Wednesday, June 23, 2004

June Garden

Don’t you just love a June garden? There is nothing quite like it for freshness and beauty, that's for sure. Everything is still bright with newness - the grass, the leaves on every plant and tree, and the blooms on perennial and annual alike. All are alive with clear crisp colour.

The earwigs haven’t unpacked their bags yet, the black spot must be still cleaning its glasses because it hasn’t spotted the roses yet, and the burnt look or tired wilt that descends on the entire garden when a heat wave hits is still way off in the future. "Ah, the glory of the garden, it abideth not in words." (Kipling)

We went out for our after dinner walk last night and when we came back into the yard, J noticed that the first daisy had opened. Right on time for the start of summer. Amazing how those “flower clocks” keep perfect time isn’t it? I stand in awe of Mother Nature at times like this. Don't you? She is absolutely incredible isn't she? If only we could keep such perfect time.

Ahh, the flowers in the garden, don’t toil or spin. They calmly send their roots deep into the soil and quietly do their job - bloom when it is time; add beauty to the earth during their appointed season; bask in the sunshine when it shines; drink in the rain when it falls; rest when evening comes; bend with the wind, and then give back to the earth when they die

In this busy hectic world we can learn a lesson from the flowers in our gardens. Bloom where you are planted, in your season; add beauty to the world around you just by being you; then enrich your space by giving back to it and making it a nicer place to be as a result of you having been there. Embrace the sunshine and the rain, because we need a balance of both. During any dark night of the soul stand firm where you are planted - just stand. Learn to bend with the winds of adversity. Let them blow over and around you without uprooting you.

Send your roots down deep. Don’t try to cover every inch of ground in "your garden" with roots an inch deep and a mile wide. You will wilt in the heat of the day and be uprooted in the storm. Instead, send your roots down a mile deep and an inch wide. Lift your head to the sun when it shines; drink in the rain when it falls, and rest when you need to. This will allow your roots to go down deep and get the abundant moisture and rich nutrients waiting there for you.

Stand still and just be who you are, in your place in this world.
Bloom on!!!!

Thursday, June 17, 2004

Relaxing and Remembering

Ahhh, the relaxing side of the wedding. Just like the relaxing side of Christmas,it is delicious to sit quietly now and let the sweet flavour and fragrance of memories permeate the present. I need time to reflect on the past weekend while the events are still warm and fresh,and will imprint vividly on my heart.

The wedding was as close to perfect as it could be. We couldn't have ordered better weather or a prettier spot for the nuptials if we tried. The Inn was enchanting and delightful under clear blue skies, and offered spectacularly beautiful backdrops that made for some wonderful pictures. The Bride looked absolutely gorgeous, she really did, and the groom was beaming!!!!!

Before the wedding I thought of trying to plan a little trip for us to take instead of coming right home, but I am glad that I didn’t do that. I need time now to recharge and refresh and it is important for me to sit still for a while to let everything sink in.

Right now I am sitting out on the back deck with my laptop on my laptop. I might not last too long out here, because it is a tad difficult to see the screen in this bright light, but it is such a lovely morning I don’t want to go inside.

We stayed in the Garden Room at the Inn, which was so pretty and comfortable and elegant, but it still can’t quite compare to the beauty of my own Garden Room right here at home. I might not have a Rock Garden complete with waterfall, outside my bedroom window, or a multi acre view of rolling hills and trees and ponds, from my kitchen window and front porch, but it still looks wonderful to me.

This morning the scent of roses fills the air here in my own back yard, and the perennial gardens are ablaze in purple, yellow and white flowers. What a treat for my senses.

Yes, today is a day for relaxing and reflecting and regrouping after the busy time leading up to the wedding weekend and then the weekend itself. I will stare off into space and then journal for a while and then maybe stare off into space again. I will let my thoughts go where the wind takes them today. The busy times make the quiet times all the more special. Balance is the key isn’t it?

Saturday, June 05, 2004

Joy in the morning

We had sunshine all day yesterday, so we got lots of work done in the garden and that made us both feel a whole lot better. Usually we have all our plants in by May 24th but that just wasn't happening this year. Time was moving along and we weren't!!! Sigh! So, it is nice to have the planting done and have it checked off our "to do" list. Finally! Rain and cold weather and travel have hampered our work in the garden this year, but now we are making some progress.

Never a dull moment around here these days though. After we did all the planting and transplanting yesterday we put the soaker hoses on in the garden last night to give everything a good drink. I made notes to myself to remember to turn the hoses off before I went to bed. Well, they would have helped me a lot if I had remembered to read the notes, but I didn't!!!! I rolled over this morning and looked outside and the birds were having a party in our backyard. They thought we had left the sprinklers on just for them and they were having a grand and glorious time playing in the water and enjoying an early morning shower. What fun! We have a lot of young Robins around that are just now leaving the nest, and we also have Mourning Doves, Sparrows , Cardinals, Blue Jays, Starlings and Grackles, a plenty. I think we had a few of each doing their morning ablutions in our backyard this morning. What a sight.

Right now I have a late riser splashing around in our bird bath. He must have slept in and missed the early morning shower call. Oh oh! Rocky, the cat, just came out the back door, and the mamma birds are starting to chatter at him. Fly babies, fly. The cat is in the garden!!!

Well, I must fly too and get busy with the rest of my day. I hope you have a nice one and find joy in spite of your mistakes today.


Thursday, June 03, 2004

Stranger than fiction

Sometimes life is stranger than fiction isn’t it? I got a note this morning, from my daughter, who works in a retirement residence and she told me about just one of those experiences. Let me share it with you.

Good morning to you. I hope you're having a good one too because my day has not started off so well. Let me tell you what has turned out to be a remarkable story.

I was covering the front desk this morning when Mr. C, a wonderful old British gentleman, stopped by and asked me if I'd seen Mrs. E who is kind of a companion to him. They are both widowed and have become very close. He seemed a little concerned because Mrs E’s daughter had called him this morning to see if he knew where her mother was. She needed to talk to her mother and was hoping that Mr. C knew where her mom was.

He came down to the reception area to ask if I had seen her and I hadn't. Usually she'll call in to my office with a bright "Good Morning Dear" but she hadn’t done that this morning. I checked the book and she hadn't signed out either. I tried calling her room but no answer. Where could she be?

Mr. C said that he would try knocking on her door, and check the library, which he had done, already, but would do again. He came back down a little while later and said he'd tried to call and knock on Mrs E’s door, but still no answer. By this time I could tell he was very concerned and trying not to overreact. I told him that we'd track down a master key and go in and check to see if she was there and unwell, and I would call him as soon as I got someone to check.

5 minutes later an emergency call came over the radio for the DOC to go to Mrs E’s room. The nurse had gone in to check and found her lying face down on the floor beside her bed. It looked like she had suffered a massive heart attack sometime early this morning.

They called Mrs E’s daughter to tell her what had happened and she said that it almost wasn't a surprise because the reason that she was trying to get a hold of Mrs E was to tell her that her Sister had died in the night. Apparently Mrs E and her sister were very close. Totally amazing.


Yes, truth is stranger than fiction and it sometimes leaves us walking around with awe and wonder in our eyes.

Tuesday, June 01, 2004

Turning the page

Here it is the first day of the month again so it is time to turn the page in my day-book and on the many wall calendars in our house. Do you enjoy that little activity? I do. It marks a fresh new beginning or a clean start and we can all use those can’t we?

The author Barbara Johnson talked about the first day of the month at her house, and how she marked it. She would put clean sheets on the bed, clean towels in the bathroom and serve something special for dinner on the first of each month. I don’t go that far, but I do enjoy the turning of the page and the idea of a fresh new start.

Don’t think about the mistakes of yesterday. Just focus on the fresh new month ahead of you and move forward.

Have a great day.