just perfect, originally uploaded by pilgrimgirl.

Picture: closeup photo of a deep red rosebud.

honeytime, originally uploaded by pilgrimgirl.

It’s time for me to get busy again (as if I’m not busy enough!). Meaning, that I’ve taken a few weeks off from schoolwork–a well-deserved break, IMO–and now I need to return to it again. Oh, but I’ll still be spending much time in the garden, I’ll be taking photos, and I’ll certainly have many things to blog about! But it’s time to get out of bed (hmmm….did I mention that I am still in my pajamas–ACK!) and get on with the day and get some things accomplished!

Happy Friday everyone! 🙂

tangled, originally uploaded by pilgrimgirl.

Picture: close up photo of the pistil and stamen of a deep red-colored rose.

This is one of the rose blossoms from a type of rose plant that grows abundantly around my garden. I don’t know what it’s called, but it tends to bloom brilliantly once or twice per summer. Luckily it’s in one of its blooming phases right now. 🙂

broccoli, originally uploaded by pilgrimgirl.

Flowers are even better when they’re edible. 🙂

I’ve discovered that home-grown broccoli has a richer, nuttier flavor than broccoli bought from the store. Yum! 🙂

cherubic, originally uploaded by pilgrimgirl.

Picture: cherub statue sitting on a wooden bench in a garden. A spray of dark red roses cascading over the top of the statue.

I believe it was CatGirl who rescued this little statue from a trash heap somewhere around the garden. It’s a pretty forlorn looking cherub–both wings are broken off and it’s cracked and dinged in various places. But it still manages to keep watch over the climbing roses and the various flowers sprouting in the center of the garden. From my favorite seat in the garden (on the flagstones by the rosebushes), I have a good view of the angel’s perch. Looking over that way never fails to cheer me.

Today in Meeting someone’s sharing led me to contemplate Fear. For the past few years, I have let go of much of my fear-motivated behavior. I no longer worry much about what lies ahead in my future. I also don’t make choices based on fears of divine reprimand. Though I am still afraid of death, I am no longer afraid of any kind of reckoning or judgment in conjunction with my death.

Instead, I am only afraid that this day will pass I won’t have taken the time to enjoy the beauty of it.

So I will eat my lunch (some garden greens and broccoli) and head for the garden. I have weeds to pull and beans to plant. And I crave time to just be there…feeling the way the wind blows my hair across my shoulders.

sweet peas, originally uploaded by pilgrimgirl.

Picture: Purple sweet pea flowers against a background of blue sky.

These sweet peas are growing in a neighbor’s garden. Today she let me cut a small bouquet, which I placed in a little cup on my nightstand along with a bit of blue cornflower and some mini pink and burgundy roses. My whole room smells so lovely now. 🙂

it’s a small world, originally uploaded by pilgrimgirl.

Picture: closeup photo of the inside of a poppy with a small black beetle.

Saw lots of bugs and critters at the garden today, including this little fellow who was chillin’ in the cup of a poppy flower.

budding, originally uploaded by pilgrimgirl.

Today I went to the garden at noon. It was difficult to take good photos because of the harsh lighting. But I managed to get a few winners. It felt so good to be behind the camera lens again!

While I was taking photos of some lovely ‘native plants’ (aka weeds) near a fencepost, one of the grandpas who gardens nearby came over and kinda laughed a bit at me(he doesn’t speak any English, so our interactions are usually limited to smiling and pointing). You see, my garden is all tumbly and random and just slightly shabby-looking. Whereas his has nary a weed in sight. I suspect that he thinks ‘my way’ of gardening is rather unproductive. But he is always so generous with sharing his produce with me, I suspect that he might just understand that some of us need to grow flowers, too.