The Pleasures of the Garden

 Twenty years ago, when I was still in my second marriage, I was living in the country on land that boasted very dense clay soil. In spite of the difficulty of the ground, I managed to convince some gorgeous white antique roses as well as some herbs like tansy and mother wort to flourish there. I had daydreams that when I was older, I might live in a cottage with a beautiful flower garden, where the earth was easy and cooperative.

Now I do live in just such a place. The front garden has a lovely English style (read profuse and a bit chaotic) flower and herb garden.  In the back, there is a shade garden and two areas where I grow vegetables.

From the time I saw the place, I thought the front shutters should be painted blue rather than the faded charcoal grey they were. I like them much better this way, and they bring out the color of the masses of pale love-in-a-mist that are now blooming in various parts of the front garden.

These love-in-a -mist are happy I painted the shutters blue

These red roses were the first to bloom in the back garden.

I planted two other roses on either side of this red one, which was here when I arrived.

The entire back of the garden near the compost bin was terribly overgrown then, but I have cleared it and created a beautiful space to grow vegetables and herbs.

There are two immense rosemary plants and now the parsley, squash, tomatoes, arugula, radishes, lettuce, borage and cardoon plants are all enjoying each others' company there.








My daughter pruned back the roses that grow over the swing in the front garden last year, and now they provide quite an exuberant display.   It's wonderful to be able to retreat into the garden during the times when I am working on various creative development projects.  It's refreshing just to sit and take a break in the scents and colors, with the birds all around.

The masses of pink roses over the swing in the front garden

My daughter (who just got a Master's in sustainable business) gave me a big pep talk on Mother's day about why I need to write a business plan for Sage's Play, something I've managed to avoid for several years..

So now I've started to create a business plan, which no doubt is the correct next step.

Meanwhile, I continue to be puzzled by how to format this blog.... I'm sure it would help to read more about it, but meanwhile, this interesting spontaneous formatting will continue to amaze me.

The garden offers roses and other flowers for bouquets

I am full up on development these days, between the business plan, working on finishing A New Wrinkle with composer Laura Rich, producing the new Audacious Aging Kits (check out details at this link), getting to the final stages of publishing my memoir Songs of the Inner Life (you can read some reviews here),
oh, is that all? no it's not....

I'm hoping to create a crowdfunding campaign on IndieGoGo this summer to raise money to produce the revue, too....
Anyway, there is a lot going on...and that is one reason why the garden is such a pleasure... I am grateful for its generous beauty.

I wish I were a better photographer. I think these pictures I take are only mildly effective in conveying the beauty of the garden. My photographer friend Helga Motley confirmed that I am a mediocre photographer the other day when I went to her playhouse/studio to do some head shots and to play around with some shots wearing the pins in the Audacious Aging Kit. (will post some of them next time.) Helga, known for her blunt style, told me, "I was amazed you said you were a photographer on your LinkedIn profile." I protested that I never asserted any photography skill. "Well, it's obvious from the photo's you post on your blog and Facebook..."She never finished the sentence, but I knew what she meant and she  is perfectly right. I do occasionally take a decent picture,  but generally speaking,  photography is not my forte.

Must sign off for now, do my meditation practice, have some breakfast and get back to work on the business plan.

This stage of my life seems to be full of opportunities to take risks and learn how to master things I never tried before--like writing a musical revue, learning to produce and market pro-aging products, publishing a memoir, and last but not least, writing a business plan.  This makes me smile.

Hoping that there are many elements in your life that are making you smile, too.

One of the biggest plants is a tree collard- 7 feet tall