Change Is Hard

…but change is certain.

Tag Archives: garden


by 14 Comments

WordPress Photo Challenge: Optimistic

I’m feeling pretty lucky to be living up here in Michigan right now, as the blizzard Jonah is bearing down on the south and east. So far this winter has pretty much passed us by. Sure we’ve got a tiny bit of snow on the ground. And it has been cold for a couple of weeks, but this winter is nothing like the last two evil and nasty winters we all suffered through.

Still, this week’s photo challenge is all about looking forward from the middle of the long winter. What makes us feel hopeful that we’re headed toward warmer weather? What keeps us going when we’re tired of shoveling, scraping frost off windshields, bundling up, driving on treacherous roads?

Stopping for a quick visit at Matthaei Conservatory always lifts my winter blues. It’s tropical inside with lush green trees and flowering plants. And in the back is the dry hot air of a desert complete with intriguing desert plant life. For a little while you can lose yourself in another place. A warm place.

I always like to stop and visit a huge rotating pot full of colorful plants. The plants are changed with the seasons, but the best part of this exhibit is the kaleidoscope that transforms the colors in the pot into changeable art. I took this image through the eye of the kaleidoscope. As the pot of plants rotates the image changes.

Spring in the eyepiece.

Spring in the eyepiece.

It’s magic and always makes me smile. And smiling in winter? Well, that’s the first step on the road to optimism.

See other optimistic responses at the original link above. It’s early…so I haven’t picked out any favorites yet. But optimism is such a wonderful concept, they’re all bound to be great.

Another view...just turn the pot.

Another view…just turn the pot.


by 11 Comments

Weeding peace

How does your garden grow?

How does your garden grow?


I weeded tall grass out of our wildflower garden this morning. It’s such an easy garden to maintain; this is the first weeding I’ve done, and with the grass as tall as I am it was easy to figure out which was weed and which was not. Plus I got to weed standing up, always a plus.

Pretty in pink.

Pretty in pink.

In the cool shade with a little breeze weeding was actually enjoyable. The only noises were the birds at the feeders and the bees buzzing around the flowers. I hummed along with them as I worked.

Bzzzzzzzzz....

Bzzzzzzzzz….

At one point, carefully standing in the middle of the garden I looked up and thought – – I should go get the camera. This is so pretty Mom would like to see it, I’ll email her some photos.

Does anyone know what this is? About 3 feet tall.

Does anyone know what this is? About 3 feet tall.

And then, for a split second I remembered and waited for the sad to come rolling over me. But it didn’t.

Royal colors.

Royal colors.

Instead I felt sure she was already seeing it, even before I took the first shot. And I was also sure she thought it was just as beautiful as I do.

Crazy beautiful.

Crazy beautiful.

I remember as a little girl picking her flowers from the fields and woods around the house. She put them in a juice glass and set them up on the windowsill above the kitchen sink. So when I accidentally broke a pretty pink zinnia I tucked it in my shirt right next to my heart. And when I got inside I put it in a juice glass.

And I smiled.

For my mom.

For my mom.


by 13 Comments

Cee’s flower challenge

Check out Cee’s blog where she sports a beautiful sunflower and challenges us to show everyone a flower from our own yards.

Well, you’ve seen many of the flowers in my garden, but this one is interesting.

Will be bright red soon!

Will be bright red soon!

It’s a crocosmia. The foliage is green spiky leaves perhaps 3 or more feet tall which remind me of gladiola leaves. The flowers open up one by one from one end of this bud to the other. This one happens to be bright red, but I’ve seen them in other shades of red and orange. They are stunning.

It’s a perennial so it comes up year after year, and each year there are more. I’m going to have to move some of these to another spot, so if anyone who lives near would like a few for a corner of their own garden let me know! (Click the small photo to see more detail.)

Pretty

Pretty


by 16 Comments

Yard treasures

Mr. Oriole comes for grape jelly.

Mr. Oriole comes for grape jelly.


One of the joys of being retired is time spent in my own back yard. There’s time to sit on the deck out back, watch the clouds scoot by, the light change on the birch trees, the birds coming in shifts to feed, even the grass growing. What a treat.

Ripening black raspberries.

Ripening black raspberries.


I remember the days when, while backing out of the driveway on my way to work, I noticed the early morning sun on the front of the house and felt a pang that another beautiful day at home was going to slide by without me. Now I have to keep reminding myself that I get to stay and enjoy the peace.
Gift from blue jay.

Gift from blue jay.

I constantly catch myself feeling sad that a day is ending, a weekend finished, a week gone by. It’s as if my body is automatically gearing up to go back to work after a vacation, sad that it’s ending. And then I remember that it’s not.

Roses bloom.

Roses bloom.

So if you see me smiling quietly to myself you’ll know I’m just mentally pinching myself.

And enjoying the treasures in my own yard.

Mrs. Oriole visits for a snack.

Mrs. Oriole visits for a snack.


by 14 Comments

WordPress Photo Challenge: ROY G. BIV

Do you know what Roy G Biv is?  I didn’t.   It stands for red, orange,yellow,green, blue, indigo, and violet, the colors of the rainbow.  Yesterday I went over to my local nursery to find examples of those colors.  You can see other interpretations at the original post, or see a few of my favorite shots here, here and here.   And don’t miss this one, it’s wonderful!

 


by 31 Comments

Define retirement

 

Dogwood in morning.

Dogwood in morning.

Two weeks into retirement and I find myself continually confused.  In a good way.

I don’t wear a watch and since I’m not sitting at my desk with a computer monitor and phone, both declaring the time, I have no idea as the day progresses what time it is.

Turns out it doesn’t matter.

I go to bed when I’m sleepy and Katie-girl gets me up in the morning when she’s not, generally earlier than I’d wake on my own.  But that’s no problem, we go about her business and then go back to bed.  Or not.

It really doesn’t matter.

Peony in pink.

Peony in pink.

I don’t know what day it is either.  I suppose that will become more of a problem when I schedule appointments or volunteer for something.  Or set a deadline for a some project.

But at the moment it doesn’t matter.

Predictably, the good intentions I had for retirement — going out for a walk every morning, spending an hour a day weeding flower beds hasn’t materialized.  It’s rained you know.

Excuses, excuses.

Damp poppy

Damp poppy

But the good news is that in retirement there’s always another morning.  Nothing has to get done today, there’s time tomorrow.  And the next tomorrow.

Which still surprises me.  And leads to naps in the middle of the day.

The definition of retirement turns out to be time.

What a luxury.

Clematis center

Clematis center


by 27 Comments

Katie’s Day 1

Katie here.

Well.

By now you all know that my mama retired.  Whatever that means.  It doesn’t seem to be about me so I’m not all that interested.  But today I’m starting to figure out that life as I knew it is over!

This is my house and I make the rules. Don't I?

This is my house and I make the rules. Don’t I?

First of all, mama was home all weekend, which is a little strange cause she usually goes to work at least some of the time.  That’s my favorite time to nap and get ready for an adventure.  When she gets home from work on the weekends we almost always go somewhere fun and she lets me sniff and sniff and sniff while she walks around sighing and daydreaming and stuff.

But this weekend was all rainy and we didn’t do anything exciting.  Mostly she napped on the sofa.  I bugged her a lot to try to get her to play but she was in some sort of coma, you know?

Anyway…today is Monday and she’s supposed to get up early, so I did my usual…and got her out of bed at 4:40 a.m.  She did not seem pleased.  But you know what she did?  She just went out to the sofa and went back to sleep!  Huh!  So I went to sleep for awhile too.  Then I woke her up again and she told me to go lay down.  So I did though I was confused.  This went on for some time till finally she got up and took me out and then we went back to sleep again!

And then she didn’t go to work!!  She just hung around all morning!  What’s with that?  I am missing my princess nap! How am I supposed to keep up my princess looks without my late morning nap?

And then she took me outside and she started weeding!

Yep that's supposed to be a garden back there.

Yep that’s supposed to be a garden back there.

Well!  I LOVE weeding cause I get to be outside a long time with my mama and I get to bark at all the cars that go by, and the jogger, and my neighbor, and a truck, and a duck, and a rabbit, and my neighbor again.

After awhile my mama said I needed to go inside.  But then she bagged up the garbage…so I just had to bark some more!  Geeze mama, if you want me to be quiet you’ve got to sit down woman!

So anyway, I think my mama’s new full time job is weeding.  She says we’re going to go outside every single morning and work on the gardens.  Or she might just mow over the top of them.  We’ll see.

I’m undecided if this retirement thingy is good for me.  So far I haven’t seen any adventures come out of it; mostly I’ve just gotten yelled at for barking too much.  I kinda liked it when she went to work, but I guess I’ll adjust.  Maybe tomorrow morning I’ll wait till 5:15 to get her out of bed.

You think she’ll like that better?

Kisses mama!

Love, your gal Katie.