The false indigo was in bloom this morning
underneath it as I walked by
two little bunnies flashed away into the brush
It is so good to see life in the garden and not death
sometimes there is too much death
lately, too much.
So this morning's walk, to see what's going on
in the garden, did me some healing good
ying and yang
dark and light
sweet and sour
life and death
When an environment is disturb
a space opens up for weeds to grow

oh how I know this

memorial weekend

  the wild buttercup
  showing up in the most unlikely places
free and hard to tame
but beautiful in its revealing
...like thoughts
that live in my internal garden
that pop through my carefully tended plot of life

doing what they must
to be seen

Remember this memorial weekend

  those who paid

the ultimate price

 while serving

their country

 Oh my...I knew they were in there
and I was so worried looking out the window at their house
rocking and blowing in the storm yesterday
and this morning it is 40 degrees outside
I reached up and stuck my camera by the entrance
and took a shot...ha! I got a picture of them
and they are peeping like hungry babies
I think they thought I was mom or dad
showing up with a bug or two
Boy, those parents work all day feeding this crew
It has been a miserable spring
But there have been a few glorious days
when the sun was shining and it was warm
You take them as they come...the good days

I have not seen Handsome for over a month
the last time I saw him he had an abscessed face
If I never see him again..my little wench heart will be broken
I love that rascally old cat

 The color green breathed life into this wench yesterday.
I had so much to do inside, but the call of joy won me over
and I spent the day pruning the deadwood out of the Dogwoods
and pulling out the last of the goldenrod which took over the garden last year
and yanking out as much of Deady nighshade that I could get my hands on
and for this I was rewarded with a tick in my hair
Yes, I said a tick..nasty little bug
I felt something crawling on my head and went right in to shake it off
into the sink..and was shocked to see
a tick fall into  my white sink
Oh lordie...and I just watched a special on PBS about Lyme disease and ticks
But I guess when you have skunks, coyotes,possums, racoons and a fox
bellying up to your Open Bar Of Joy
I guess you must expect them
I already wear gloves when I dig in the soil
Now I'll have to strip and shower when coming inside
hmm....not a bad idea for a wench.
..hee hee

 

The early morning garden never fails to
bring me to my knees in thankfulness
for all that grows.. not by my command
but because... only because

it is their destiny
I'm especially awed by morning light
it freshness lighting a new day
may I live it well
today
...live my destiny too 

 My dear husband calls such things
my clinking clanking clattering collections of caliginous junk
ah, but he's wrong
rather they are bright brilliant illuminated light lucid
radiant shining visible lucid loves of mine hanging from every tree
With the slightest breeze
with the early rays of morning light
or the dazzling rays of a perfect sunset
they set this wench's being alive
with joy
and I didn't have to go to OZ to get it
it's in my own backyard
now..to find some red garden clogs

 I have a good husband.
He knows my heart.
So when I discovered that my fox visitor
was dead
and I cried
cried hard
He let me have my sorrow
not a word of jest or mockery
or criticizing
just a big quiet hug

 The fox came to me old and weary
not like the handsome animal above
He stayed a week sleeping in Handsome's Igloo house

curled up on a blue and white knit afghan
like a happy pup

I know some of you are horrified
that he died under my deck
But I am honored that his journey ended here
he had nothing to fear from me
I saw him as a messenger
and I mourn for him
I will think of him
beautiful and running free

Oh the frustration of cold days in the spring
especially the mornings when I like most to be in the garden
But life is much like the garden
you must be patient and adaptable to survive its fickleness
Last night as I laid in bed listening to the radio
I heard  there was a possible frost warning
Now, I was all snug in the bed and this wench
wasn't about to run all over the garden covering things
lord of the garden...Stafford, please keep the frost away
shazam... he's good...no frost 
This morning I saw that the wild hyacinth is blooming
amongst the wild geraniums and sweet woodruff

and a bearded iris bathing in light

and oh light and reflection in the water...truly a joy

and our Illinois wild columbine

and Solomon seal and wild geraniums

and my prized yellow trillium

A friend of ours died suddenly this past week
and I thought, while walking in the garden this morning,
of all the things he worried about
...things that don't matter any more



footsteps flatten grass
birds eat at feeders
presence left behind

Stafford

 I was so happy working up a sweat
in the Open bar of Joy, weeding and pruning and planting
But the temperature has gone from 90 to 40
and it has rained for two days

I don't mind the rain really, it's pretty seeing all the green lushness
dripping and shining in the garden, the birdbaths staying full
The robins enjoying their baths in the showers
A delightful sight from my kitchen window
...and right outside my patio door
I can see my new gnome who is riding on an owl
while holding a fishing pole
He looks rather wise, yet playful..devilish actually
So I have named him Stafford.
..conductor of the garden
he's rather cute...don't you think?

The crab apples lost their blossoms

the other day in the high winds of a storm

that never amounted to much

I was standing on the driveway as the pink petals

were swirling around

rather pretty and amazing at the same time

almost like seeing the wind

The next day pink colored the driveway

As I was weeding yesterday

a little bird flitted past me

scratching through the dropped seeds

It was the white- crowned sparrow

I think something wasn't quite right

it didn't fly away as I got nearer

thus the picture with this old camera

I saw a catbird and thrush also but they

are too fast for this wench

I hope to get a better camera soon

look out world

I though I lost all of my ajuga,also known as bugleweed

but here it is..in a different place

oh the surprises of the garden

..why a daily walk is essential

..a meandering through

intensely looking for hidden joy

 The garden is filling with

joyfulness as the strong color of the azaleas

is like a samba

through the garden

Oh how happy I am

in my element

 The Celandine poppies are blooming
along with the weeds...!
This morning it was glorious being out in the garden
The birds were bathing like crazy
right in front of me and the little white crowned sparrows
were flitting about only 2 feet away
I could spend my entire life in a garden
surrounded by plants and animals
OH!
Yesterday afternoon in the 90 degree heat
while I was rearranging the rock pile
my toad appeared
Oh this is a good sign
I can for sure open the bar of joy!




 

 It is finally happening
my heart, my spirit, my whole body
rejoicing in the garden
So much love I feel for this wondrous place
I thrill in the mystery every year
what tells them to wake up
to rise, to open?
What unseen conductor is here?
The violets right now are glorious
no matter what is next to them, be it
false indigo,ferns, or dandelions
it is a symphony of joy to me

purple petal joy
near you false Indigo true
the color of kings

 

broken pots

 My heart is filled with beauty this morning
...though the birdbath is empty
Do you have trouble keeping your birdbath filled?
It seems happy birds like to bathe

One of my clay pots broke over the winter
so in an effort to cross over the vinca
I placed broken pieces across the ground
to step over to the birdbath
and looking at it I said,
Hey, I rather like the look of it
so I went around looking for more broken pots
to make a path through the vinca to the birdbath
Ah this wench was happy with what she had created
Necessity... the mother of my  joy!

The fox was on the deck early this morning
sleeping all curled up
I let him be and made a pot of coffee
When I looked out again he was gone
I had a few errands to run today
but late morning I went for a walk outside in the garden
Little by little the weeds are going and the old stuff cut away
There was the distinct smell of what I now know of as fox
wafting through the yard as I surveyed the ground to see what new plant
is showing its glorious head
I can't believe how tall the Solomon seal has gotten...bells hanging off of it
Tomorrow I will post pictures of them...my camera's battery today was dead
The wild geraniums and sweet wood ruff and ferns
are joining in the dance of spring merriment
as are the columbine and violets and trillium and golden seals
I got a new computer so I could have some peace.....not going to happen
I had to wait for the computer guy to come over to help me figure things out
That meant less time in the garden.....will it ever happen?
a full day outside with no interruptions
This wench is getting horny for the garden
hee hee

Lunch today with my mom was a delight
We also managed to swing by a few garden centers
and boy did we load up my car with plants
Tomorrow we will be heading off to Galena
so the garden will have to wait somemore
oh dear
I did take an afternoon stroll and found this volunteer
Oregon Grapeholly growing in the sweet woodruff
I have never tried to transplant one..maybe this year
The robins are crazy over the berries in the fall
waiting till they are good and fermented
and
they always manage to "plant" some seeds before they leave
Now if they could only plant roses
joy

Oh dear, it's going to be warm today
and the fox wasn't here this morning
but I can't garden either
I having a day out with my mom
But I am so happy to see that the garden marches on without me
and so the weeds
But this morning I uncoverd my spirit rocks
and felt happy...old friends
oh that old toad I had forgotten about him
hee hee .. I just love toad and frogs and turtles
This ceramic one should have been put away
in the fall
oh well
wabi sabi
he's beautiful now
seeing that he survived the cold

garden of the wild things
awakening life again
from the window too

It is still so cold outside
and the ground still moist
not nice to kneel on
But the garden goes on without my interference
and this brings me joy
Like spotting these Golden Seals rising out of the earth
These are honored guests of the garden
rescued plants that survived
now my wards

The garden...
A constant
growing things and seasons
wind and light
birdsong and insects
and fox
On my deck this morning... curled up like a good old pooch
As soon as things got stirring in the neighborhood
he was gone
I'm trying to ignore him
but tell me..could you have a fox sleeping on your deck
and not peek out the window?

Will it ever get over 70?
will I ever be able to spend an entire day outside?
I saw it squat the other evening and pee
a girl?
oh no
no
no

I will be busy this day moving things
transplanting them to new areas
Like Bee Balm and coneflowers and sundrops
way too many in certain areas
Above in the photo are Tiger Lillies
just rising through the earth out front in the bed
I did not plant them
I am a believer...that when I see something new rising
through the earth..I wait and see
maybe it could be something good
In fact that is how I got my mystery plant out back
that no one seems to know what it is...smells like horse barn when it flowers
but it is a beauty from afar and it hasn't spread...just has become a huge clump
anyway.....When I spotted the plant that now I know is a tiger lilly

I just watched and watched until it popped flowers of the most beautiful kind
But the most wonderful part is that it drops seeds readily and now I have a host of them
out front. I have had to instruct the landscaper on what is a weed and what is a flower
..such a thing..
I have them weed out front...I have my hands full out in the back
but one summer they pulled all the babies out...
this wench was not very happy...that doesn't happen anymore
But it seems that the lillies have jumped the border into the rocks
and I have to take action
want some?

The harebells have begun to leaf out
These I have moved from house to house
bits of me coming along
over 35 years of moving
There is something comforting about old friends
especially when you can remember who gave them to you
These came from Mrs. Pfifenroth

One spring the landscapers almost
removed the lot of them
Horror
No more letting them in my yard
except to cut the grass
I have given many harebells away
their happy nodding bells of violet blue
cheering up even the most non-gardener
and they ask for little
mostly to be left alone...that I can do

I used to have Jack in the pulpits growing there
I guess he's preaching elswhere...I miss him next to them..sort of the choir
but I have other preachers throughout the garden
that I enjoy gazing on when they outstretch their arms
in full glory
Had a varigated one...he left too
oh well..such is the life of a wench
you love em and they leave you

The fox...well, he's still here
showed up this morning and went straight in the "den"
he had a run in again with the racoon...who is making my yard a nightly haunt
NO Handsome in over a week
What with all this wildlife traffic going on in my Open Bar of Joy
I can't blame him...but boo hoo I miss that old rascal cat

I glued a few birdhouses back together, cleaned the feeders and birdbaths
now on to the pots..and planting the annuals...though they say we might have frost!
can you believe it?
So much work to do
 to make the garden look effortless
and inviting..
maybe I should rethink this inviting thing
right now it seems ..standing room only
blessings and joy

Little weary fox
I'll not bother you for now
rest
I have a front garden to tend
...and I really make nothing grow
it grows for someone else
That same someone you serve
without knowing

I walked out front and saw
sidwalk art
ash tree buds reflected on concrete
shadows of delight
like I was little again
and I would have missed it
if it weren't for you
forcing me out front
to wander this morning

fox in the box

Oh dear
I have a fox in the box
literally
Yesterday morning I opened the drapes and there
in Handsome's box
 (my feral kitty that I have been feeding for 5 years)
was a fox
Well we left him alone and went our way
when we returned later in the day he was there
but shortly after my looking at him through the glass door
he left
phew..problem solved
ah..no
This morning I saw him drinking out of the bird dish
and eating Handsome's old food
and then he curled up in the igloo shelter
and went to sleep
oh dear...he has a messed up tail
and his back legs are full of mud
As I look at him now..he looks like a very
happy dog sound asleep
What's this going to do to my gardening
...and don't tell me to call the police
they'll kill him
...... now he's my ward
my problem
we'll just wait and see
I'll let you know
poor thing
and I haven'tseen Handsome for over a week
hmmm
oh..
and he and Boo were having a stared down
poor Boo he hasn't got a clue
that's him in the picture hunkered down
hee hee he thinks the fox can't see him
oh dear how do I always get myself
into these things