Liz Cultivates | L.M. Fern

Barely one month into the new year, and I’m already a busy bee. Here’s what I’m working on cultivating so far!

Reading Goals for 2026

In case you missed it, I published my 2026 TBR in January. Feel free to follow along with me — I’m already working on my thoughts about Dungeon Crawler Carl (spoiler alert: I loved it), which will likely go up next week. Next thing I’m working on (in addition to DCC book 2, oops) is Azumanga Daioh, which I stole borrowed from Sofia several years ago and need to return at some point.

This month, I’m hoping to knock out a couple of those books and continue reacquainting myself with the love of reading. I took a few days off at the end of January and did all the cozy things — read, drank coffee, worked on a blanket that I made granny squares for several years ago, cuddled Cora. I also finished reading a book and started another.

Turns out unplugging is not just for chumps

During my week off at the end of January, I took a real break. I didn’t do any work, including writing. I ate yummy food. I drank coffee. I sewed together granny squares for a blanket I’ve been working on for several years. I watched two seasons of Dimension 20.

Basically, I avoided my PC for approximately five days.

And gang, it rewired my brain. I felt like I could breathe without anxiety hovering over my every thought. I’ve always been kind of skeptical of the concept of “unplugging,” mostly because all of my friends and projects are in the computer, so it’s a humbling feeling — and I guess I’m going to have to start being intentional about the time I spend away from my main devices. To be clear: I didn’t unplug entirely. I still used my phone, and still plunked around on my Switch (new Animal Crossing update has me in its grips). But I didn’t turn on my PC and I hardly entered the office. No email, no Slack, no serious gaming. It’s almost embarrassing how good I felt afterward. (Of course, I am typing this now waiting for my queue to pop in FFXIV).

Let’s check in on this in a couple months and see how I feel after some intentional disconnecting!

Gardening: It’s time to start planning

Out of the last, say, six months, January was probably the month I have done the least amount of work on my gardening activities, but I did purchase some seeds, and I’m ready to get started. (“Ready” here meaning that I would desperately like to put my hands in some dirt, please.) There’s a foot of snow on the ground, but I am champing at the bit. In February, expect to see an updated garden plan and details for an exciting new project I’d like to get some feedback on.

Still growing and learning

I’m going to give myself some grace on these monthly updates — still shooting for one per month near the beginning, but as you can see, this February update has already gotten away from me. And that’s okay!

Do you have any exciting goals for the new year or even just for today?