singing bell

This is a singing bell I brought home from Door County
It has the most spiritual sound when rung
a call to meditate
perfect for the garden patio
I just hope birds don't fall out of the trees
so peaceful is the sound

Sometimes an ordinary  coneflower
 does it
...brings joy

 It was a scorcher yesterday...102 degrees
The garden suffers under this kind of heat as do we.
I did my best to give relief of water to my flowers and fill the bird baths
after having moved them into a shady area
Nothing seemed to move much in the garden yesterday
but this morning it is 81 and that must seem like a day at the beach to my wards
For they are out flitting around and dipping in the birdbaths and squabbling over seeds
in the feeders...ah...they have come out to comfort me this morning
Praise God for the garden
And my family of squirrels is up to its old antics ... yes
Oh I didn't tell you about what happened the other day when a worker was in the yard
and a squirrel was jumping from one tree to another..and slipped off of the river birch branch
and landed on the shoulder of the man....yikes...I don't know who was more scared
thankfully no one got hurt....but we had a good  laugh
ah laughter.....
good medicine

Still no Handsome
I think my little furry ward
that I have cared for over 6 years
is gone...but I still open the drapes every morning looking for him
I need to hold onto hope

...maybe some wonderful older lady has taken him in
and he sleeps in comfort on a satin pillow
his meals made fresh by her loving hand
who knows...maybe she needed him more than I
and that is where he is
I like that.

late July heat

 Even in the shade, it is too hot
As I walked onto the deck with bare feet, I let out a loud ouch!
holy moly....could fry an egg on that wood
my poor tootsies
But I had to go out to fill the birdbaths
and ground baths...(for little creatures)
One robin sat on my windowsill...mouth open...looking very distressed
They are my wards after all... it is my duty to care for them
if they happen upon my garden...even in this heat

Yesterday the poor landscapers came to trim bushes (very late and over due I may add)
but it seems there is a shortage of laborers...even those who come here only in the summer
so these two fellas had to do it all
Today I went out early to do my walking
to sit...feel the heat..the sun
the tiny flutter of a leaf overhead
I loved the feel of the cool shaded grass between my toes
a bite of chocolate mint
dog days of summer
arf

 The cone flowers and daisies are blooming
and the day lillies and prairie flowers are spilling over the garden
as are the bell flowers, hostas, coreopsis ,bee balm,
joe pye weed,sage, and roses
This I have waited through a long bleak winter to see
and as I bath in all this joy
I look around for what is still to bloom
not much
obedient plant, cardinal flower,
and lead wort
Thank goodness for faithful annuals who give it their all
until frost
All of these friends I have depended on for moments
of joy, beauty and stillness
So fast, like life, this all is accomplished
 along my life's path
in the garden
We have achieved again this year,along with my garden wards,
a wild wonderful place of living

amen

thinking of you

  I took a walk in the garden
let it speak to me
God walks gardens, too.


And as I walked along my garden path thinking of you and loss,
I became aware of early fallen leaves.
Who knows why they fell off of the tulip poplar tree?
Maybe lack of water, too much heat..nudged off by this week's storm
But there they were on the flagstone path,
reminders to me that soon all the leaves will be given up
in their appointed time.

And just ahead of me on the path of fallen leaves
I spotted the nodding flowers of the Easter Lilly.
I planted the bulb...but I was not the one who made it bloom.
I think of you .

The garden...a cathedral of zen
let go...be
see what is before my path
take joy in the song of the robin
let my heart swell with the beauty of the blue shy
know that the apparently dead bulb
lived its destiny and bloomed
in the heat of this summer day
A glorious flower
as am I

stone path shows the way

fallen leaves on summer day

Easter lily seen

oak leaf hydrangea

 One of my favorite shrubs in the garden is the oak leaf hydrangea
I believe it is a native hydrangea
It has dramatic white blooms on it
that tend to turn pink as they age
 and then in the fall the leaves slowly begin turning the most magnificent colors of red
This year I noticed a lot of die back and began my work of pruning away the old dead woody branches
Its leaves are huge and beautiful and quickly let me know if I have neglected them
 This summer my garden has much to forgive me for..
 hopefully I am back on track...no interruptions..only time
 to live in the garden...to tend it, and me

zen in the garden

 I need to sit
empty
let go of my longing
hear birds
feel  breeze
smell flower
touch earth
see what is before me


I may be sitting a while

 I thought it auspicious that  lilies graced the head of Buddha
 Sometimes these things just happen
..opened eyes see..

 

It made me think of the lilies I saw when leaving the writing workshop

I saw lilies hugging tree

that's what these opened eyes saw

The garden is in full bloom...live in the moments

magic vehicle

 I went about deadheading this morning,and this simple act
took me away
as the fragrance of spent marigold flowers released in my hand
a powerful vehicle for time traveling
As the scent began to enter my brain as memory
fragrance of another kind filled my being
longing
longing for my grandpa and the days spent in his garden with him
a simple thing...who would think I would remember so powerfully this scent
that as an adult I seek out the dead flowers to rub between my fingers
to find him in the darkness of my closed eyes
for truly it has the magic to put me there

deadheading flowers

closed eyes I see him and me

magic vehicle

 Clematis flower
feet in darkness, head in light
how did you know this?

 Summer has officially begun
Now is the time to enter joy
for everything rises
blooms
and light...that element that awes my being
is at its best
the rising sun as it strikes across the lawn and awakening flowers and trees and bushes
and grasses
moving slowly above high in the sky
until that time when the robins sing at the top of the house
sunset is a lullaby through their beaks
straight into my heart
Today sunshine all day....80's
but it is a Finn day...so garden I sweep my hand across you like the sunlight
grow grow grow
joy

making and finding peace

 I can't seem to shake this tiredness since returning home
from writing workshop

It stopped raining so I took a walk in the garden
began pulling a weed here a weed there and before I knew it I was full steam into weeding
lost...so happily lost in thought of nothing and everything
Close by me was mama rabbit.....I know there is a papa somewhere...so many little ones
scurrying around. She got pretty close to me and started eating some of the weeds I had pulled...
to bad not the thistle...I wish they ate thistle....and goldenrod and nightshade...but they don't
In fact...I am here to tell you that little hare wench and her brood ate my new Cardinal flowers...and my newly planted Black-eyed Susans (since they ate all of them last year)
We looked each other in the eye...made peace and went about our tasks.....
Later in the morning I came inside for a drink of water. I heard chattering in the service berries
..low and behold....a branch of little miniature black capped chickadee babies....begging their parent for a seed or two...from my feeder....What a sight....thank you God....joy
What would I do without a garden to heal and comfort me?
...Two months...still no Handsome.....a broken heart I carry inside

vessel

 Again, more rain
in fact, a storm
My mind is not present this morning, but rather lost and wandering
about what I have to do and what can't be done because of so much rain
and I want to curse it.....bringing so many mosquitoes
that I can hardly stay in the garden even if I wanted to venture
into mud and more mud

Then I see the glass flower that has captured rainwater
I have seen butterflies drink from this very unreal flower
a resting station....a place to sip...
and then they are off... about their duty alighting on flowers
my path has led me to a moment

water held in glass

a butterfly takes a sip

vessels of moment

tulip poplar

 Rain greeted me the day after my return from Wisconsin
Everything looked so wild and unkempt, but so happy
This morning the sun shown brightly
I stepped outside and entered my Open Bar of Joy
Someone must have done a REALLY good job of filling the feeders
...all the seed is gone

The little wards of yellow and red and black and orange
wait in the trees
but they must wait some more
It is the first day of summer and I desire to enter this space of being
So long was the winter
so much longing inside of me
for this very day

I walk the garden..see what has arrived or poked its head through or wandered in
while I was gone....and I am struck by the story told to me from little on
that..God walked the garden...I see the footsteps in my mind's eye
and place my feet in them
....a sliver of happiness before me

I looked up and beheld....yes, that is the word...beheld
for it is full of awe..this sighting of the first tulip flower on the tulip Poplar tree
and already I feel the pull of autumn
But I tuck it away and see the moment and am happy


walk in the garden
tulip poplar's first blossom
I return with awe
 

gone writing

 This wench will be gone this week
living another dream
not hands in dirt
but hands in words
and story
May God ...and Stafford...
watch over it all
till I return

 The goldfinches have become accustomed to seed being there
in the candle cups of the chandelier hanging in the garden
Little yellow bickering buggers
they have even brought their young
to learn the way of the chandelier
Lately so much rain....rain...rain...and more rain
I think of fox under the deck
now only bones and teeth
I hope you are running free
on the other side
I will forever hold you in my being
 a messenger
I too am fox woman
one who walks on the edge of two worlds
...everything is blooming around you
and in me too

saudade

 Rummaging through the garage I found this
amaryllis plant wrapped in a plastic bag tied in a knot
that was placed on the shelf since January
no water, no light
When I opened the bag, the tip of the plant had a touch of green
so I planted it in a spare pot and look
what has happened.....
who knew?