Tag Archives: Garden

Loose theads

Hello! I’ve been missing this space. It seems that my technology skill are quite rusty. or perhaps just strange things can happen in the World of Web. At least for Elaine. But here I am again.

I’ve needed some slow time. It seems that summer was full of heat and rain and branch cleanup and shrubbery growing out of control. Sometimes in the overwhelm, this girl just has to sit with a good book* or needle and thread. For therapy, I replaced all the ugly buttons on this robe with some vintage mother-of-pearl. Simple and refreshing and only about 4 years waiting. sigh

May is always delightful. The fresh greens and small flowers are such a gift for the heart.

Then June. the Calla Lily experiment continued and there were half a dozen blooms this year. I was late getting the corms into the ground. I will be more selective next year and pick only the largest. I hoped for lots of swing time this summer. I didn’t get much of a vegetable garden planted and with the weather, that was just as well. Over the summer months, our gauge registered about 20″. Historic downpours. Not much swing time.

The day lilies of our garden did not fail us – except for one variety which has disappeared. Which brings up the fact that we are dealing with moles and voles and it seems a rather futile battle. Moles tunnel and voles eat roots. If you have a solution, PLEASE, let me know!

These have been here before in various stages, but most are now finished and two pieces are waiting the final stitches. There are always bits of fabric to create with and a few projects to come. They are all taking a back seat just now as I work on the hard thing …

Mom’s doll needs clothes. I have no idea if she had a name, but for now, I will call her Daisy. Daisy is 21 inches tall, is made of wood and has spring joints and a label on her back which says Schoenhut. I don’t remember her original hair-do. This one was chosen by my sister Margie, her second mom. Margie collected dolls and had plans to make clothes for this one. I have no idea of the original garments. I never asked, never really saw Daisy who lived in the depths of Mom’s cedar chest. She did not interest me. And I forgot about her.

Until last year. Margie had dealt with many eye issues stemming from an infection quite a few years ago. The doll clothes remained a dream as she learned to live with low vision. And then there were five years of cancer treatments. The summer of 2017, she made the brave decision to start hospice care at home. In September the lingering effects of shingles and another infection made her so uncomfortable and debilitated and she knew she needed more expert care. My last visit with her in her home, she asked me to do three sewing projects – whether for me or for her, I can’t know. Margie spent her final weeks in the loveliest hospice facility near her home with the kindest care.

Two of the projects are long done. Daisy’s clothes are another matter. I’ve searched through storage boxes for patterns but they are all too modern for this old girl or they won’t fit or are beyond my skill level. I’ve spent hours on-line looking for ideas. Tomorrow I will decide. And somehow, I will make garments for Daisy. And they will be tear stained.

*I’ve been reading Louise Penny’s series with Chief Inspector Armand Gamache

Healing things

I find it is the small things, the often overlooked or sometimes neglected things that can bring calm and restoration to my life. During these past months, I’ve had to force myself to find the things that comfort my soul. I’m sharing them to remind myself of the Whispers of Rest that God provides, if I will only notice. Perhaps they might be a reminder for you as we move closer to the winter holiday season and beyond into what we have as the long, cold of winter.

Notice. Make something with your hands. Enjoy the space that surrounds you – and all those you are blessed to have in it. The seasons change always brings some new beauty to bless us.

Advent begins. A quiet soul time. The link is a story with some resource links from the past. An online friend, Diana Trautwein, is starting her Advent Journey: Reflections for Weary Travelers and Bonnie Gray is Celebrating Advent, listening for God’s Whispers of Christmas. Maybe you need a bit of rest yourself?

Double click on any photo to see the enlargement.

Beautiful Callas!

My husband had gifted me with these beautiful blooms several years. My gardening with Calla story began in September, 2014. This post from last year has links for my continuing education project.

This year has been exciting! While we didn’t have a hundred percent bloom, the foliage is lush and the education of Elaine continues!

I potted fewer bulbs in the large pot and there were 4 blooms. I also planted them in 4 smaller pots, no bloom.

I planted a group directly into the garden soil and those did the best with one white bloom and 4 of the pink to rose shade.

This has been quite an adventure for me and I have enjoyed it! Seeds have been forming for quite a while now and I plan to harvest them and see what their future brings.

Resting in the glory of June

For better or worse, I’m enjoying the flowers and ignoring a lot of weeds! Actually, until the last few days, the ground has been so dry that it will not give up the weeds but holds tight to the roots. Now that a bit has fallen, I’ve begun the slow process of routing them.

But soon I’ll have a story to tell – All about Calla!

May Days

Rain and sun, a few hot days, but mostly a bit too cool for me. Ah, but the beauty that unfolds…

And color comes back to visit…

Mystery and wonder abound!

So, why did the groundhog climb the tree? This was the first time I have seen this in my own yard.

30 days hath November

There were glorious days, warm ones and cold ones that had me scurrying about freshening bed linens and garden beds, planting bulbs and dealing with leaves and leaves and still more leaves! Oak leaves 12 inches long!

The Undoing of Saint Silvanus by Beth Moore was only available as an audio book from my library. I debated and then reserved my space. When I saw it was 10 CDs, I wasn’t sure I would persist. But I did. her masterful storytelling kept me company as I dug and pulled and trimmed and planted a garden bed and then kept me company as I restored the edging of our old quilt with fresh binding. Then I listened to it all over again!

I began the quilt long years ago. When I started the class with Lois Smith, I was excited by the possibility of making – start to finish a quilt for our bed. Under her kind, clear, tutelage, I learned so much about color, pattern drafting and machine quilting. But life, or a kind of death in the specter of fire, happened and rearranged our lives for a season. When it was over, nothing was quite the same and I chose not to work on this autumn themed quilt. I moved on and took several more classes with Lois and finished two more quilts. Sometime, I finished it off and hung it in our family room in winter. Then I started using it, the weight and comfort just right. It was a shock to realize it is now a shabby beauty, warm and cozy.

Autumn color can be a long, slow, unfolding here. Tender plants first, some trees seeming to forget to change, high winds swirling leaves around steps and doors. Holly berries ripped from their stems. One has to look for the beauty in all the pain and dying of this month.

And, of course, we went chasing the super moon. It doesn’t look all that exciting, but the chase was fun. One more to come on December 14.

Of course there are always squirrels running to and fro and sometimes hanging from their toes to eat the suet cakes. Woodpeckers, Flickers, Titmice and Nuthatches are the usual diners. But one day, I happened to catch this Bluebird too! Things are always a bit fuzzy through the screen and glass, but there is no mistaking the color of these beautiful birds.

One of the surprises of the garden cleanup were stalks of Hosta seeds hiding deep within a large plant. I’ve done a little reading and I’m not sure I will try to grow plants from the seed, but the pods are quite interesting.

This season of apparent dying and seed planting has been brought home to me these past days in the sudden and untimely death of my niece-in-love. At the several services we attended, even her pastor, who knew her well, marveled at the packed church as people came to show their love and respect for this lovely, quiet woman. She sowed seeds of love and acceptance in everyone she met. I pray that those seeds will bear much fruit in the coming days and years as her family struggles with her death and the changes in the home and for her children who were being home schooled.

Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God.

From the Garden

It has been the summer for yard exercise. When rain comes, it is heavy. Dead wood becomes sodden and gives up clinging to the trees. So, I pick up and pray gratitude for the county brush recycling just a few miles away.

In between rains, I am working at conscious beauty rests. Join me for spa treatments?

Early morning light, Elephant Ear leaf, Wild Ginger “cushion”, Butterfly Bush, Rainbow, Stella re-bloom, Butterfly feeding, Cleome, Nectar hunting! Click on photo for best view.

My friend, Marta, at Selah Reflections takes beautiful photographs as she lives her goal to find moments of stillness in the midst of the busyness of life. Whenever I forget, there she is with a post to remind me to stop and really be aware and rest in the beauty so generously supplied to me.

Amaryllis

Both of these are Amaryllis, who knew! It’s all in the family and the reason they thrive here is that the Amaryllis family contains a lovely poison that deer and squirrels and rabbits can smell so they go off and eat something else!

Of course, I can’t let the season go without sharing my indoor Amaryllis family blooms.

With several warm days, I began the spring cleaning. Not the house, but the “yard”. I’m not sure if there is a standard definition of yard, but my body has always told me that this is something bigger. To keep it from overwhelming, I mentally divide the space into rooms, some large, some small usually depending on just how much there is to be done, picking up, pruning, raking, seeding, hauling in to recycling – four trips, so far.

Many years ago, I read a book which advocated starting at the front door and working clockwise through the house to declutter and clean. I apply that concept to the outdoors. Although I stared with the blueberry “room”, I’m now on track starting at the driveway and working clockwise, grateful to be out doing this work and enjoying the unusual warmth.

Along the way, I take note… Lenten roses are in bloom.

Hope you are enjoying your days and taking note of beauty.

Misty morning view

There was a strange soft fluttering in the tree, like delicate lace waved by a fairy. My imagination runs rampant in early morning mist and in the time before coffee.

The real thing is magical.

Perhaps it was a fairy, there is no sign of the spinner of such fine thread nor the lace maker of this scalloped wonder.

September

It was long weeks of hot and dry until today. I set myself to finish some tidying here and there and was surprised to find a turtle. Neither of us could remember the last time we spied one here.Today was a dark day of waiting till the afternoon hours seemed to finally press open the clouds and the bursting drenched the area with close to 3 inches of rain. And as the hours grew dark everyone needed to be vigilant for high water and flash flooding.