en plein air

 

Outdoors.  My favorite place to be but with my allergies it is getting harder and harder to be outdoors.  This is why Francisco has been a godsend.  This garden was in pretty bad shape when he arrived.  It had been neglected for a solid 2 years so his work was cut out for him.  Slowly but surely every week he tended it and while it still has a way to go it's a miracle to me that it is coming back.

One of my favorite things he has done is install sprinklers in the front.  What a relief!  Watering this garden was a full time job in the summer so now everything is watered consistently and efficiently.  He is also creating a boxwood garden along that side fence.  It will be about 3 years before it will look really good but it is so exciting to me.  He has sprinkled in some white iceberg roses because they are pretty tough too.

I have a sweet story about Francisco I'd like to share.  So on one of my daily walks I pass a gorgeous old Mediterranean home.  The garden is just so spectacular.  Each time I pass I would try to figure out a way to get Francisco up here to show him this garden.  Well one day as I'm walking by Francisco pulls up and sure enough begins working in the garden.  Turns out he is the gardener at this house!  How random is that?  I think it's kismet.  x

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october garden glow

I took these photos last evening as the golden hour descended upon the garden.  I normally photograph the garden in the early sunlight so these photos have a different feel to them.  As the sun sets this time of year, the light bounces off the trees in a way that you are familiar with wherever you live.

There is that lovely warm glow that doesn't happen in summer.

There's nothing really that special about this town I live in.  It's sleepy compared to Los Angeles.  But there is something to a mundane existence that actually makes life here quite precious. I can't explain it but perhaps you know what I'm talking about.  I always come back to ordinary.  x

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me and my garden

Gosh I'm sorry this post got published without me finishing it.  I have no idea how that even happened.  But here I am and I'm ok-ish.  So that tub filled with hydrangeas is a beautiful sight.  I love them so much but they are a struggle to grow in my garden.  Last year due to circumstances I wasn't able to give them the loving care they need and so they didn't make it.  But my darling friend Janet delivered a big plant to me recently.

It's enormous and the blooms were so heavy I had to cut them off and put them in a tub of cool water to revive them. 

Once revived I was able to enjoy them inside and now they are drying in the basement.  The plant is now happily adapting in the garden and so that is my story today.  But really the story here is that when I am drooping with exhaustion sometimes slowing down and a cool bath is all I need.  It's so comforting to me how in tune I am with my garden now.  What it needs, I need.  Sometimes lots of tender loving care and other times I just need to be left alone.  I wake up every morning and can't wait to get outside and see what happened or didn't happen overnight.  I'm most content in my garden.  Can you relate? x

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hey there

I'm going to give this a shot.  You have to start somewhere right?  I have tried countless times to write, write something Janet, but always stop because I don't know where to start.  My thoughts are still quite jumbled. 

So I thought I'd just start by filling you in on what a little bit of what life is like now.  Larry was such a larger-than-life personality and without him, the house is v quiet, at times unnervingly so 💔.  I've been in the garden as much as possible but always with the  allergies.  I've started with small tasks inside too, cleaning, organizing and painting. They've been good for me because I feel a rhythm returning.

Thank you all for the emails, cards, flowers, plants and gifts.  I'll treasure all the cards and photos of the flowers forever.  Thank you for taking time out of your busy days to continually drop by and check on me.  I'm humbled by it all and it really did help when I most needed it.

So what to do next?  I want to try and continue to blog.  I do not want to use this space to grieve though.  I hope you understand what I mean by that.  I want this to be a place of normalcy for me.  I want to talk gardens, decorating, food and fashion.  I'm gonna give it a shot...💗

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New Autumn Gardening

Yesterday I was walking through the garden making notes of what needed to be done this Autumn.  I was picking at this and that and looking forward to the cutting back and clearing out.

After a a DELICIOUS LUNCH was finished, I sat down for a little reading and came upon THIS article at Gardenista.  Which then led to THIS one.  Both articles seem to be radical "new" ways to garden but actually the ideas they contain are very natural and have been used for generations.  I love this approach.  I've been fighting my garden conditions since the day I set foot on the property.  I invite you to read the articles and see how you feel about them.

This is my new plan of action, or should I say inaction...

1.  Don't cut back anything til spring

2.  Don't amend my soil

3.  Let fallen leaves stay where they are

4.  Overall just stop fussing with my garden

😲😲😲😲😲

I'm always in awe of how gardening mimics life in general.  

Acceptance is the answer to all my problems.  xo 

27

Garden Notes

Hey guys, happy July.  My garden is doing well, I think mostly because our temps have been lovely.  By the end of this week that will be ending and this is when things start to get ugly.

But in all honesty my garden can take it.  It is pretty used to the summer beat down and rallies each year.

Clothes can dry in just minutes if there is a breeze.

My Salvia loves the heat too.

Lillies not so much but they are just about finished blooming.

What's happening in your garden?  x

49

Around the House and Garden

Hello lovelies.  How have you been?  Tell me everything.

I took a little walkabout in the garden the other evening and took a few snaps.

If I am not at the hospital or a pharmacy, I am almost always in the garden.  Despite my allergies I just have to get digging, raking, clipping and talking this out with God. 

But the truth is nothing is normal anymore.  It is a heartbreaking situation.

I remain grateful for all I have and all I don't have.  I love you all. xo

77

May Days

1.  Hello my dear friends.  How are you?  I must start by again saying just how touched and thankful we are to you all.  Your thoughts and prayers are doing wonders for us both.  I feel wrapped in your love and that is just an amazing feeling.

2.  Just a quick update re Larry and treatment.  Yesterday was his last day of this round of chemo and we got some wonderful news based on his blood work.  He is responding really well to all the treatments he is on.  As I've stated before it has been a grueling schedule and I don't know how he does it.  After this coming Wednesday he will be done with radiation and will get a full month off of all treatments!  The next round will be maintenance and that will be every 3 weeks.  I can't tell you how good that sounds.  I love our doctors and hospital but we both could use a break from our daily visits there.

3.  I have been working in the garden quite a bit, mostly while Larry naps but then my allergies hit and I really have to limit my time out there.  That's ok tho because I know they will pass and I can get out there soon.

4.  I hope you will enjoy the few photos I took the other day of the rose garden.  I always get a April/May bloom but then as the trees leaf out the blooms are v sparse.  So I will be paying close attention to the sun this summer and decide just what to do with this old garden.

5.  I wish you all a v happy Mother's day weekend.

44

Outside Spring Cleaning

Yesterday was quiet here.  Larry slept most of the day so I was outside in the fresh air doing a little clean-up.

The front porch was in a desperate state so I removed the furniture and mopped the floor and cleaned the windows.  I fluffed up the furniture and added the pretty lumbar pillow.  Everything looked so pretty when I was finished.

I moved the cut roses (the rose garden is blooming!) onto my little wobbly antique bedside table.  Of course due to my allergies they had to go back onto the porch but even for a few minutes they looked beautiful.

Hope you are enjoying your Sunday.  xo

35

Rose Garden Dilemma Part 2

Thank you all for your wonderful advice, it was very much appreciated.  I thought I'd address all the comments in one post.

Several of you suggested that I move the roses to a sunnier location within my garden but that place does not exist.  I could find homes for maybe 4 of them but all the trees on the property are huge and so we are almost always in shade.  Which is great for our hot summers but no so great for sun loving plants.  So moving them is out.

Some suggested I just pull them out and start fresh with plants more suited to the area which is something I've been considering, especially since the drought in California is so bad.

Cutting the tree is not an option with this neighbor, I can certainly cut what is on our side of the fence and we have but it is still not enough.

A few of you had the brilliant idea that I keep the ones going that thrive there and either remove or just under plant them with things that work better in that area.  I don't know why I hadn't thought of adding lavender and other pretty dry loving plants there.  I think it could really be pretty if I do that!

I will let nature take its course this spring/summer and see which ones do the best and the ones that are barely hanging on, move to a sunnier location.  I only have room to move a few but this could work.  I really love the idea of adding in other thriving bushes/flowers that could really bring life back into this antique garden.

See why I asked?!  You guys are brilliant and again thank you so much. xo

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