Category Archives: garden

what I see


windowsill garden, originally uploaded by pilgrimgirl.

This is the windowsill in my kitchen and these vases hold flowers from my garden. On the other side of the window you might spy a few of my fuschia plants and a double begonia.

This is what I see when I’m washing dishes (lucky me)….

Make me smile…

–one more hurdle crossed, my first-ever baseline mammogram. Whew. Like when the tech said I had to hold my breath while she took the film, I wanted to say (had I had breath to do so), how could I not hold my breath when she has just squished me into this vise? But really it was far faster and far less painful than I’d been led to believe. And it’s over and from what they said this may well be the most painful one (given that boobs tend to get smooshier over time, I suppose?). [Note: I am a bit on the young side for a mammogram, but I’ve recently learned that women who had my type of cancer and treatment have a much higher risk of breast cancer]

–drove to Long Beach and back in record time to get GameBoy’s cello repaired in the nick of time before his grande concert. Jacarandas were everywhere along the way. How can that not make me smile?

–had some QT in the garden yesterday. Planted more basil (for 14 plants total this year! pesto, anyone?), marigolds, asters, peppers, one more tomato (squeezed in just so), and a new-to-me type of lavender (that makes four so far). I have the most amazing new garden neighbors who are planting cucumber vines all along our shared fence (yum). And did I tell you that blackberry season just began–I nibbled my first 2 last Wednesday and expect to have a few cupfuls by mid-week? I didn’t get the corn in this weekend as I’d hoped, but fortunately I can plant it until late July if need be. As I was telling a friend yesterday, I refuse to feel garden guilt if I can’t get everything in as early as possible. I’m taking things one step at a time this year….

🙂

Make me smile (and shed a few tears)…


lotsa roses, originally uploaded by pilgrimgirl.

–taking catnap lessons from Elly. And I just love that her favorite nap spot is on the pillow where I prop my left leg. She curls up next to it as if to take that edge of pain away.

–Apparently my big climbing rose is still blooming like crazy. Those coffee grounds I was feeding it all winter–they are working their good magic. I suspect that by the end of the week I’ll get to take a look-see for myself. In the meantime the kids have cut a big bouquet for my table. (Do you know that even though my original injury was in the garden, I want more than anything to return….)

–Friends. There really aren’t enough words to say for the friends who’ve brought (delicious) food, who have visited, who have cared for my children. You people rock!

–I am even more wordless when I think of John during these past few days. I’ve buried my head in his chest and just sobbed–he’s watched every needle going in and has been strong. He’s insisted at being at each doctor appointment and in making sure that I’m not getting my medications muddled up (“the shot glass on your nightstand, that one holds the next dose, dear”). Even while under increasing pressure at work, he’s holding up strong. I am so sorry for the toll on him that this has been. I’m sorry for the way that his needs are continually compromised because of mine.

–And of course I’m smiling because I am feeling better. I am nearly pain-free now and I go to the doc in a few hours to see if I can start back (slowly) into my regular routines again. Best of all, the redness and swelling in my leg is nearly gone. Though I don’t doubt that I’ll have some longterm healing and scarring around the wound site, for the most part my leg is looking quite healthy now.

–just as I’m typing this,Regina Spektor’s “On the Radio” came onto my iTunes playlist.. In so many ways this has been ‘my song’ for the past few years.

🙂

happy hippie earth day to you


unfolding, originally uploaded by pilgrimgirl.

“Very early, I knew that the only object in life was to grow.”
~Margaret Fuller

If you went this morning to your favorite chi-chi Newport Beach nursery today to pick up a few plants for your garden and felt overwhelmed and grateful for the abundance (even as you smiled a bit inwardly at the perfectly coiffed ladies who didn’t look as though they dirtied their nails in their gardens very often), then went to your garden in the evening for planting, surprised that the scent of citrus blossoms was still in the air from your neighbor’s tree, then getting down on all fours to work the soil in the bed that will host the strawberries, then the peppers, then the eggplants, then planting your newest type of lavender and a shaggy bush of chamomile (it smells of afternoon tea already).

And if this is you, you were a bit overwhelmed by how much work still has yet to be done to get your garden all set for summer, but you realized that you don’t begrudge any of the time that it will take.

you know it’s thrilling…


peach blossom, originally uploaded by pilgrimgirl.

You know I love my peaches…so I am just thrilled by the blossoms covering my tree this season! 🙂

What is thrilling you right now?

Measure your health by your sympathy with morning and spring. If there is no response in you to the awakening of nature –if the prospect of an early morning walk does not banish sleep, if the warble of the first bluebird does not thrill you –know that the morning and spring of your life are past.
~Henry David Thoreau

ping


not afraid to come out of his shell, originally uploaded by pilgrimgirl.

Given the lovely spring weather of late, I’ve been spending late afternoons weeding my garden. Because of all the rain, the weeds this year are nearly as tall as I am. Fortunately the soil is soft and the weeds and their roots pull easily.

If you were around my garden today, every few minutes you would have heard a faint pinging sound. Like a bell ringing somewhere in the distance.

But it wasn’t a bell. It was my snail eradication strategy. I don’t have the heart to squoosh the little fellas, so I gather then up by the handful and lob them over my fence. Most of them end up hitting the chainlink fence just beyond mine, causing the hollow metallic ping.

I suppose it’s not much more humane than the squoosh. But I do feel a bit less guilty.

Note: the snail above is one of the few that didn’t end his life sailing through the air and out of my garden. He lived on the iris stems in my flowerbed for a good long time last spring. 🙂

seedlings


sweet peas, originally uploaded by pilgrimgirl.

Planted some sweet pea seedlings today in pots on my back porch. Also repotted a poppy plant.

From the looks of the little buds, I should have flowers in a week or so if the sunshine continues.

Can you believe that in SoCal Spring isn’t just around the corner anymore–she’s relaxing on the couch, propping up her feet on the coffeetable, and making herself at home. 🙂

Note: the sweet peas in this pic are from a favorite garden near mine–the one with the labyrinth….

weathered


bunny, originally uploaded by pilgrimgirl.

This wee bunny statue is a favorite in my garden. We found it churned up during the rototilling of an adjacent empty garden plot. I suspect that this little critter has observed many growing seasons.

I am attracted to the weathered, the vintage, and all that is chipped and worn with age. A new bunny statue would hardly catch my eye. But this one…I can stare at it for hours.