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Garden Update And Late Starts

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Every year I promise I won't go AWOL during the main growing season of the garden. Just so I will get everything done and catch up with the past year's neglect. but every year I manage to break those unspoken, informal vows. Usually family related, but sometime through the call of far off places I leave the yard in varying states of upkeep and return to a jungle. This year I didn't even … [Read more...] about Garden Update And Late Starts

Fire Pit Conversations

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Nights Are Cool, But The Conversation Creates Warmth We embarked on a venture to improve our family interactions and it eventually led to creating a firepit conversation area this summer. It was a quick project and has already proven to add a cozy feeling to our nightly conversations. Join me around the fire as I share with you what we are doing, why, and what it has meant to us so far. Even … [Read more...] about Fire Pit Conversations

My Rural Life

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My husband and I bought and started homesteading this place in the mid 1980's. I had no skills, and plenty of dreams. I never managed to have that flock of sheep I envisioned, but instead raised a flock of children. That became my main crop. We all worked hard. I sure wish we had used more mechanized equipment. I truly know what the old saying means, " a hard row to hoe..." Chickens It was … [Read more...] about My Rural Life

Brand New Post On The New Site

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Here we are... the first post in a new season. It inspires me. The first inspiration is to update my garden as well. For years I have renovated, and renovation is always somehow lacking. I want to return to some of the joy that comes from creating something new. My idea is to redo some of the gardens in a ways that identifies and places focal points inside the garden rooms, and indeed make more … [Read more...] about Brand New Post On The New Site

2014 Too Soon

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Lights among the plants Another way to say "Tempus Fugit", it seems that we simply flew into the new year, with the holidays as almost a passing thought. I don't think I've ever felt that a Christmas season had ever been as attenuated as this one. Few seem to have this view, and many are glad to see 2013 behind. For me it was a year of highs and lows and little in between, but mostly a … [Read more...] about 2014 Too Soon

Am I In The Wrong Place?

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Southern Ohio Hocking Hills, Autumn My husband and I are talking about the future. We are at the age where we must think about the priorities of the end chapters of our life together... where to live, how to preserve our health, what sort of plan to do what is important to us. And then, as I was looking at gardens that people make in all sorts of place -in mountain sides, in woods, in … [Read more...] about Am I In The Wrong Place?

The Butterflies Are Coming

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The butterfly exhibition is coming to Franklin Park Conservatory. Starting on March 19th this year, the Conservatory will host Blooms and Butterflies and start it off with a Butterfly Carnival.This exhibition is one of the most entertaining ways to experience the Franklin Park Conservatory, although I think there is something exciting about all their programs. This one,though, is almost magical. … [Read more...] about The Butterflies Are Coming

New Project At Hand- A Prairie Spot

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September Drought It has been a dry and heartless September, so what is a gardener to do? Start a new garden bed, of course. Actually, it wasn't that blithe a decision, since I had been reducing gardened areas. So why would I now carve out a new, quite large bed from the already reduced lawn area of the front yard?   Dissatisfaction With the Garden I have been dissatisfied … [Read more...] about New Project At Hand- A Prairie Spot

Wedding Flower Advice

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"As much as I didn’t like my flowers at the time, I have with time, learned two important lessons. 1) don’t be talked into flowers that you don’t want, and write down those you do and 2) the flowers aren’t what make the day. As much as I love flowers, I’d rather have bad flowers and my husband than perfect flowers without him" That is what Gwendolyn has to say about it. I enjoyed reading her … [Read more...] about Wedding Flower Advice

Chihuly Reimagined at Franklin Park Conservatory

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While not getting to all the events we wanted to this Holiday season, we did manage an after Christmas trip to the Franklin Park Conservatory. I have a number of picture posts to make, but the first thing I wanted to highlight was the medley of art glass and botanical beauty that is so well melded in the Chihuly exhibitions that Franklin Park Conservatory presents.I think this is the perfect … [Read more...] about Chihuly Reimagined at Franklin Park Conservatory