Piedmont Patio Witch: roses

Showing posts with label roses. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Back From a Chilly, Rainy Week in Michigan

The boys and I went back to Michigan last week to hang out with my brother while he was home on leave from Afghanistan. It was a lot of fun, chillin out in my old hometown with the fam, cooking out and drinking. Of course there were other activities thrown in as well - I went to work, hung out with a couple other relatives, etc.

One of the things I wanted to accomplish was moving some of my more meaningful Michigan plants from the old house to my boss/friend's yard, where they could flourish until I have a place for them.

There are a lot of plants in here, including several roses, a big mountain daisy bush in the middle, chives and mint that are a couple generations old, winter and summer savory, lemon balm, lillies that my mom planted decades ago - representing a bouquet of flowers my dad bought her when he was deployed over seas, borage, and a few more meaningful plants.

I didn't have a camera, so I used the crappy one on my phone to take some shots.

I bet this spot will be gorgeous in a few years. *sigh*

I miss my garden! But I'm determined to get over it and move on. What else can you do?

I was out digging in pouring rain in a blue and gold dress, surrounded by poppies and roses and flowering sage and irises and so much more flora that I had spent hundreds of dollars and hours coaxing out of cold Michigan mud, feeling sorry for myself, when my neighbor friend came over. She told me I looked like a garden fairy. We chatted and laughed in the rain, and I offered plants like I have for years.

At least my mark on Grand Rapids isn't doomed to degenerate into wildness forever, given that at least half a dozen yards in the place have blooms originating from my tangled collection. That makes me feel a little better:)

A few last shots from my former Leonard St. garden.

Common Miracles - The View From Where I Sit

The Common Miracles Project was started by Chel over at GingerBlue earlier this year. Out of her research on human happiness, well-being, etc., she found that:

the one piece of advice I have found *across the board*, shared by everyone from religious experts to philosophers to psychologists to historians to self-help gurus is this: FEEL GRATITUDE

So, I'm gonna jump on the bandwagon. The move and leaving behind so many things that are so important to me razes me to my emotion ditch more often than I care to admit, so hopefully this sort of thing can help me keep me "bloom where you're planted" mantra in focus.

Lights in the Darkness

I'm not afraid of the dark. But I do appreciate the different view of common things provided by odd light and shadow. And, of course, my life as a chronic insomniac would be so much less productive and interesting were it not for lights in the darkness.

Roses, ivy, aloe, lavender, etc. on my patio, brightened by a streetlight.

Tea and Honey

There are songs and poems about it; romantic movie lines you wish you had thought of. All for good reason - there is nothing quite so soothing in life as a cup of tea with honey.

I grow and mix much of my own tea, too; part of the process of calming oneself down from a really stressful day. This particular cup has jasmine, mint, and alfalfa with a tad bit of honey from a beekeeper who sells at that Davidson Farmer's Market. The tea ball is from my sweet mother-in-law, Anne.

Alela Diane's To Be Still

I love this mellow folk rock album. It's beautiful and wispy and the imagery often describes places I want to be. Or makes me homesick. I originally bought the album when I was looking for new music on Amie Street, which was criminally sucked up by Amazon MP3. If you like girly voices and folk music and mellow song stylings, you should check it out.

While sitting on your patio, looking at roses, drinking tea with honey. Or at least, that's what I'm doing!

I'm still here! And a new author...

Check out who is still in the land of the living! Work and kids kept me awfully busy for a while there, and just when I needed a break, Easter provided an excellent opportunity for escape. We drove nearly a thousand miles to get to Eau Claire, WI and back to visit family. It was a lot of fun, but damn 8 hours is a long drive when you've got two young energetic BOYS in the backseat. Not to mention a 3-state evening thunderstorm. That was just *awesome*.

But wow did that storm have an major effect on my little .7 acres! I took a bunch of pictures of my garden in progress before we left with the intention of doing a blog post, but I just didn't have the time. So now I get to do a splendid before and after. But before I get to that...

An exciting bit of news! I've sweet-talked one of my dear friends into becoming a contributing author of this blog! Yay!! Woohoo!!! Welcome!!! WaterDaughter, who grew up on a river in Manistee, and I met thanks to our converging paths in the nonprofit circle, and became good friends because we share a love for the green and wild, among other things. She plans on occasionally posting photos and information about the lovely wild things she comes across in her many treks through swampy Michigan wonderfullness.

Now some before and afters:

Chives