Work, Determination, Magic!

The end of April… how magical it was!  

And how had everything in the garden fully-fledged and beautified my little world all of a sudden!

Every new morning is a new beginning, an unwrapping of a gift, a new chance, another beautifully freely gifted day… to start anew, to amend errors and opt for love.  And perhaps to find a bit of magic waiting somewhere behind the morning?

And thus, these last few days of April have brought much magic to my little world, the magic I was waiting for—the first quail in the garden, its song a mysterious emphasis on life, and an innate response to its Creator.  I know, oh I know there will more of them coming, and then I will be here, waiting for them beside all of my other little garden friends!

I have worked so much and so hard for months.  Worked in the middle of winter under awful winds and chilly temps, but everything is unfolding as I’ve expected it would, and the garden is marvelously responding in a thousand ways, and it is speaking to me secretly, and it's been gifting gifting!  How marvelous, how very marvelous to see it coming back to an orderly beauty!  No more weeds or unwanted grasses, no despairing shoots and unruly canes.  Roses are growing stronger and bushier by the day, and every little transplant I’d made is making it. I know that angels walk along me as I work and pull weeds, and by my side… oh by my side a Shadow—nay, more.  Even under His wings.

Ah my friends, I do believe in magic, but a dream doesn't become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work... I’m getting there!

Keep your dreams alive. Understand to achieve anything requires faith and belief in yourself, vision, hard work, determination, and dedication. Remember all things are possible for those who believe.  Then, you can sit and relax!

Hasta luego!

Spring is in the air

My little world has been painted in fuchsias and pinks, and the ground smells like cherry blossoms.

Mourning doves are serenading the open spaces above my head at all hours of day, and under my feet soft, green grasses.  The trees, the tulips—those first splendid gems of early spring, the sun, the moon, and stars these are the themes of my meditations and morning and evening walks in the garden.  

The lilac tree is bursting in blooms; full, and heavy, with glorious jewels of dark purple and amethysts. 

The garden is very still. It is dazed with moonlight, contented with lilac perfume... Can you see the moon above the blossoms?

How can I describe it?  The scent... the glorious, marvelous scent of the lilacs being carried by winds. It marvels me, this scent... it dulls every other senses and you feel as if the earth is letting itself be inhaled in this simple, lovely perfume of which I can only say it contains so much depth within itself, light and darkness, and something greater than life itself.  

Oh the lilac scent; the ripe earth... 

A black cat among roses, 

garden phlox, lilac-misted under a fainted moon

Things I love... 

I want to fill my house with lilac perfume... oh, I want more… more; masses of them!

I have been working hard too.  All of the outside furniture had been painted. New cushions have been provided, every flowerpot, all the little things, the weather tattered fountains and decorations stained and painted...

...and now I sit and wait for the mocking-bird, the whip-poor-will, the yellow-throat and the humming bird.

Life at this old house in the roses

I have started running again.  A few hours after our super early morning breakfast I go out, but mornings here are nothing like those southern mornings of my yesterdays...  

Our sun is a lazy sun and by nine it is still cold outside, and chilly winds are an impossible thing to conquer... 

Oh, how I miss those sun-filled mornings of my southern days!  And how I miss the glorious silence and privacy of our little white cocoon.  Neighborhood dogs are worse than the wind around here, and I find myself wishing upon a star for the quiet days of the country life again. Looking back, I am astonished, and can hardly believe how all of my dreams had come true while living in that little white cottage that was my kingdom of heaven.  I wish it would only be the gentle quietness of birds and the purr of cats around here.  But it is not.

I've found another painting that I really like. This creepy beauty here came home with me yesterday from my roundabouts at our local thrift stores...  

It is such a colorful and creative work of art!  She reminds me of the Frida Kahlo in the movie Coco.  Have you seen it?  I knew I had to have her the minute I put her back in the shelves thinking she was cool, but pretty weird, and then saw a woman pondering over it. I heard her talking to her son into getting it and I knew I'd lost my chance, but then they put her back in the shelves.  “Too creepy”, said the son!  I almost snatched her out of their hands right after that! ;) 

Gary, our painter, is again postponing my dream of seeing our home being renovated in newly fresh paint, and thus I’m not talking to him.  It is better to ignore him and let him come whenever he sees it fit, than having to bear his idiosyncrasy…

In the garden, the lilacs are being tossed by winds, and the scent, the glorious, glorious scent of it is embracing every inch of my soul.  This morning, I collected my first bouquet, everything glowing and blowing, the cherry tree petals everywhere and the blessed little birds reigning supreme.

Lilacs are such a delight, and I want every pot and bowl and tub in the house filled with their purple glories. That’s why we got another lilac bush this past Sunday—a French Lilac bush that the Fisherman himself got for me and planted it for me.

What would it be next?  I wonder.  What flower, branch or wildflower from my very own gardens would I be collecting and bringing in?  Roses.  The May roses!  I can hardly wait!

The front of our house is a riot of white petals these days... 

Both of the trees in the front yard are covered in wonderful, precious blooms; so much, that the house is almost covered in their splendors.    

The front porch gets a lot of shade now, and it is almost hard to believe this is the same sunny porch of just a few years ago, when the trees were young and the hot sun of the high desert summers flooded it all day long.  I was thinking of a large geranium pot by the door, or the climbing Mandevilla and some hanging baskets, but now I don't know.

I'm writing from behind those windows on the second floor.  Can you see me? ;) All I see when I look down are the white and pink canopies of these trees.  I love it!

My little heaven on earth

Lovely, lovely, glorious April morning.  The irrigation system is on, and because we never had the chance of closing down the sprinklers this past fall when we moved back, they were on, and thus the garden woke up this morning bathed in wonderful glittering little water-stars that shone and twinkled touched by the first marvelous yellow sun of this wonderful morning.

The crabapple tree is in its full blossoming of glories and it has covered the two-story house on the back almost in its entirely gifting us with shade and much appreciated privacy.  I love this tree.  My heart is full of praises and thankfulness for all the wonders and glories of creation.

The garden has woken up wrapped in their own small glories too.  And it’s been filling up with young, green leaves and crimson blossoms everywhere.  We worked so hard yesterday fixing things around, and painting.  I added more soil to the entire garden—10 bags in total, and finished the side alley, which is the pathway to the entrance of the garden with beautiful pea pebble and hostas, that I decided to keep in pots this time.  The Virginia Creeper is bursting with tiny buds of blooms, and under it is the small tiled table and newly pink painted chairs, where I’m putting all my small cactuses, and all I can find to embellish that corner.

I also planted a healthy, fat Knockout rose in the middle of the garden, that I’m hoping it will fill the space with abundant red blossoms.  The furniture is all painted too, except for the old baker’s rack, which I’m planning on embellishing with new paint and adhesive paper and later use as a plant holder and a place where to keep some of my gardening stuff. A red Mandeville climber is now part of my new collection of potted plants.  We’re staining the back-porch floors soon, and later after the exterior of the house gets painted, it will be new patio furniture and lots of more flower pots.  

My little sacred space is returning to its previous glories, and it is again turning into a place where my soul finds its comfort and my feet its pleasures.  How fortunate I am to have this garden back into my life... to be able to come back to it again and claim it mine again.  How fortunate, and happy I am.

I give all the glory to God. It's kind of a win win situation. The glory goes up to Him, and all the blessings fall down on me!

Hope you're all having a marvelous spring day my friends!