Thursday 5 March 2015

Racing With Nature......

 

 
 
I'm on a race at the moment, I'm racing Nature. Now she's not very easy to race with, especially when you've not been in training for a while!

 

 
 
I woke up on Saturday morning, and knew in order to step up my recovery, I need to be getting out into the garden, not only good for my body, but for my soul too.
 
 
 
 
I had three little gardening sessions last year, most of my time being taken up with visits to mum. This year I have more time. I feel I connect with my mum whilst I'm outdoors. She passed on her love of gardening to me, as her dad had done to her. My mum didn't always have an easy life, but I do know her garden healed her and gave her hope.....I'm thinking it will me too.....
 
 
 
 
Last years lack of attention can be seen, there's brambles and weeds everywhere. I've got two choices, I could look on with dismay, and give up. Or I can tackle it head on, but being mindful of my body, my energy levels. I've chosen the second.
 
 
 
 
So that's what I'm doing, half hour slot, perhaps two slots a day, maybe three as the days get longer. It's frustrating though, as what I could do in an hour just a few years ago, now takes me four!
So I'm in a bit of a race, knowing that if I get on top of the weeds this month, well it will make things a whole lot easier this summer!
 
 
 
 
This is the garden this morning, well half of it.....I'm stood on the top of a large slope, there's two large beds behind me as well as my patio, leanto little greenhouse and pots.
The bed to the left only gets sun from mid afternoon, so lots of shade loving plants in here. To the right are my veg beds and herb bed, which get lots of sun. I'm going to add another bed this year.....my veg seeds have arrived, I'm excited!
At the bottom of the garden the large bed is about 1 1/2 metres deep, it gets lots of spring sun and I always think of it as my spring garden. The bench gets the morning sun.....perfect for a morning cuppa, and a little crochet!
 
 
Image via my Pinterest page.
 
Image via my Pinterest page.
 
I do however have a Fantasy Garden, there's a beautiful, studio along the width of the garden. I think it will be more contempory that those in these images......it will be painted black or a very dark purple. It has a creative area for myself, a family area filled with comfy chairs and patchwork blankets. There's another smaller part which is my husbands music studio, he doesn't need as much space as me ;)
 
There's a veranda in front, with seats to sit on even if it rains.....and that leads out onto the perfect kitchen garden, with raised beds.....filled with flowers, vegatables, bees and butterflies. There would be an area to build a fire, so evenings can be spent outdoors, and perhaps cook fresh from the plot. A little slice of heaven.........
 
Do you have a fantasy garden?
I will share more as I go along, in my own, steady, slow pace...
 
Amanda :)
 
 
 
It's good to dream.......
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

52 comments:

  1. Ah, South Pacific, You have to have a dream, to have a dream come true. My dream would have the craft studio about 50' by 20', dream on Amanda, it may happen.

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  2. Enjoy your gardening sessions, connecting with the earth is so life affirming, even if you are just pulling out weeds! X

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    1. Absolutely! I'm doing lots of life affirming at the moment! ;) xxx

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  3. Interesting that you wrote this today. I have been thinking a lot about fantasy garden, fantasy home, fantasy lifestyle... To cut many hours of rumination short, I have sort of realised that the garden, house, lifestyle that I have is many people's fantasy, or at least could be if I make the effort of to tidy, clean, titivate, decorate... to make it into the best it can be. With that in mind I am off to strip more weird polystyrene wallpaper of the living room walls. Looking forward to seeing your garden progress through the seasons. Eleanor xx

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    1. I'm very grateful for my garden Eleanor, lots of people would love to have the space, in fact there's robbly too much for me now! Happy wallpaper stripping! :) xxx

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  4. Well, right there at the end of your yard is the perfect beginning of a little garden house/studio. I'm guessing your garden shed is like mine, full of gardening things, but most of it could be hauled out and disposed of. I'd love to make my own garden shed into a little garden house, but it would have to coexist with the gardening tools. One day I'm going to look into that ;) Your garden looks very manageable. Have you considered using mulch to keep the weeds down? I've been putting down bark nuggets just for their visual interest, but notice that the gardens that have the bark nuggets have hardly any weeds. Each year I buy another couple of bags to sprinkle a little further. The bark lasts for years unlike some of the other mulch that disintegrates into the dirt. Just a thought. Happy Gardening!
    Wendy

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    1. I usually mulch every year but never got around to it last year.....the shed is full of stuff but as soon as we get around to clearing it out I shall hopefully get a potting table and little chair in there, then at least I can get out of the cold and wind! ;) xxx

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  5. I love your dreams, take care of yourself as you start to realise them!! Our garden looks a long way from a dream garden (post coming soon hopefully!) But as I keep telling Hubby the perfect garden will get its chance soon enough when the Josh is grown up! Then we will wish he was back wrecking it! Sharon X

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    1. My girls are a bit more grown up now but I still miss the sandpit and little house they played in! I'm not sure there's any such thing as a perfect garden anyway! ;) xxx

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  6. Your garden looks very beautiful as it is. My fantasy one would definitely have a veranda too - I love the thought of being outside drinking tea in the rain, yet not getting wet! x

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    1. Thank you! Yes I love rain watching.....not so good at getting wet! ;) xxx

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  7. Wow...never mind fantasy gardens, I would be happy with a pot of the blue stripey flowers in your first photo. They are sensational! Never seen any like those before. Your garden looks great. Mine is about half that size but I'm grateful really these days(66 now) and it takes me much longer to do it. Ah...the old arthritis . Never mind. Lots of folk a lot worse, eh.

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    1. They are great aren't they, and only £1.00! Take care, better to take your time but get there in the end! :) xxx

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  8. I love your dream gardens, I like to dream about how our garden could look. I find for me the best approach is a little work, a little rest and review, then a little work. I try to stop before I get too tired, though I'm not good at that... so frustrating xx

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    1. Very wise, knowing when to stop takes practice doesn't it! ;) xxx

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  9. What a lovely big space you have. Little and often is definitely the trick when it comes to weeds and things. I never quite get on top of mine, but I just about manage to keep them down enough so that things can grow. Your fantasy garden sounds wonderful, perfect for daydreaming. CJ xx

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    1. I think even if we were in the garden 24/7 we wouldn't keep ahead of the weeds! ;) xxx

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  10. We moved house in November so really don't know what is in the garden apart from shrubs and two trees with TPO's on them.A few snowdrops and daffodils have appeared.Quite exciting really.I,like you, love to be in the garden.It does my soul good.Just pace yourself and don't overdo it.

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    1. I think this is so exciting, new gardens are always such a surprise, this one only had a few shrubs in but I inherited my old garden from a real plant lover....marvellous! Enjoy the new discoveries ;) xxx

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  11. Your garden looks great and not as though it didn't get much attention last year so I hope that you can get it into shape quite easily. The first of your inspiration pictures is especially nice and could be done with your garden as you have the pretty blue shed already!!! I hope that you have a good gardening year and that it does you good too. xx

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    1. Thank you my dear, me too......I'm sure it will, not sure I can keep those pesky slugs off my veg though! ;) xxx

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  12. I'm sure your garden will look lovely. It already looks very nice, I think, and there's a lot you can do with such a great space.

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    1. I always thought we would get rid of the lawn once the girls got older, not quite sure that's doable now, it is a lovely garden though, gets lots of sun! :) xxx

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  13. Your garden looks a lovely space, and place to be in. I love looking through my old Hampton Court and Chelsea Flower photos and dreaming. Have fun. x

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  14. All my waking hours seem to have me sighing at how wonderful I'd like our new garden to be. It'll come - just not as quickly as I'd like.

    Good luck with your project.

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    1. thanks Nina, we will both get there.....eventually! :) xxx

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  15. Love this post =] all i wish for in my garden is for the flowers to grow

    emyii90.blogspot.co.uk

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  16. It really is so true that we are connected to the earth. I was just this morning reading about "forest bathing" ie. spending lots of time in the green outdoors in order to heal and stay healthy. I cannot wait to see how you and your garden bloom.

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  17. I totally understand the having to do things in shifts. And how frustrating it is to not be able to do what you could do a few years ago. I struggle with spreading out the things I want to do. You seem to have a handle on it but be careful, sometimes the good feelings trick you into doing more than you should. I think your garden is lovely. How nice it would be to have a cozy little place to sit and see the garden, to read and to crochet/knit.
    Hugs to you, friend
    Sharon

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    1. Thanks Sharon, I'm feeling very tired today so going out with my friend to look at someone else's garden and all their hard work! ;) xxx

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  18. That second dream garden looks heavenly. I'd want that and the house...
    My mum loved gardening too. It's been almost six months since we lost her and I'm going to plant some bulbs at her grave for mother's day.
    I do envy you your garden. It looks lovely. We currently only have a yard as we're renting so much dreaming goes on...
    Have a great weekend x

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  19. That sounds like a lovely idea Sarah, take care sweetie, early days for you :) xxx

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  20. Oh your garden's looking pretty well kept to me! It really is good for the soul, isn't it? We've inherited a bit of a jungle in our new house. It's a bit overwhelming. But I'm just going to try and tackle it slowly, bit by bit. Like you, I can only do a bit at a time. I have no idea what any of the plants are - quite exciting to see what pops up! I could do with a bit of vision for it, but am sure that will come with time. Enjoy being out there, listening to the birds chirping away xxx

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    1. Zoe, new gardens are always exciting....yes a little at a time is the way to go! Believe me Zoe there's lots of weeds in there! ;) xxx

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  21. Your flowers look lovely, I've been out and bought some spring flowers to pot up this weekend, as soon as the sun comes out I feel the need to be out doors, my garden changes every year, Pinterest drives me mad as I like them all... You need one that can manage it's self if you don't feel up to the work, watering takes up a lot of time and can be hard work, so if I can only give you one word of advice it would be to get plants that manage on little water.
    Amanda xx

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    1. Well we usually get lots of rain here but sometimes keeping the veg beds can be hard work might need to rope the girls in on that one! ;) xxx

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  22. I think my principle fantasy is to have a bigger garden but I actually don't particularly enjoy time spent gardening so I shall fantasize about a gardener too.

    Have fun on your plot x

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    1. Ha! Ha! Annie, sounds good......I must admit I'd be very happy having someone else do all the hard work, I could just plant out, water and harvest! ;) xxx

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  23. Back in the 1950's my parents and 3 children (I'm the eldest, was 10 years at the time) moved to where there was little growing, all 30 acres of it. The climate was very hot in summer.It was to become planted with grape vines which Mum and Dad grew for the dried fruit industry. No garden, very little water (rainfall approx 10inches a year and a 2,000 gallon water tank to last us for months at times) and very little money.
    Fast forward a few years and somehow Mum had created a wonderful garden with many fruit trees, other trees (white cedars for one), flowers and some vegetables. It had been very hard for her but no water was wasted, not a drop. I always remember the strawberries watered by Mum digging a little drain from under the kitchen sink so that all that water went to the strawberries. Trees and roses were given half a bucket of water when it was available. That was probably from washing day. Oh, but I could go on.
    It gave my sister and me a great love of gardening. Mum always said it was her solace for those very difficult times.
    Little bits of gardening at a time VSA. You'll make it and one day look back in amazement at what you've achieved.
    Apologies for the long ramble but your post brought up quite a lot of memories.
    Cheers
    Margaret (in Oz)

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    1. Margaret, thank you so much for your 'long ramble'! It sounds like you had a great childhood, and it sounds like your mum had true pioneer spirit! For your parents to turn that patch of land around must have taken such hard work. Thank you for sharing your story, this is why blogging is so special to me, if gives us chance to connect with people we didn't know was there :) xxx

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  24. I really need to take a leaf out of your book and tackle some gardening but I'm just so rubbish at it plus it's still too cold. That's my excuse anyway !
    Jillxo

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    1. Yes it's still freezing, raining here today and I'm not great in the rain....I dissolve! ;) xxx

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  25. I am sorry to hear that your health isn't at full strength at the moment but I think going at your own pace is great :-) Wow you have a huge garden and so much to play with :-) I can see huge potential for you to have your dream garden you certainly have the space :-) Enjoy planting, dee xx

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    1. There's loads of space......too much for me, think I might just start up a garden share scheme! ;) xxx

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  26. Hi Amanda, my garden fantasy changes quite regularly, but I would love a garden that was big enough for a summerhouse - alas, our current garden is just too small to accommodate one. Lovely images! I hope you are winning the race ..........

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    1. Summerhouse........yes that's on top of my list too, have the space but sadly not the funds! Thanks for stopping by :) xxx

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  27. Your garden plans and dreams sound lovely. Pacing yourself by doing small slots of time each day is such a good idea and the way to get the work done without harming your health. Just being out in the fresh air and sunshine and hearing the birdsong is good for the soul I do believe....and growing some flowers is an extra joy.
    Happy spring and happy gardening!
    Helen xox

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    1. Wonderful sunshine and birdsong today Helen, yes very good for the soul! ;) xxx

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