Dear Diary

April 4—I continued on planting today.  Another Red Twig Dogwood was planted along the fence… one which I forgot to plant yesterday and which is part of the natural barricade I’m trying to create in yet another attempt to close up the gaps in the fence between us and our backdoor neighbors.  I also relocated some of the vinca that was growing rampant in that space where our trailer sits, over to that bare place under the Quaking aspen and behind the swing. I also realized this morning that the Burning Bush I planted yesterday was placed in the wrong location, and thus it had to be removed quickly to have that space saved for a large tree… because, that’s what should go there—another large tree to conceal our neighbors house and make my own sort of little jungle around me… 

I don’t think I could ever rest or find my inner peace until the day I don't have to see that two-story house looming across my garden any more... it takes away so much beauty from the beauty I try to create!  And those two windows-like eyes overlooking down at us all day long and all night long... I feel naked and bare.  I'm also lacking the peace and privacy I seek in my sacred space... our backdoor neighbors are always outside; sitting around not doing anything, not working not planting not cleaning, just sitting around listening and watching while their two dogs yap like crazy when they see me working in the garden through the gaps. 

Why don't these people like trees and shrubs and why would they not plant them and plant something along their side of the fence to hide us from their view and why is this such a burden to me and why is my soul so unsettled by these insignificances?  I am upset with myself for this. For feeling this way. For not liking those dogs, for not wanting to lift my worship off the ground or off the fence to a higher ground where love abounds. “Leave me alone" is not a good thing. We were made to be each other’s keepers. And I need to learn how to let love lead.  Even if I feel deprived of the privacy my soul craves... 

There’s a momma Robin plotting on nesting on the climbing rose outside our bedroom window. Every morning she’d come by, stand on the iron support and look around for hours trying to figure out, I guess, what branch suites her best… 

April 9—after all those long months of inactivity, finally today I decided this was the day I would go out and start my jogging routine… So I went out, turn around the corner, and came right back home… It was so cold and so windy that I had to come back and hide in the warmth of my nest…. 

Tough winds blew harsh and cold against my face, tugging at my hair and prickling up my skin …what a disenchantment that was… and what long long winter this had been!  The worse thing is, thinking that it is already nice enough and sunny enough to start planting and doing all the things you enjoy, and then realizing that nothing is as you thought it was… and you’d have to wait some more.

Wait wait wait… and who has time to wait anyway when life is so short and warm days so scarce?  Around here, it is usually around Mother’s Day when people start working on their flowerpots and plantings, because the weather is so deceiving… this kills me and it kills my gardener’s heart.  Sometimes everything seems so fleeting.  Time is so fleeting; days come and go so fast that I can’t even begin to savor them by the time another one is gone.  I just don't have time to wait.  

April 10—despicable despicable Winter Winds, I ask thee, why are thou still around here when my heart sayeth “spring”! … away, thou rag, thou remnant, I tell thee, thou marred my spirit.

And thus, it’s been so cold around here lately, and winds have been blowing so bitterly cold that even birds have stopped mating and nest building seasons has taken a sojourn… twice I tried to go out to the garden today and twice I had to run back in… my body had been acclimatizing to warmer temperatures for a while, and now it’s like going back to winter overnight.   That’s how is around here—unpredictable and unreliable as far as weather goes.  It is always more cold days than warm days.

The sand dunes

And so into the sand dunes the gypsies went again—rain guiding them all the way through deserts and hills… 

The gypsy caravan finally arrived, and it encamped in the very space the gypsies love so much—under the naked Russian olive trees and saltcedars, in front of the immensity and gloriousness of one of the most incredible desert and prairie landscapes they have ever seen.

Desert, dune, prairie, lake and marsh habitat are found here… coyotes, badgers, kit foxes, antelope, rabbits, lizards, scorpions, waterfowls, ducks, geese, kestrels, hawks, herons and owls are some of the dwellers of the sand dunes. But they are shy and try to avoid people.  Because most desert animals are nocturnal, they are rarely seen during the day, but they always leave signs of their presence in different forms, such as tracks in the sand that tell the stories of the previous night's activities in the dunes. And of course, feathers!

We rode our bikes, walked among an incredible habitat, and collected dried desert flowers, we watched the skies for the flight of birds and listened to some of the most beautiful bird songs I have ever heard. On our way back, a light rain followed us all the way to our camp; savoring the salty tang of rain drops on our tongues we walked, letting the wind blow sand in our hair.  

Then, we prepared a magnificent meal outside our gypsy caravan and ate under the trees.

Later on, we changed into our comfy pjs, made us a cup of coffee, and read all afternoon inside our gypsy caravan…

 

Few people realize just how old the sand deposits here are - an estimated 15,000 years old and carried here by a historic great flood.  On Saturday, we decided to do a little climbing… and see the grand view from there… 

Sometimes, when I walk in the dunes I feel as if I’m in another place faraway… maybe walking the deserts of Israel, or a place where Jesus walked and pray...

We love it here... and we love our new gypsy caravan so much!  I didn't want to bored you, so on my next post I will show you what new things I have done there, and how we live inside our little nest.  For now, this is it!

See you soon friends!

The days of the garden

April3—on and off all day today, a light rain sprinkled from dark thunderclouds above, but I didn’t pay too much attention to circumstances and decided it was the perfect day to plant.

In one of those few moments in between rain spells, I went to the garden and started planting. I finally put the Miss Kim Lilac in the ground—large, fragrant, lavender-blue panicles that soon will be blooming. 

In Mom’s little patch, on the other side of the garden, I planted two Japanese Beech Ferns that already look lovely among the rocks.  Something about ferns I can’t properly explain… they speak to my soul in such special way… and perhaps is something to do with the nostalgia and mystery related to their natural habitat and places where they usually grow?  In dappled sunlight, under giant trees and shady places in the woods. 

I also planted a Dwarf Burning Bush, and a Red Twig Dogwood and then… it suddenly started raining again.  I should had run back inside, but I was already too deep into it and kept working the soil… rain pattered down over me as I planted along, dreaming about how I wished these new bushes would grow tall and big in a day or two...

...all the while enjoying getting soaked to the bones in the company of not a soul.  Except, perhaps, for my little garden friends who are always very much interested in knowing what I'm doing out here!

Despite the wet and chilly conditions, it was an ideal time to take care of a few transplanting tasks around the pond and in mom’s little garden… and thus, I relocated some more irises and garden Phlox. Rainy days are not the most agreeable time for an organic gardener to be outdoors, but it is perfect weather for setting out hardy transplants, and relocate bulbs and perennials that have already started to come forth. 

I also planted another clematis; this time under the new Colette climbing rose, in the rotunda.  I’m missing one last clematis bulb that I can’t find nowhere and I’m thinking that I might had lost it or throw it away mistakenly. 

Today, I also planted a little pot of Rosemary...  

I love rosemary in pots, and I will be placing it in a sunny spot in my back porch this summer, and then hopefully I can continue on nurturing it inside.

All the dahlias are also planted now… all were put in different places, filling empty spaces throughout the garden, and among roses.  Oh I so want more!  And I will definitely buy more.  I have never planted dahlias before in my life, and thus I can’t explain why I have so fallen in love with them this year, being that I have never cultivated them before.  Then, I just found out recently that The National Garden Bureau has named 2019 the year of the Dahlia!  Can you believe it!  What coincidences!

When I finally was done with my task of love in the garden, I almost couldn’t recognize myself… dripping wet, dirty, in thick mud to my ankles and clothes so soiled and damped, that I almost had to be carried in by way of birdwings all the way to the shower so I would not get anything soiled.  But how happy I felt.

Have you started working in your garden yet?  I hope you have... if not, may it be soon!

April

April 1st—April, what a beautiful month you are! You bring hope and beauty in a thousand words… bird wings young feathers new nests life-contained buds that soon will be flowers then leaves then trees fully cladded in ripened beauty.

Today, I was still working in the garden around 6 pm, which means, enough warmth to still be able to stand being outside at this time of day and extended daylight. What a delight! 

I’m working on the pond, spreading life around it, transplanting irises and Creeping Jenny to this area. I have also planted a clematis in that certain corner behind the pond to cover fences and increase beauty. Another clematis was planted on the opposite side of that same fence.

April 2—it rained all day today, and it was so cold again that I was forced to remain inside, 

...all the while nurturing my desire to go out and plant that Miss Kim lilac, I bought last weekend and still haven’t plant it. The extra two clematis from yesterday’s package will also have to wait to be planted, and so is with that lovely package of dahlias… a dozen of them I think! Dahlias that I’m still debating where to plant… in mom’s little garden? Perhaps in the rotunda in the center of the garden? Or among the roses on the western side wall, by our bedroom? 

What a delicious thing is to only have to worry about such banalities and the pleasure they provide. How lucky we are to live where we live. I’ am thankful to the bottom of my gypsy heart! Let me encourage you to get up every day and focus on what you do have in life. Be thankful for the blessings of the little things, even when you don't get what you expect. Life is a lot worse for many people around the world. 

All of the annual flowerpots I have been nurturing throughout the winter are back inside. I’ve been acclimatizing them little by little each day by taking them outside and then bringing them back in at nightfall and out again the following morning, but they have remained inside today… just like me.

My little creature friends, the ones who live with me inside the house are doing splendidly. 

The other day while shopping, the Fisherman surprised me with the most precious little thing ever! My newly adopted girl-planter here! Which, I’ve named none other than "Frida Sofia", of course!

She has christened herself “Queen of my planters”, thought, and I didn’t mind her changing her name in the least.... because I totally love her and she deserves that title! 

She lives among geraniums in my house, but if you like her too, you can find more of her at TJ Maxx!  She's there, along with some other lovely planters I should also bring home!

I'm spending my day, doing this...

Watching the sky turn cerulean pink from behind the window, listening to the courting songs of mourning doves outside, while the soft music of my favorite hymns plays inside... a heart full of thankfulness lips whispering words of praise mind attuned with our Creator thankful hopeful faith-reposed heart. 

Be blessed my friend! Look around you.... magic is everywhere!