Just recently, the notion of leaving a legacy keeps coming up again and again as I research and write blog posts and stories. For example, during research for a recent story, I discovered a large oak tree near here (which I’m particularly fond of) was planted sometime around 1870. Planted specifically to shade the house […]
Daffodils in Bloom
The other day, I happened to notice the daffodils are out. It’s not as exciting as when I lived in the UK – one day nothing, the next masses of them, but then again, mine have only been in the ground for a few years; not long enough to naturalise. But the thing I love […]
Climate Change in the Garden
We’ve seen climate change in the garden recently, because we took the first step toward our extension by cutting down some of the trees and shrubs, most of them weed species that had to be removed anyway. We’re all a bit in shock at how ruthless it’s been. On the one hand, the house is […]
The Joy of Freshly Mown Lawn
In a rare break of sunshine, we did a little yard work. A bit of pruning, and weeding, and lawn mowing. It’s amazing how much better the garden looks with a freshly mown lawn. And how much calmer you feel looking out over it. It must shake up the lawn dwelling creatures as well – […]
A Feng Shui Garden
With the change in the seasons and the whole social isolation thing, we’ve been working in the garden. Weeding, mulching, pruning. And having done a bunch of Feng Shui research for a fiction project, I’ve discovered the possibility of a Feng Shui garden. It’s one of those forehead slapping “of course” moments. If you can […]
The Weird Joy of Life with Wildlife
Since my post about my garden planning, people have told me how weird they think life with wildlife must be. And maybe for someone who doesn’t live with it, life with wildlife is weird. But it’s not like I have a zoo in my garden, or lions and tigers and what-not. Though, depending on where […]
How to Design a Peaceful Garden
I’ve mentioned one of my major goals this year is to create a peaceful garden that’s lush and abundant, provides habitats, weather protection and a mystical threshold. And the goal for Q1 2020, is to plan and start landscaping it. So, I’ve been reading some books about Edna Walling gardens, mainly because I’ve seen what’s […]
The Grim Side of Garden Grooming
Another quick one today, as I am still down with the cold and cursing my lack of foresight in NOT buying eucalyptus body wash for just this occasion. If you are at all squeamish about faeces you might want to skip this post. The sun was out today, and after three days chock full of napping, I […]
Ruminations on Rodents
My side of the planet is leaning away from the sun as if it is too hot to bear at present, and according to the news, it really is in the northern hemisphere. Extremes have led to heat waves, death and wildfires, and the situation has become so severe that the United Nations felt compelled […]
Wibbly Wobbly Family Timey Wimey
We just got home from a mad dash back to the town we grew up in (as opposed to our hometown, where we live now). The principle purpose of our trip was, of course, to visit our respective aging parents who have assorted medical problems, and are approaching the time when we don’t know when/if will be the last time we see […]
The Beauty and Pleasure of Potted Plants
This may sound bizarre, but Katy showed me this and some other pictures of her newly potted plants and I was surprised that she had different kinds of plants in the same pot. It has never occurred to me to do that – I always plant singly. And now that we have been talking […]
Jim Carrey on Gardening
I originally planned to write something wonderful (of course) but I stumbled across this gardening quote and had to share it instead.