In the magical garden

The old magical garden is awakening, I’m sure! Trees are unruffling thin arms, and there’s a big eye watching me…   

Gnomes, sprites and elves are stirring in their dens and burrows after a very long sleep spell… even my cherubs and garden statues are slowly coming back to life, as they adapt to their new life here in the north… 

This old garden is a magical place indeed! Even fairytale princesses have been showing up.  They just popped up out of the snow one day and alas... there they were!  Like some magical Christmas bauble ornament.  Where did they come from?  You just have to wonder!

Birds are also finding in the old garden a new dwelling place, and the other day an utmost magical, perfect friend came by to explore the place and see if it was of her likings…

I had never seen a mourning dove such as this one—large, with over fluffed super white feathers almost as white as snow.

She appeared just when I needed her the most, when I was sitting outside in the cold and my heart was heavy and blue with the weight of memories beyond time… 

What a beautiful bird that was!  And how it enchanted my heart.  The sleepy winter garden was suddenly awakened under its magic, and my sad heart fluttered a little bit.  Oh, I hope she’ll stay.

I supposed, thought, not every creature in my magical garden is entirely happy either.  This poor little fella here must be very angry with me for having seized him away from his birthplace and bringing him here.  Can you not tell?

Do you suppose he's giving me the finger?  You take a look again, and tell me!  Well, I wouldn't blame him, would I? You see, he’s a true southern boy, born and raced in the deep south and definitely having a rough time adapting to his new environment. The poor little thing! Who would blame him!  There are days when, deep down in my heart, I myself feel the same way and my soul comes out of me and flies away from me, and I hear it crying silently, and sometimes I even hear it yelling some sad, unspoken words that only I can hear...   

Wind, frigid rain and cold days, they all have a unique song to sing; a song all of their own, and like a child’s lullaby, they sing it, faithfully reminding us that we are back home to where the roses sleep for half a year. 

I need the sun as much as I need food to thrive, I need Nature as much as I need air to subsist, and thus today I bundled up from head to toes and again, went to sit outside in search of my life. And what a wonderful respite that was, what silence, what sad peacefulness.  No roses no nothing, just the quieted winter garden and me--an Adam in Paradise before he had an Eve.

I miss those old, long-limbed trees towering our little white cottage, miss their glorious view above my window. The freedom of blue skies and sunlit woods skirting the gardens where strange, magical noises could be heard all day long.  I miss the colored cardinals and wandering cats, and I miss sitting in the front porch in the middle of winter and still be warmed up by a strong, faithful sun.  The green of trees that never changed colors nor lost their leaves, the scent of the garden in winter and roses in December.  I miss my mother and the days spent by her side.  I miss her song, her laughter, the color of her eyes.  I miss what I lost and what I will have—tulips in April roses in June. I am hopeful and confident that the Great-I-Am will dry my tears and again bring new laughter to my lips.    

The gypsy room

I haven’t seen the sun in days.  Another snowstorm is on its way as I write.  Inside my little heart-house, is the same.  Gloom hovers above my dark hours, but the story tells that the darkest hour is often just before the dawn, so we should always be people of hope and prayer, not gloom and defeatism. And so, it will be.

Dad left yesterday.  The Fisherman spared me from having to take him back home and accompanied  him, while I remained in the comfort and safety of our home.  I have a hard time flying in winter with all the commotions going on at airports, so I’m so thankful to him for doing that.  The house feels empty and sad, and there’s a little sad music playing inside my soul.  To calm down those voices, I got busy yesterday cleaning bathrooms and windows, vacuuming floors, washing bed sheets and so on… then, as it always happens to me when I engage in physical activity, I felt something growing inside me—the force of life, the desire to create to hide to become me… 

Until the gypsy girl came out—as wild and colorful and crazy as always… and with her, also came my newest room in the house.  My gypsy room!

It is crazy in here, and flamboyant and fun, all the colors of the rainbow have gathered here in crazy, asymmetrical shades, nothing matches, everything is unequal and unrelated and matchy matchy styles has gone out the window.  The bohemian has gone overboard.  kings and queens, gypsies and old artists reside here too, and I love them all. 

The geranium plant is doing splendidly by this western window, when late in the afternoon the sun shines the strongest here.  I will be bringing in more plants here too, more books more gypsy skirts and shawls and one day I might even move here for good ;)   

LINKING TO:

DIY Salvaged Junk Projects – Funky Junk Interiors
Dream.Create.Inspire – Simple Nature Decor
Happiness Is Homemade – The Painted Hinge 

Sundays At Home – Little Farmstead
Nifty Thrifty Sunday – Nifty Thrifty Things
Dishing It & Digging It – Life And Linda
Silver Pennies Sundays – Finding Silver Pennies

Make it pretty Monday - Make it pretty Monday
Metamorphosis Monday - Metamorphosis Monday

Houseplants and lamps

Green green, green foliage everywhere inside this old house in the roses... 

In such white vastness outside, my houseplants are an essential source of joy to me these days.  They bring life and a continuity of happiness to my little world...  

...and thus, I've continued cramping up each room with the color green…

The other day, I received a beautiful sympathy plant arrangement from my husband’s office, so I’ve been dividing more plants, buying new planters and filing each corner of our home with little green smithereens of joy. 

Plants not only bring inside that natural feel from the outdoors that I crave, they also bring some very beneficial mind and body healing.  They purify the air, they are truly your friends and can even help protect you against certain illnesses.  Plants increase the humidity indoors, which it really is a gift during the drier winter months around here.  And all in all, indoor greenery not only can make you work more effectively during your days, but be happier while doing it too!

My Pigmy Date palm is one of my favorite houseplants these days.   

I love the feathery texture of its foliage, 

which gives an immediate tropical effect wherever it is displayed

Now, we'll go from my plants to my lamps... ;)

I adore these lamps HERE...

...but, there’s a sad little story behind them I shall share... 

...it is kind of a secret this little story is... so I’ll speak very softly in case 'someone' is listening ;)  You see, it's all the Fisherman's fault! He had always disliked these old lamps since the day I brought them home.  Not so like me, he couldn’t see that special exquisiteness -like a rare jewel among jewels- kind of a thing I saw in them when I first discovered them... 

Even after I gave them a new glamorous life with a little bit of acrylic paint and a lot of patience, he still couldn’t find any beauty in them and disliked seeing them around the house so much, that for many many months while living at the little white cottage I kept them hidden away in a closet, just to please him. 

When we move to this old house in the roses, I brought them in again and said “this time they’ll stay”, but they were predestined to succumb. You see, one morning while we were working on something around the living room, the Fisherman accidentally knocked one of them down... the poor thing broke into zillions of precious little pieces... and unfortunately, no mending was ever possible.

He jinxed it, I swear he did! But he doesn’t know that of course, and felt so bad about what had happened! But it was already too late for feeling sorry, don't you think so?  ;)  I’ll never find another lamp just like it!

I haven’t unpacked any of my large art pieces either… and I don’t think I will for a while anyway.  It is an amazing feeling to see white, bare walls and just the essential few things on furniture and such. 

Our friends Ricardo and Florencia brought us an Italian Panettone Christmas bread the other day...  this is sooo good!

A while back before we moved here, I bought a huge piece of art to use on that vast wall over the mantle, but it will not be put up; at least not for now anyway.  We simply love that whiteness and vastness of emptied white walls.

I’d have to agree that sometimes a single crazy/quirky piece can take a room from being a bit flat to fabulous, but I don’t want to pile things on every single surface of my home and create vignettes that can only make things looking too cluttered.

I am excited about making my home a beautiful, cozy nest and the place where my heart wants to be.  I wanted everything white and airy, and had tried to maintain a light or muted palette around the house, although I still have a few painted pieces I kept, and are still incorporating them here and there around our home, because I love that pop of color that gives a room a happy lift.

Our days have been cold and gray and sunny sometimes too.  Birds have found the new birdfeeders and are gathering by the dozen around the old lilac tree.  I saw the first squirrel yesterday.  And what a surprise that was!  I had never seen a squirrel around here before. Our neighborhood is practically still a young one, and mature trees are scarce, or nonexistent. But clearly, more wildlife will be visiting our gardens for food, and I love it.  I only wish an ampler variety of birds will discover our little garden soon… I miss seeing the cardinals of the south.

Dad is leaving tomorrow.  He’s been staying with us since mom passed.  When we came back, we brought him home with us and now I’m going to miss seeing him sitting on his chair working on his sudoku, and sometimes quietly crying. I still cry too, and there are times when I think that the grieving progress is going backwards… going back to the beginning to denial and isolation again.  It’s been tough for both of us, but now that he’s retaking his life, perhaps a thread of light will emerge for both?

I found this picture on the early morning when I couldn't sleep, and I love it so much, that I wanted to share it with you.  Do you think He loved roses as much as we do?  Oh I think so! 

Thank you for being here and for your encouragement through words and thoughts.