The second high and hearty season of the church is about to peak - so hold on!! There is so much going on around here that the building mortar is trembling. The newly refinished pews are tensing for the masses. The entire staff has been on high test coffee for weeks now, in preparation of this important time in the church.
I have tiptoed into my office and hunkered down every day trying to keep the nut jar, pretzel jar and the bowl of gum full to meet the stress demands, and finally, after I realized sometime last week that the humming I kept hearing was not, in fact, a faulty florescent, but the thinking waves zapping off of staff- well, I just stopped. I just simply s.t.o.p.p.e.d., and I reflected on the season and how much work goes into making the wonderful services that happen here come together and how easy it is if you are one of the artists putting together the puzzle, how easy it is to lose sight of breathing.
I decided to try to slow down the pace a bit but I wasn't sure how to do it. I leaned back in my chair and I tapped my nose and I crossed my arms and I thought. nuthin. I glanced down at the weekly listing of "What's going on at church" " Prayer Labyrinth in the Chapel, Stations of the Cross in the back grounds, Palm Sunday, Prayer and Healing workshop, Floral Cross....." gosh, I felt tired just looking at it all in print... then......AH! Finally an idea beamed into my entangled brain.I looked at gnomey and I looked at sparky the watchbear and I said, "Boys, it's Easter time." I printed a labyrinth off the internet and put it under the tall stool in my office that acts as a side table and I put gnomey and sparky on it and then I waited.
It wasn't long before someone blasted into my office in a rush and instead of jumping to the occasion and thinking ahead to figure out what the inquiry was going to be, I held up my hand in a "stop" position and said in a quiet voice, "Could you please enter in a meditative manner?"
and then I pointed to the stool.
The church organist was the first visitor. We enjoy learning how to read each other and do it pretty well now. We've experienced a few funny trial and errors, but we've gotten into a good grove and he didn't miss a beat. He stopped, followed my pointing finger and looked down. Then he observed the duo "walking" the labyrinth, and he gently respected the moment. You've gotta love that in a church organist.
That type of exchange continued all afternoon. People came and went. I made them aware of the goings on under the stool and they honored the moment. I was really enjoying the staff reactions, and thought it couldn't get any better-then the magic happened.
I came back from a late afternoon jaunt to the PO and discovered the pair had shifted positions on the labyrinth. In addition, Sparky was holding a miniature "Lenten devotional". The book was so small it only read "Lenten devo" and gnomey was holding a tiny kleenex. Sometimes the labyrinth experience brings tears to the surface. If you are made of plaster, it is wise to have an absorbant tissue at the ready.
By the next day, someone had added signs of the stations of the cross for them. Little 2"x 2" signs glued to the legs of the stool. They were written on aluminum foil bits.
The Monday after Palm Sunday, there was a palm branch added to the collection; and yesterday, a friend and I glued two popsicle sticks together in a cross,and filled the space with flower petals for the floral cross.
These measures were not taken lightly. They were not intended to be rude or make fun of any of these special rituals and it amazed me that they were accepted at face value and somehow, those two small not-alive (see? I KNOW they are not alive, I really do) creatures gleaned respect from real live people........ who had to slow down to notice and they had to slow down to create additions, and they had to breathe in all that. It was a wonderful sight to see and still is.
The wooden rhino, Hal, that my eldest brought back from Zimbabwe tried to join the group, but his horn kept getting in the way, so we just let him pray with my praying angel that usually sits on the bookshelf. The zebra that probably was a happymeal toy was sadly asked to leave the labyrinth because his stripes, mixed together with the lines of the labyrinth, made the walkers dizzy.
Yes, I've worked. Yes, I'm working. Consider this experience -staff support. It's in my job description.
Showing posts with label community garden. Show all posts
Showing posts with label community garden. Show all posts
Friday, April 10, 2009
Saturday, November 01, 2008
The gardening snowball effect continued
This entry is prefaced by the previous 3 or 4 entries - starting with October's entry. Plant self-revelations. They go together, I think.
Since the shopping center fun (I prefer to call that day operation Plant Rescue), I have been on a mission to find and trade plants. Here are some of those examples-
I needed Liripe, bigger than I already had, for the CG Community garden. Anna had some growing on its own in an isolated part of the yard. I didn't ask if there was a behavioral reason for the separation from the other liripe in her yard, i just took my pitchfork and dug it up. That's called unconditonal liripe love. She showed me her backyard and mentioned she wanted to make a daylilly/iris prayer garden. Later, I dug up some irises, and answered the response on a neighborhood elist request for anyone needing iris/daff/daylilly thinning and I dug up some lilies. Then I visited Julia's garden and she had a spare lenten rose. The trade made Anna happy, and the CG look a lot better.
Someone at home church was looking for some irises, and was lamenting about how hard it is to keep the wild ferns down in their yard. A few days later, the trade took place. I brought the iris, he brought the ferns.
A friend from work church picked up on the planting energy, and wanted some iris and periwinkle. I went by and it was really fun to do a little weeding and pet her dog/child and visit. I could see their energy picking up. They are going gung ho on the yard now. I hope to see their progress tomorry. If not progress, then at least hugs.
I saw on the elist where someone had done their yard over and had an overage of sod. The CG yard has a few tire ruts in it, so i went and filled my trunk with rolls of sod. After, I drove by home church and passed by a friend from church. Possessed with the excitement of such a good find, I blurted out, " Only because you know and love me- do you need any sod?" Now, this is not exactly the greeting one would expect, so she and her partner sort of stopped and stared at me a minute, as if I had just spoken Greek. I think they were expecting me to say, " Hi! glad to see you!" and were trying to make my " Hi! do you need any sod?" sound like the greeting they were expecting. Then, the magic of the gardenese kicked in. " Well, actually yes. we DO need some sod." They followed me over to the alley way where the free leftover sod sat and they were thrilled but had no bags. NO worries!! I am now manufacturing trash bags in my trunk. We loaded her up with a bag of irises from my backseat as well!!
Yesterday I was dropping off a church key to my oldest daughter. In the ten seconds it took to give her the envelope, I noticed 3 small ferns growing along her front wall.... Let's just say they aren't there now. I don't really recall getting the pitchfork out of my trunk.
Today,I was walking through a parkinglot, and I found a random elephant ear plant that was so overflowing its small bed, it was sending a few ears out and over into the drain. I pulled one up and brought it home. Yes, today I adopted a purple elephant ear. People in the parking lot watched me and probably wished they knew why in the world would I rescue a strange elephant ear. Just because I could, that's why.
Yes, the gardening snowball effect is alive and well. I need a plant, you have one. I have one, you need one. I need to plant some. You need to see some growing. We talk and build community with people and nature ....
Today at the CG, I looked over all the plants I've put in this season and came up with this.
The garden has come from 15 different sources- yards- shopping centers-friends' plots- 15.
Wow. I think I've put a village in my friend's yard.
My other boss at work wants me to continue the planting. I guess an overzealous church secretary-turned-planter is cheaper than using a "real"landscaper; he's on the train, the wagon, the wheelbarrow. He wants to see if we can convert pinestraw beds into sustainable gardens. I'm in baby, plus, this should make the stewards of the earth committee happy.
I ordered a few plants to get us started, and I'm looking for more. Today, after pulling some periwinkle and digging more irises at my place, I put them in the ground at work church. Next spring, if they live, we'll be on the road to creating color on the church grounds. I'm excited.
My angel friend on the phone tonight also said, "OMG. One day , we will pull up and the church will be gone. hidden away like a secret garden" or something like that. She's really a little concerned that a forest might move in on the root tails of my periwinkle. She's also wondering if these bulbs and plants don't grow, well, maybe I'll need therapuke in a big big way.
Only the shadow knows. I can tell you one thing, though. She, and the other staff may think I'm a little over the topsoil on this gardening thing, but it has created a really nice connection and sense of community not to mention the cheap entertainment.
I still worry a bit about my car becoming a terrarium. I won't be surprised if I climb in to drive one day and see sprouts. Plants are supposed to increase the air quality, right?
Since the shopping center fun (I prefer to call that day operation Plant Rescue), I have been on a mission to find and trade plants. Here are some of those examples-
I needed Liripe, bigger than I already had, for the CG Community garden. Anna had some growing on its own in an isolated part of the yard. I didn't ask if there was a behavioral reason for the separation from the other liripe in her yard, i just took my pitchfork and dug it up. That's called unconditonal liripe love. She showed me her backyard and mentioned she wanted to make a daylilly/iris prayer garden. Later, I dug up some irises, and answered the response on a neighborhood elist request for anyone needing iris/daff/daylilly thinning and I dug up some lilies. Then I visited Julia's garden and she had a spare lenten rose. The trade made Anna happy, and the CG look a lot better.
Someone at home church was looking for some irises, and was lamenting about how hard it is to keep the wild ferns down in their yard. A few days later, the trade took place. I brought the iris, he brought the ferns.
A friend from work church picked up on the planting energy, and wanted some iris and periwinkle. I went by and it was really fun to do a little weeding and pet her dog/child and visit. I could see their energy picking up. They are going gung ho on the yard now. I hope to see their progress tomorry. If not progress, then at least hugs.
I saw on the elist where someone had done their yard over and had an overage of sod. The CG yard has a few tire ruts in it, so i went and filled my trunk with rolls of sod. After, I drove by home church and passed by a friend from church. Possessed with the excitement of such a good find, I blurted out, " Only because you know and love me- do you need any sod?" Now, this is not exactly the greeting one would expect, so she and her partner sort of stopped and stared at me a minute, as if I had just spoken Greek. I think they were expecting me to say, " Hi! glad to see you!" and were trying to make my " Hi! do you need any sod?" sound like the greeting they were expecting. Then, the magic of the gardenese kicked in. " Well, actually yes. we DO need some sod." They followed me over to the alley way where the free leftover sod sat and they were thrilled but had no bags. NO worries!! I am now manufacturing trash bags in my trunk. We loaded her up with a bag of irises from my backseat as well!!
Yesterday I was dropping off a church key to my oldest daughter. In the ten seconds it took to give her the envelope, I noticed 3 small ferns growing along her front wall.... Let's just say they aren't there now. I don't really recall getting the pitchfork out of my trunk.
Today,I was walking through a parkinglot, and I found a random elephant ear plant that was so overflowing its small bed, it was sending a few ears out and over into the drain. I pulled one up and brought it home. Yes, today I adopted a purple elephant ear. People in the parking lot watched me and probably wished they knew why in the world would I rescue a strange elephant ear. Just because I could, that's why.
Yes, the gardening snowball effect is alive and well. I need a plant, you have one. I have one, you need one. I need to plant some. You need to see some growing. We talk and build community with people and nature ....
Today at the CG, I looked over all the plants I've put in this season and came up with this.
The garden has come from 15 different sources- yards- shopping centers-friends' plots- 15.
Wow. I think I've put a village in my friend's yard.
My other boss at work wants me to continue the planting. I guess an overzealous church secretary-turned-planter is cheaper than using a "real"landscaper; he's on the train, the wagon, the wheelbarrow. He wants to see if we can convert pinestraw beds into sustainable gardens. I'm in baby, plus, this should make the stewards of the earth committee happy.
I ordered a few plants to get us started, and I'm looking for more. Today, after pulling some periwinkle and digging more irises at my place, I put them in the ground at work church. Next spring, if they live, we'll be on the road to creating color on the church grounds. I'm excited.
My angel friend on the phone tonight also said, "OMG. One day , we will pull up and the church will be gone. hidden away like a secret garden" or something like that. She's really a little concerned that a forest might move in on the root tails of my periwinkle. She's also wondering if these bulbs and plants don't grow, well, maybe I'll need therapuke in a big big way.
Only the shadow knows. I can tell you one thing, though. She, and the other staff may think I'm a little over the topsoil on this gardening thing, but it has created a really nice connection and sense of community not to mention the cheap entertainment.
I still worry a bit about my car becoming a terrarium. I won't be surprised if I climb in to drive one day and see sprouts. Plants are supposed to increase the air quality, right?
The gardening snowball effect- shopping center plant rescue
I was talking tonight with an angel friend of mine and sharing this update with her, and i randomly said, "Maybe this gardening thing is really some sort of therapy for me." She, being wise and NOT ME, said, "Ya think?"
The community garden (CG)benefited greatly from the shopping center haul. I mentioned this upcoming event in a previous blog and I am here to say that the experience has created a snowball effect in my gardening. I am NOT a landscaper. I am a planter. i plant. I weed. I get plants and plant them. That's it. No guarantees. This task of planting hurts my back, but it heals my heart. Yoga helps the back, so it all balances out.
I mentioned an important date. The day the landscapers change out the plants at the shopping center. The day came.
I was at the shopping center at 7am. No landscapers. I ordered breakfast in the restaurant where the manager first told me about the changing of the plants. Still no trucks. There I sat in my work clothes, in wait. Suddenly, one, then two, then several more trucks began to pull into the center parking lot. Men got out. Men pulled plants out of pots. They were at the other end of the lot from where I was, and time was short. I drove over and asked if they were pulling plants today and they said, yes. I asked what would happen to the plants, and they said they were dumping them in the truck and carting them off. I asked if I could have them when they were thrown away and they said, what did I want? I said, caladiums and ferns. They said, with a handfull of irritation in their voices that it would be a while before they got to those. Then,.....then....I said the magic words. "Well, actually, I have a pitchfork in the trunk of my car, I can dig them myself."
You would have thought I was the dentist saying, "No cavities!"
The men finally smiled at me and said with a little bit of caffeinated enthusiasm" Have at it, take what you want! It's less work for us!! Have at it sister!!"
I drove back to the restaurant where the staff was waiting for the trucks, and held up my pitchfork. "He said we could DIG!!" Well, they pulled boxes out of mid air and I shared my pitchfork and, like Edward Scissorhands, we cleaned out those pots in seconds. The manager asked for my information so she could call me in the spring because it was so much fun.
I toured the rest of the center and by 8:30, I had a literal jungle residing in my car. My little VW cabrio had elephant ears hanging out the window, ferns, caladiums, two trees that looked like lantana, and multiple mystery plants stuffed in every spare corner. There were leaves and stems dragging the street like when you close your coat in the car door. It was Fabulous, I tell you. A traveling nursery. With the radio blaring, I sounded like a modern day icecream truck only with plants.
Well, my boss shopped from the car, as did co workers. Several people wondered how I would ever get the dirt out, but i wasn't worried. Even though I had put the goodies in bags, the dirt escaped with fervor. There were inches of dirt in the seat, on the dash, and on the floor. My only concern was knowing my convertible top had a leak, and if we had rain before I could clear out my inventory, well, I admit I was a little concerned about rooting plants in the floorboards of my vehicle. A novel idea, but not one I really wanted to see up close and personal.
In two days' time, the plants were transferred to new dirt. I have maybe a hundred caladium bulbs sleeping on newspaper in my green room. along with a tree hoping to live long enough for me to give it to one of my daughters for Christmas. The rest are in the community garden, my gardenette, and at co workers' houses, and home church friends' houses. Isn't that neat?
The gift that keeps on giving. Dirty, in a good way. Something happened that day, coupled with the growing pleasure of working the community garden, I was finding community through sharing plants, and I was feeding my problem solving hankering by figuring out how to find plants that I needed and connecting the needs of others - a plant switchboard sort of. It became theraputic for me.
Usually, I refer to therapy to therapuke because if you are really doing the hard work therapy requires, it feels puky. But this therapy had no puke in it. Just dirt.
The community garden (CG)benefited greatly from the shopping center haul. I mentioned this upcoming event in a previous blog and I am here to say that the experience has created a snowball effect in my gardening. I am NOT a landscaper. I am a planter. i plant. I weed. I get plants and plant them. That's it. No guarantees. This task of planting hurts my back, but it heals my heart. Yoga helps the back, so it all balances out.
I mentioned an important date. The day the landscapers change out the plants at the shopping center. The day came.
I was at the shopping center at 7am. No landscapers. I ordered breakfast in the restaurant where the manager first told me about the changing of the plants. Still no trucks. There I sat in my work clothes, in wait. Suddenly, one, then two, then several more trucks began to pull into the center parking lot. Men got out. Men pulled plants out of pots. They were at the other end of the lot from where I was, and time was short. I drove over and asked if they were pulling plants today and they said, yes. I asked what would happen to the plants, and they said they were dumping them in the truck and carting them off. I asked if I could have them when they were thrown away and they said, what did I want? I said, caladiums and ferns. They said, with a handfull of irritation in their voices that it would be a while before they got to those. Then,.....then....I said the magic words. "Well, actually, I have a pitchfork in the trunk of my car, I can dig them myself."
You would have thought I was the dentist saying, "No cavities!"
The men finally smiled at me and said with a little bit of caffeinated enthusiasm" Have at it, take what you want! It's less work for us!! Have at it sister!!"
I drove back to the restaurant where the staff was waiting for the trucks, and held up my pitchfork. "He said we could DIG!!" Well, they pulled boxes out of mid air and I shared my pitchfork and, like Edward Scissorhands, we cleaned out those pots in seconds. The manager asked for my information so she could call me in the spring because it was so much fun.
I toured the rest of the center and by 8:30, I had a literal jungle residing in my car. My little VW cabrio had elephant ears hanging out the window, ferns, caladiums, two trees that looked like lantana, and multiple mystery plants stuffed in every spare corner. There were leaves and stems dragging the street like when you close your coat in the car door. It was Fabulous, I tell you. A traveling nursery. With the radio blaring, I sounded like a modern day icecream truck only with plants.
Well, my boss shopped from the car, as did co workers. Several people wondered how I would ever get the dirt out, but i wasn't worried. Even though I had put the goodies in bags, the dirt escaped with fervor. There were inches of dirt in the seat, on the dash, and on the floor. My only concern was knowing my convertible top had a leak, and if we had rain before I could clear out my inventory, well, I admit I was a little concerned about rooting plants in the floorboards of my vehicle. A novel idea, but not one I really wanted to see up close and personal.
In two days' time, the plants were transferred to new dirt. I have maybe a hundred caladium bulbs sleeping on newspaper in my green room. along with a tree hoping to live long enough for me to give it to one of my daughters for Christmas. The rest are in the community garden, my gardenette, and at co workers' houses, and home church friends' houses. Isn't that neat?
The gift that keeps on giving. Dirty, in a good way. Something happened that day, coupled with the growing pleasure of working the community garden, I was finding community through sharing plants, and I was feeding my problem solving hankering by figuring out how to find plants that I needed and connecting the needs of others - a plant switchboard sort of. It became theraputic for me.
Usually, I refer to therapy to therapuke because if you are really doing the hard work therapy requires, it feels puky. But this therapy had no puke in it. Just dirt.
Bulbs for Easter continued
A person came in for some assistance. One of my jobs is to work with people who come in for help. I call them Avon people because at home church these folks have to ring the bell to come in. At work church, there is no doorbell, but i sort of hear it in my head when they enter. This is a very challenging part of my work. I think to myself with every person I talk to, "This could be me...in one day, this could be me. One month late on my rent, and this could be me. An extended illness, an expensive car repair, and I become an Avon person." Being a single parent has put financial security in a space ship and has sent that concept into outer space.
The reality of helping our Avon people is that some people really do need help, and others are just working the system. Since I am not in a position to judge the difference, I've come up with a system that helps me decide what we can do to empower rather than enable. The system is simple. It is the same system that I relied on to help me understand my children when they were teenagers. I ask questions. and I listen.
I guess I could write a whole long story about assistance but i really only need to say that on this day, someone who really needed help came in seeking it. We talked, and I gave what I thought we needed to, and then I gave him resource suggestions to help him find more help. He, like many, asked what he could do to pay us back. Most of the time, this is a question that comes from a sense of pride, and most of the time, all of the time since I've been doing this, the question evaporates when they walk out the door.
This man sounded like he really wanted to do something to repay us. I told him to let that go, and that is what we are here for. Then, I paused. I knew he had been a working man until recently, and I knew he was in his mid 40's and had an unexpected heart ailment and I knew that major heart surgery often brings depression with the recuperation. I thought how helpless it must feel to suddenly, literally over night be without independence. So, I said, " Well, I'm planting bulbs in a week, do you want to help?" and he said, yes.
I didn't expect him to return and he didn't the next week. But- he called and asked for a raincheck, so I gave him one and lo. LO! Friday morning, there he is sitting on the bench in the lobby waiting for me.
I told him I was so glad to see him, and that I really just wanted the company, I didn't want him to think he was going to be working for the help we had given him. He was shocked. I said it would be the biggest favor to me if he could help me by being with me while I dug. So, together, we went outside and he snipped open the bags of bulbs and I planted them. The 700 planted bulbs grew to 1,000. ( FYI: If they don't grow, I'll deny this entire series)We chatted, he seemed to need to talk, and doing a simple mindless task such as repetitive planting is a good, safe way to just chat. I took him up the street for lunch later and left him there with a friend to take him home; both of us feeling a little better about the world.
So, the idea- the great idea my boss had that sounded so simple showed its true colors. Planting bulbs has already turned into planting good things with others. See how smart that man is??
The reality of helping our Avon people is that some people really do need help, and others are just working the system. Since I am not in a position to judge the difference, I've come up with a system that helps me decide what we can do to empower rather than enable. The system is simple. It is the same system that I relied on to help me understand my children when they were teenagers. I ask questions. and I listen.
I guess I could write a whole long story about assistance but i really only need to say that on this day, someone who really needed help came in seeking it. We talked, and I gave what I thought we needed to, and then I gave him resource suggestions to help him find more help. He, like many, asked what he could do to pay us back. Most of the time, this is a question that comes from a sense of pride, and most of the time, all of the time since I've been doing this, the question evaporates when they walk out the door.
This man sounded like he really wanted to do something to repay us. I told him to let that go, and that is what we are here for. Then, I paused. I knew he had been a working man until recently, and I knew he was in his mid 40's and had an unexpected heart ailment and I knew that major heart surgery often brings depression with the recuperation. I thought how helpless it must feel to suddenly, literally over night be without independence. So, I said, " Well, I'm planting bulbs in a week, do you want to help?" and he said, yes.
I didn't expect him to return and he didn't the next week. But- he called and asked for a raincheck, so I gave him one and lo. LO! Friday morning, there he is sitting on the bench in the lobby waiting for me.
I told him I was so glad to see him, and that I really just wanted the company, I didn't want him to think he was going to be working for the help we had given him. He was shocked. I said it would be the biggest favor to me if he could help me by being with me while I dug. So, together, we went outside and he snipped open the bags of bulbs and I planted them. The 700 planted bulbs grew to 1,000. ( FYI: If they don't grow, I'll deny this entire series)We chatted, he seemed to need to talk, and doing a simple mindless task such as repetitive planting is a good, safe way to just chat. I took him up the street for lunch later and left him there with a friend to take him home; both of us feeling a little better about the world.
So, the idea- the great idea my boss had that sounded so simple showed its true colors. Planting bulbs has already turned into planting good things with others. See how smart that man is??
Saturday, October 04, 2008
Plant self revelations
Today is a perfect Fall day. or Spring day or early summer day or random winter day with color.
Temp is just right. sunny, mild, benign. Just a day. I have been looking forward to this day all week.
I visited Julia's yard again and scavenged some plants again and i went to Anna's to dig up some bigger Liripe. I drove over the rainbow to Jennifer's where she willingly shared some of her spider lillies with me. I put a request out on one of the neighborhood elists for daylillies and daff bulbs that needed thinning and got 3 responses, so after work, I went digging.
I now keep the pitchfork in my trunk. My baby cabrio is doubling as a truck. Somewhere in its baby cabrio soul it wanted to be a truck, so now it gets to-on occasion.
The city yard waste place i get the leaf mulch and compost is having a sale. The notice was more exciting to me than the Steinmart flyer i got in the mail. Ye Gods. What does this mean? Buy a load get one free. So now I can get 20 bags worth of eye watering nature vitamins for the price of one. I only spend 5 or 7 dollars as is, think I'll just keep to that. When I pull up in line behind the big-bed trucks, Cabrio Calvin and I feel so teeny. When I pull up to the window, I used to get smart looks from the compost teller, as if she is thinking, " What is this? a joke?" I just fill kitchen bags with leaves or compost to where I can carry them, and then I pile them in the trunk, floor, and well, every space I can stuff them. It doesn't take many trips for my space and now that I have the community garden spot started, I will only add compost to the beds. My friend prefers pine straw and she is on her own for that.
My daughter still has a couple of bags of leaves her friendly landscaper mom dropped off a couple of weeks ago. I'm delivering this stuff. I have grown to love the pungent odor of nature renewing it's own resources and changing leaves into growing fodder. My kids like it too. We don't have to unload truckloads of it anymore so it makes it easier to appreciate the value now. Good stuff.
Today at the bank, i noticed the landscapers were putting in pansies. I asked them what they had taken out and one guy pointed to a trash can behind their truck. I dug through the discarded plants but they were sun- loving plants, so i left them be. The community garden needs shade loving rootables.
Someone at work church supplied mums for centerpieces and gave them away later. I planted a couple at my house and one at the community garden. Gerbers have ended up in those places as well.
OMG
I'm addicted to scavenging plants. I'm hooked on putting other people's plants in other other people's yards. I'm a cross planter.
I pay attention to what's in bloom when I'm driving or walking now.
Monday, at 7 am, I will be waiting for the landscapers to arrive at my neighborhood shopping center because I hear they will be changing out the plants for Fall and I want to see if they'll let me have caladiums and ferns. But I'll really be hoping Santa landscapers will fill my bags with it all so I can figure out later what will work.
I'm a greedy dirt monger.
I rearranged my own plot out back and moved the mondo around, collected and regrouped the seedums. Just like furniture. What in the world.
I planted over a hundred sundry bulbs at my house and the same if not more in the community garden. Some bought, some dug up. Spring will be a mystery until we see what comes up. Oh, I hope something does come up. I can't wait to see the color. The hard work paying off. The thing is, all of this is learning for me. I'm getting to know how to do this in conditions different than I'm used to. It will be nice to see some blooms.
I realized that it feels good to me to have living things around me. My office is full of plants and a philodendron that is winding its way around the room. There is comfort for me in being with living things that require nothing more than tending and time. Weeding is peaceful for me, meditative. Wish I could do that weeding in my head and clear it out sometimes. I tend to personalize everything I see, but in this case, all of these things, including the dirt are alive.
oh! two more replies to the neighborhood elist request. Irises are waiting to meet new friends - Maybe today I can pluck a few before dark.
Soon, the season for dirty work will be hibernating and I'll have to rely on soup making to keep me out of my own trouble. Until the clock ticks us into winter, I'm keeping my fingers dirty, though.
Temp is just right. sunny, mild, benign. Just a day. I have been looking forward to this day all week.
I visited Julia's yard again and scavenged some plants again and i went to Anna's to dig up some bigger Liripe. I drove over the rainbow to Jennifer's where she willingly shared some of her spider lillies with me. I put a request out on one of the neighborhood elists for daylillies and daff bulbs that needed thinning and got 3 responses, so after work, I went digging.
I now keep the pitchfork in my trunk. My baby cabrio is doubling as a truck. Somewhere in its baby cabrio soul it wanted to be a truck, so now it gets to-on occasion.
The city yard waste place i get the leaf mulch and compost is having a sale. The notice was more exciting to me than the Steinmart flyer i got in the mail. Ye Gods. What does this mean? Buy a load get one free. So now I can get 20 bags worth of eye watering nature vitamins for the price of one. I only spend 5 or 7 dollars as is, think I'll just keep to that. When I pull up in line behind the big-bed trucks, Cabrio Calvin and I feel so teeny. When I pull up to the window, I used to get smart looks from the compost teller, as if she is thinking, " What is this? a joke?" I just fill kitchen bags with leaves or compost to where I can carry them, and then I pile them in the trunk, floor, and well, every space I can stuff them. It doesn't take many trips for my space and now that I have the community garden spot started, I will only add compost to the beds. My friend prefers pine straw and she is on her own for that.
My daughter still has a couple of bags of leaves her friendly landscaper mom dropped off a couple of weeks ago. I'm delivering this stuff. I have grown to love the pungent odor of nature renewing it's own resources and changing leaves into growing fodder. My kids like it too. We don't have to unload truckloads of it anymore so it makes it easier to appreciate the value now. Good stuff.
Today at the bank, i noticed the landscapers were putting in pansies. I asked them what they had taken out and one guy pointed to a trash can behind their truck. I dug through the discarded plants but they were sun- loving plants, so i left them be. The community garden needs shade loving rootables.
Someone at work church supplied mums for centerpieces and gave them away later. I planted a couple at my house and one at the community garden. Gerbers have ended up in those places as well.
OMG
I'm addicted to scavenging plants. I'm hooked on putting other people's plants in other other people's yards. I'm a cross planter.
I pay attention to what's in bloom when I'm driving or walking now.
Monday, at 7 am, I will be waiting for the landscapers to arrive at my neighborhood shopping center because I hear they will be changing out the plants for Fall and I want to see if they'll let me have caladiums and ferns. But I'll really be hoping Santa landscapers will fill my bags with it all so I can figure out later what will work.
I'm a greedy dirt monger.
I rearranged my own plot out back and moved the mondo around, collected and regrouped the seedums. Just like furniture. What in the world.
I planted over a hundred sundry bulbs at my house and the same if not more in the community garden. Some bought, some dug up. Spring will be a mystery until we see what comes up. Oh, I hope something does come up. I can't wait to see the color. The hard work paying off. The thing is, all of this is learning for me. I'm getting to know how to do this in conditions different than I'm used to. It will be nice to see some blooms.
I realized that it feels good to me to have living things around me. My office is full of plants and a philodendron that is winding its way around the room. There is comfort for me in being with living things that require nothing more than tending and time. Weeding is peaceful for me, meditative. Wish I could do that weeding in my head and clear it out sometimes. I tend to personalize everything I see, but in this case, all of these things, including the dirt are alive.
oh! two more replies to the neighborhood elist request. Irises are waiting to meet new friends - Maybe today I can pluck a few before dark.
Soon, the season for dirty work will be hibernating and I'll have to rely on soup making to keep me out of my own trouble. Until the clock ticks us into winter, I'm keeping my fingers dirty, though.
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