Salvaged from Salvation Army

you were seen in wood
now a forgotten artist
part of my garden

Sunday thought

And in my garden
the Lion lays down
with the lamb

And I forgot to tell you about St. Francis
 tending to the wards at ground level
-those who are often despised
It is fitting that he stands
in water isn't it?
all need water
all need compassion
I walk past him
and bend
nodding
I know the warmth of such blessing

Old friends

I am drawn to the
sitting
Buddha
in the garden
a reminder to stop
be silent
listen
forget
the work
just be still
and let the garden
open
before me

and then there is
the figure of the
standing Chinese
warrior near the rose
who stands guard
at least I think he does
I stop by him too
and take in the sense
of my responsibility
to all within my charge
in this Open Bar of Joy

and I continue past
the iron witch on her broom
a bit of fancy for me
and mischief
always there courtesy
of the many wards that
grace my trees

And then I quietly
look upon drift wood carved
in the image of the Madonna
and Child
An arrow of awe strikes my heart
for the unknown artist who made
this image, only to have me buy
it at the Salvation Army store
irony of irony

And tucked in here and there
is more fancy and fun
and old things that I cannot part with
tucked in behind a hosta or two
to become one day part of the garden itself

Things in the garden come and go
ying and yang
rust and crumble
But I like it like that
Joy!

My Birdwatcher

When Boo was a baby, a wee 2 week old baby, with no mama
I used to take him out in the garden to get his Vitamin D
and to let him walk around the grass and such to explore
Once he actually found a toad....well, the toad found him
to be truthful
When Boo was this little, my oldest Kitty, Webster was dying from kidney failure.
I took him outside too, his only time out in the garden, right before he died,
he sat in the sunshine.
I almost saw in his eyes..."Why did you never let me come out here before?"

I'm going to put his ashes in the garden this year,near my Buddha
so he can be outside all the time
There is danger outside for kitties......especially from people
So Boo has to stay inside too now
He loves to watch the birds and the squirrels..those nutty squirrels
that come up to the window to tease him
Boo will have to watch me in the garden from the window too
I never want him to get a taste of how glorious a garden can be
I love him too much

The garden brings out my gypsy

Ah, lots of work ahead,
isn't it exciting?
I saw green grass yesterday near the retreating ice

It's how I feel inside....green and living
Lots of debris to remove, things to cut back
winter shelter no longer needed
exposure is what we need..soon soon
letting the new growth of what is perennial break forth and grow
and the bulbs..those little gems in a fist...miracles really
like me....once a little bulb
now a grown gardener
Not a Latin name kind of garden
But the kind of gardener that I am as a person
free, wild,beautiful,and joyful
following my instincts, like the wards of my garden ( oh that Harry Hawk)
and each and every flower ,tree and bush that is in my garden
grow and be beautiful..enjoy the rain, the wind ,the sun
This is your life... and mine
Joy

winter's last assemblage

Assemblage:
A form of art involving the assembly and arrangement
of unrelated objects, parts, and materials in a kind of sculptural collage.

-Webster's New World Dictionary


This happens all the time in the garden...art.
You only have to look for it.
Things such as light, branches, twigs, footprints, flowers, leaf texture,
rocks, fallen feathers, bark, water... and did I say light?
come together at different times and form
an assemblage of beauty and mystery and delight
in the garden.
Sometimes it happens around things you have added to the garden
for structure or form
but most times it's simply the elements at work
busy creating unintended still lifes
Blessed is the gardener,or wench, who walks
the hallowed ground of a garden with the eye
open for beauty
for beauty is the language
of the holy
and it brings the being
joy

ice drops

I know my little pocket camera and inexperience cannot capture
the awe I felt looking at the white oak branches that were
holding, suspended- in- ice, drops of water. It was so beautiful,magical
these ornaments of a warming day.
I feel like I am thawing,too.
Each morning I walk in the garden,
and though this time of year it is its ugliest,
I find beauty in the beast.
Soon the work will begin
and I will be filled with joy and purpose
helping to reveal the new life
just below
 the debris and leaves of the season of autumn,
cleaning up and repairing the
unintended damage of the winter
storms
Survival....uncovered in both of us

Hearts

My heart hung all winter long
held up by the generous arms of the white oak
its many branches striking quite a silhouette
against an all too often bleak sky,but
this metal heart was right there with me
her tinkling glass beads and brass bells cheering me
as they were moved by the cold north wind,
even during the blizzard she held on (as did I)
and today she dazzles me with her beauty,
reflecting the sun's rays under the heartache blue sky
It is coming, I can feel it,taste it,hear it
Spring is sending out her arrival song
I hear it in the icicles dripping
feel it in the angle of the sun's rays on my face
taste it in the warming air that ascends
up my being awakening a primal memory
of what this is......life force
changing its garments
Joy!

Rocks

I have had a love affair with rocks for as long as I can remember.
When I was a kid I gathered them all the time while
on my daily journeys and while on picnics with my parents.
How ununderstanding my parents were about hauling them home.
Once the bottom drawer of my dresser gave way under the weight of my precious rocks.
Nothing has changed. I still love and collect rocks.
The garden is full of them.
They create habitat for my wards of the lower realm...bugs
bugs bring birds and toads
it magic I tell you
all so connected this garden
Joy

looking for beauty

Not much beauty in the garden
this morning
plants still asleep
Little bits of lily green
dared to stick their heads up
nipped by snow and cold
they ceased their enthusiasm

But I tarried onward looking
and I ceased my search
for before me a still life laid
on the flagstone path
Between the spaces
white sleety ice balls catching
and holding scattered black sunflower seeds
a dash of fallen red catkins
making it complete
a feeling of zen in the garden
on this winter day

white heath asters
engulf the garden chair
I dreamt last night
of the garden going wild
me sitting and cheering it on
but I awoke to a dusting of snow
and whispered to myself
soon,soon you will dance under green
sing in floral chaos
pray in light across blooms

Sometimes it's hard to let go
 I looked up to the Horse chestnut branches
and whispered to it,"let go that last leaf" -- morning light flanking its swelling buds
Let go ....it's over
you have survived
..we have survived
it's easy from here on
and then I  hugged it
..the tree..just in case
 Because an old gardener that I once knew
 told me that trees need a spring
whack on their trunks to get the sap moving
but I am non violent
So I hugged

Every garden needs a patio,

or two,

a place to sit,

and sit and sit.

A pleasure given to us.

At the start of my day,

after my walk through the garden

looking for joy,

I sit here in the front of the house

and watch the sun rise,

listen to the birds sing their morning songs

of territory or love.

Sometimes a neighbor will pass by,

"Nice morning" they say.

And it is, if you sit a while,

and sit some more,

taking it all in

...this day of your life

-beginning

Cardinal

You have been a blessing to me,
your scarlet feathers against white.
I have watched you from the window
clutching a branch until the blizzard's wind
swept you away for the night to I don't know where.
But, you faithfully return knowing that I will put out seed,
and not knowing, it is my survival at hand, too

When you turn and enter the open garden you are greeted by this sign
and many other things hanging on the arbor
But today I want to focus on this word...love

When God was lonely He made a garden.
I understand.

My Garden
Like a lover you know me
In little ways you
thrill me
please me
surprise me
nuture me
teach me
the mysteries of life
that come from
your bounty and struggle
But we are partners
in this dance of survival
and love
is the music

footprints in the snow

I peered out from the bedroom window
amazed at the footprints in the snow
so many visitors to my Open Bar of Joy
I have been busying myself with garden books
and old garden magazines, dreaming
of what will come
and making plans to change a few things
...truly the garden is telling me to change a few things
"we don't like it here, there's now too much shade"
Oh I love this stirring of spring, and dare I say summer
inside of me
hope on the horizon of my being

Handsome came in

Oh, the life of a feral cat
a hard life
full of injury,hunger,abuse by humans,cold
and no human love or a comfy chair
But I do try to provide this one,Handsome..with 3 squares and a heated house and water bowl
He meows like a broken wringer washing machine..and runs when I open the door
even after all these years of our relationship
In the summer he enjoys the shade I provide and the many opportunities of birdwatching
he is as much a part of My Open Bar of Joy as the lilies
Yesterday I locked Boo (my 9month kitty) I locked him up in the laundry room
and opened the patio door
and who should step inside with one paw and look around...smelling the food I left just inside the door-Handsome
He nervously ate looking around like he was pulling off a heist
I spoke to him from behind the counter...he meowed
then quickly scooted out the door
It was the best he could do
gosh I love that old cat
and..Boo was finally let out of the laundry room

And just a note to say thank you to Everyday Goddess for choosing one of my posts as her post of the week
thus giving me a bright sun to show on my blog
Sometimes I think I write with no one seeing, but it really doesn't change the joy of writing it
for joy is the fuel that I live on..thank you Goddess.. visit her and the other posts of the week at:
http://www.goddesswrite.com/

I like squirrels

Call me daffy, but I love to watch squirrels, and so does my
little cat, Boo. He spends hours jockeying for a spot ,in the sunlight,
by the patio door, to watch his buddies brave the elements
just to get seeds.....
I gave them peanuts the other day..and darn if I didn't see the
furry thing dash across the snow,then begin digging furiously in the snow
until only his ears appeared.....he was burying his peanut....is that nuts or what?
He almost buried himself. It was 10 degrees out

But that is the charm of these little beasts....free spirits of the garden
who go about their business ignoring me until I get too close
but showing up at my window with hopefulness in their eyes for a handout
Sure they dig up my pots on the deck
sure they eat my tulip tree flowers
sure they knock over the birdbath EVERY day
sure they dig up the ground stashing things like seeds and nuts
But they plant trees, too...did you know most oak trees started growing
because of some nutty squirrel doing what he is driven to do?
Why you might even say he's a fellow gardener ..hee hee
They bring me joy
and that is enough, isn't it?
and besides.....they are wild animals
whose habitat happens to be my garden
coexist, I say

see.

wondering about robins

It's quite beautiful today
blue skies,bright sunshine
the air so cold it is refreshing
as it passess through my nostrils
warmed up by joy as it enters my lungs
that take it all in
and I give thanks for such a day

The robins are everywhere,big fat rolly polly ones
This early morning they were dipping in this dirty
heated birdbath....and happy to be doing so
I have heard a few chirps out of them, but no songs
as of yet...and I have been listening
Do robins sing in winter?..I wonder
So today I am going to hit the internet and find out

I do know that they have many songs

...could it be that they can teach me how to sing
in winter?

Ah, the metal trellis growing in my garden
It's beauty, at this time of year,
is as welcomed as the red tulip in Spring
maybe more,
for it is an oasis in the desert
of winter

 

Dove sitting on branch

The Horsechestnut stands naked

Stilllife this morning

Made of metal
it still is a flower to me
for beauty is in the seeing
and seeing is in the beauty
of being

There is always beauty
to be found,
like these purple
coneflower heads,
covered in white,
waiting for a snow
butterfly to come along

just white

It's over now
quiet and beauty have returned
as have the birds seeking what is left
in the feeders
That thunder snow was something
and the howling wind and snow pelting the windows
all night was most awakening
I love a good storm
and we had one
Handsome made it to my door yesterday
walking in snow so deep I thought he'd get lost
but he found his way here,ate
and moved on to who knows where
that is one tough cat

empty

I braved the walk outside to fill the feeders.
It is really starting to get windy and the snow is beginning,
so I hurriedly filled them after finding half of them down on the ground opened up.
Hmmm...I wonder who did that?
I made sure Handsome's heater was on and working and that his water bowl was plugged in ,too
but I have not seen him for about 4 days. ... I will make sure food is out for him ,too
I only hope the snow is not too heavy and that it will not damage the trees or bushes
but if it does...what can you do? This is winter in his prime
his glorious lap around the landscape.....