritty, sometimes-violent universe.
It features a cyborg warrior with a finely honed sense of honor, a human support being taking on her first dangerous mission, and an evil that threatens everyone in existence.
Buy Now:
Amazon US:
https://www.amazon.com/Strike-Zone-Romance-Dauntless-Cyborgs-ebook/dp/B0CL5QZBQ8/
Amazon UK:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Strike-Zone-Romance-Dauntless-Cyborgs-ebook/dp/B0CL5QZBQ8/
Amazon AUS:
https://www.amazon.com.au/Strike-Zone-Romance-Dauntless-Cyborgs-ebook/dp/B0CL5QZBQ8/
Amazon Canada:
https://www.amazon.ca/Strike-Zone-Romance-Dauntless-Cyborgs-ebook/dp/B0CL5QZBQ8/
Apple Books:
https://books.apple.com/us/book/strike-zone/id6469583228
B&N:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/strike-zone-cynthia-sax/1144231998
Kobo:
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/strike-zone-13
Smashwords:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1466811
Topics: Movie Reviews | Comments Off on 3 Body Problem And A Changing World
Fighting A Seemingly Hopeless Fight
The Dear Wonderful Hubby and I, after quite a bit of discussion, have decided to continue donating a portion of book sales to coral reef restoration.
I know. I know. Saving the coral reefs looks like an impossible task. The heat around Florida and in the Caribbean bleached and killed a scary number of reefs this year. Those included the coral reefs restored with ‘heat-resistant’ baby corals.
The odds of the coral reefs surviving are low.
But the odds aren’t zero! We aren’t giving up on these wonderful creatures. We’ll continue to help them battle for their survival.
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Strive For Forever
This cyborg seeks to vanquish an ancient entity and save his curvy human female.
Euryale made a terrible mistake. She opened a container she shouldn’t have touched and released one of the oldest lifeforms in existence. That all-powerful entity is now utilizing her as its host body and is slowly draining her energy.
Soon, she’ll die.
Euryale has accepted this fate and is determined to use her remaining moments in the universe to save as many lives as she can.
Her plans do NOT include a smoldering-hot, poetry-wielding cyborg willing to decimate entire planets to save her.
While under the control of the Humanoid Alliance, Strive, a K Model cyborg, disobeyed direct orders and refused to kill on their behalf. If he hadn’t escaped their cruel clutches, his defiance would have led to his death.
The male knowingly risked that fate to save the lifespans of complete strangers.
There is nothing he wouldn’t do to protect Euryale. The curvy human female is his genetic match, the one being he is destined to defend.
And she is in danger.
Strive would break every vow, cross every boundary, risk absolutely everything to keep her from harm.
Including battle a deity no one has ever defeated.
***
Strive For Forever is Cyborg SciFi Romance set in a dark, gritty, sometimes-violent universe.
It features an inspired cyborg, a joke-cracking scientist, and an all-powerful deity with plans of his own.
Buy Now:
Amazon US:
https://www.amazon.com/Strive-Forever-SciFi-Cyborg-Romance-ebook/dp/B0BSMXYHPC
Amazon UK:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Strive-Forever-SciFi-Cyborg-Romance-ebook/dp/B0BSMXYHPC
Amazon AUS:
https://www.amazon.com.au/Strive-Forever-SciFi-Cyborg-Romance-ebook/dp/B0BSMXYHPC
Apple Books:
https://books.apple.com/us/book/strive-for-forever/id6445480449
B&N:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/strive-for-forever-cynthia-sax/1142963331
Kobo:
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/strive-for-forever
Smashwords:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1322272
Topics: Cyn-Sights | Comments Off on Fighting A Seemingly Hopeless Fight
Preparing For Water Fluctuations
The planet is getting warmer.
Warm air holds more moisture. The air sucks up the water from the planet’s surface. When that happens, we get drought.
Then, eventually, it returns all that water to the planet. When that happens, we get flooding.
This will happen more and more. It will be feast or famine water-wise now and in the future.
The Dear Wonderful Hubby and I are doing our best to prepare for these two possibilities.
We ensured flood damage was included in our house insurance.
We’re banking the house with soil this summer (the soil will be obtained for free from pool installation businesses and land developers), ensuring the land around our house slopes downward.
We will likely install more rain barrels to deal with possible droughts.
We’ll cover the tomato/bell pepper garden with leaf mulch to retain moisture.
We’re looking into ways to reduce our water consumption and to reuse the water we do utilize.
It is like a big real life science experiment. (smiles)
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Raw Desires
His human female is attempting to kill him.
This cyborg finds that adorable.
Raw, a K model cyborg, is one of the lucky warriors who has located his genetic match. He hears his human female’s voice over the communication lines and immediately processes she is his.
Winning her affections will be a greater challenge. Battle has always been Raw’s focus. The rough-and-tough warrior has no idea how to engage anyone’s tender emotions.
Fortunately, he isn’t alone in the universe. His unmatched male friends help him craft a plan.
All Raw has to do is relay a few unsettlingly sweet words to his female and give her the thoroughly unfunctional wall decoration he has obtained. He projects she will then jump into his big, strong arms and beg him to claim her.
Taytu isn’t jumping anywhere. She has one mission—kill every cyborg in existence.
The huge, handsome male traveling to meet with her is her first target. His rough hands, firm lips, and sparkling, energy-infused eyes won’t save him from her vengeance. She has trained vigorously for this moment, and she won’t fail at her assigned task.
The cyborg will die.
Raw Desires is an enemies-to-lovers Cyborg SciFi Romance set in a dark, gritty, sometimes-violent universe.
Pre-order Today:
Amazon US:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BFG8W5JM
Amazon UK:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0BFG8W5JM
Amazon AUS:
https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B0BFG8W5JM
Apple Books:
https://books.apple.com/us/book/raw-desires/id6443413750
B&N:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/raw-desires-cynthia-sax/1142255510
Kobo:
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/raw-desires-2
Smashwords:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1166190
Topics: Gardening | Comments Off on Preparing For Water Fluctuations
Muse Food – Woolly Bears
The Dear Wonderful Hubby and I spotted this little guy in our back yard.
He’s a woolly bear caterpillar, the larval form of the isabella tiger moth, and he’s a fascinating creature.
He hatches from his egg in the fall.
Then, when winter and the snow comes, he freezes solid. His heart stops beating. His guts freeze. His blood freezes. And finally the rest of his body freezes.
In the spring, he thaws and goes about his usual business. (grins)
Yes, he’s proof beings can be completely frozen and survive. That doesn’t merely happen in SciFi Romances.
Oh, and yes, I am heartbreakingly aware climate change is going to make it very difficult for the woolly bears to survive. These warm temperatures aren’t good for these little creatures.
***
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Grin And Bare Him
This cyborg will be the warrior his female requires.
Cyborgs are designed to fight. That is their primary purpose and 98.2356 percent of the manufactured warriors enjoy battle. Tremendously.
Grin, a K model, is one of the rare exceptions. When he escaped his cruel creators, he set down his sword and allocated his processors to less violent pursuits. He projects he’s left his war-waging planet rotations behind him forever.
Then he meets his beautiful, beguiling female, the one being he’s destined to protect, to claim, to love for all eternity, and his plans for peace are completely decimated.
Mohini needs a ship.
She has a dangerous mission to complete and the first step in that assignment is arranging transport to an enemy-controlled planet. The vessel she has set her sights on is guarded by the sexiest cyborg she’s ever seen.
To gain access to his ship, Mohini is prepared to kiss, caress, seduce the muscular male. The mission is her focus. The pleasure she experiences will merely be a bonus.
A female has to do what a female has to do to save the universe.
Grin And Bare Him is a Cyborg SciFi Romance set in a dark, gritty, sometimes-violent universe.
It features a humanoid female undertaking a dangerous mission, a cyborg intent on keeping her alive, and an enemy with enough firepower to blow up an entire sector.
Pre-order Now:
Amazon US:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09ZCWMSDV
Amazon UK:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B09ZCWMSDV
Amazon AUS:
https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B09ZCWMSDV
Apple Books:
https://books.apple.com/us/book/grin-and-bare-him/id1622100495
B&N:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/grin-and-bare-him-cynthia-sax/1141413965
Kobo:
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/grin-and-bare-him
Smashwords:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1145153
Topics: Muse Food | Comments Off on Muse Food – Woolly Bears
Evolutionary Biology And Saving Seeds
I love many of the sciences. I follow the works of a gazillion scientists.
My favorite science is evolutionary biology – how lifeforms change over time to adapt to different conditions. This evolution is essential for survival. Our surroundings are changing. If we don’t change also, eventually we won’t survive where we currently are.
This is important. Especially now. Our climate is changing scarily quickly. Animals, plants, birds, insects, other lifeforms are struggling to match that fast pace.
Humans are attempting to help them. Experts are doing the bulk of that work. Some amateurs are trying also.
Then there’s me. (grins) I rank well below amateurs.
But I AM attempting to help by saving the seeds from the vegetables that survived the hotter, drier summer and managed to reproduce. The hope is…THEIR offspring will be better able to survive next summer.
Yes. (laughs) I’m doing the science.
***
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Provoking Odium
A Beautiful Cyborg
While accompanying his leader on a mission, Odium, an E Model cyborg, hears a distress call over the communication lines. The voice on that message makes his circuits surge with energy and all his systems light up. He has to respond to the mysterious female, would risk his lifespan and the lifespans of everyone on board their ship to protect her.
A Human Female Others Call Beast
Briella gained her nickname due to her flying abilities, her fearlessness, and her scarred countenance. Her verbal-only relationship with the sexy cyborg who answers her distress call is a steamy yet short-lived fantasy. His kind is physically perfect, and she is…not. He will uncover that truth when…if they survive the attack upon her freighter.
Provoking Odium is a STANDALONE Cyborg SciFi Romance set in a dark, gritty, sometimes-violent universe.
It features a human female intent on remaining mysterious, a cyborg warrior determined to uncover her identity, and an enemy seeking to destroy them both before they have the opportunity to meet.
Buy Now:
Amazon US:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09NRXGLFW
Amazon UK:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B09NRXGLFW
Amazon AUS:
https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B09NRXGLFW
Apple Books:
https://books.apple.com/us/book/provoking-odium/id1605490349
B&N:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/provoking-odium-cynthia-sax/1140894003
Kobo:
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/provoking-odium
Smashwords:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1127119
Topics: Cyn-Sights | Comments Off on Evolutionary Biology And Saving Seeds
