Herbs

Posted on February 6, 2017 by Arwen

Our herbs are sprinkled amongst our garden.

We have Oregano.

Lemon Balm.

Variegated Lemon Thyme.

Young Parsley (and Variegated Lemon Thyme).

Very young Sweet Basil.

Bay leaves.

Healing herbs.

Isn’t it curious that emotional pain can manifest as a physical ailment?

I will always appreciate an experience I had with an acupuncturist in Sydney who taught me that.

In about 2002, I was having trouble with my skin. A friend mentioned that an acupuncturist had helped her and gave me his details. I remember driving over the bridge and around the waterfront up into Neutral Bay. He had turned the property into an authentic Asian oasis both the building and the grounds, it was beautiful, restful, healing, peaceful…stepping into the front garden, cocooned by the cool greens, hearing the symphony of a variety of water features, the breeze in the leaves and birdsong, you immediately felt calm.

I was surprised to find the acupuncturist was a very Aussie male, fair hair and tanned. On my first visit I talked for what felt like an hour (really it was probably 15 minutes). He listened and made occasional notes. He then administered the needles and left me for what felt like another hour.

I visited several more times. My skin didn’t really improve, but I was willing to try anything, so I kept going.

I then went away on a film for a short time, when I got back, my skin still wasn’t great, I went back to see him. He greeted me and said, that’s right, you’re the one we’re treating for a broken heart.

What he gave me that day is that our emotional pain can manifest as a physical ailment and, if I could heal my emotional state, I could heal my ailment! I had the power!

Thank you Mr Acupuncturist, I’m grateful to you for helping me see and heal.

Today’s harvest 🌱

Hope you’re kind to yourself today.

Weeds

Posted on February 5, 2017 by Arwen

Can you believe something so beautiful is a weed?

It’s a wild bulb and it is rampant but I love it.

Without fail, starting in January, we get incredible displays. In the sunlight it’s like they emanate the suns golden rays.

Last year we emptied one of our garden beds. We removed the agapanthus and this wild bulb. Ha ha, we thought we did.

I’ve never seen a bulb survive a cull and multiply like this bulb.

I have to admit I was pleased to see them this year.

I would have missed them.

They make me smile.

And, I think, make our garden beautiful.

I wonder if the same could be said for what we consider ‘weeds’ inside of us, I wonder if some of them are what makes us beautiful and shine like the sun?

No photos of our harvest today (two fat peas 🌱), they were devoured before a photo could be taken.

Wishing you a happy Sunday like ours.

Fairies

Posted on February 4, 2017 by Arwen

We’re not 100% certain fairies visit our garden but we are ready if they do, tucked under the lemon balm is a place for them to meet and rest.

This may sound strange to some of you but we have a fairy we lean on regularly, our parking fairy. I do hope she comes to rest here, she helps us so often!

When I was growing up in Australia I remember we would sometimes find patches of tiny exquisitely perfect mushrooms where you could imagine fairies dancing.

Thank goodness for books, stories, our imaginations.

Have a wonderful day!

Gladioli

Posted on February 3, 2017 by Arwen

Several of our gladioli blooms were weighted down by the rain yesterday and the flowers too heavy and the stems too bent to be able to reach back up toward the sky.

We rescued them.

They now grace our kitchen window ledge.

A treasured friend who adopted my beloved cat, Indiana (Indy), when I left Sydney in 2004, introduced me to this phrase:

This too shall pass.

She had it tattooed on her arm, I asked her about it, she told me it was from a fairy tale about a king who had four prospective wives and asked each one to come to him with something that would help him rule both in good and bad times. He then would choose his bride. I can’t recall what the other prospective wives bought him, probably gold and/or other material riches, but I do remember what the one who became his wife gave him, she gave him those four words, ‘this too shall pass’.

I’ve often been grateful to my friend for sharing this phrase with me, and I think a fine phrase to tattoo on yourself as a reminder to treasure the good times and weather the bad.

Today’s harvest 🌱

I hope kindness abounds today!

Rain

Posted on February 2, 2017 by Arwen

Happy rain soaked garden.

Back in 2005 one of my girlfriend’s married a Scotsman and it was he who introduced me to this Scottish proverb:

What is for you won’t go by you.

So often these words have helped me let go and be rest assured that all is as it should be.

Today’s harvest 🌱

Have a wonderful day!

Tomatoes

Posted on February 1, 2017 by Arwen

I love tomatoes too, they’re definitely up there with peas for me. But not for my daughter, there will be no competition from her when we harvest our tomatoes!

We are a while away from harvesting.

We have some blossoms…

…and a few baby tomatoes.

In this day of technology how can we protect our children’s minds so they can enjoy a childhood? We can’t always be around. Children together on their phones/tablets, exploring the internet, can find such scary things.

The thought of the compounding effect of exposure to scary/damaging things scares me for our young generation.

I love books.

We’re reading The Phantom Tollbooth and today we saved the princesses Rhyme and Reason from the inhabitants of Ignorance. Such an awesome book, have you read it? Can’t recommend it highly enough!

Today’s harvest 🌱

Hope the peaks make you smile today and the troughs are easy to jump across.

Peas

Posted on January 31, 2017 by Arwen

Fresh peas from the garden are one of our very favourite things (understatement). We look forward to pea season and have been known to pop into the local fruit store and ask, any peas yet? Until, many years ago, the fruit lady said she’d text us, and indeed she did for years but sadly they sold their fruit store last year, now we’re back fending for ourselves!

We plant as many as we can in our garden and fill bags of them when they appear (momentarily) at the supermarket.

With the bags of peas from the market, we sit in the sun and devour them, a bag at a time. Heaven.

With the peas we grow? They are much more precious, we’d be lucky to harvest a small handful each day. They are counted and equally split. How many did you pick? How many did I get? That’s not fair!!! He he, see how precious they are?

This years crop have been particularly juicy, sweet and delicious.

Truly scrumptious (my daughter saw this and started singing, and I joined in…you are truly scrumptious…scrumptious as the breeze across the bay…so delicious…you are the answer to our wishes..). The song could be about our peas! 🌼

Today’s harvest 🌱

Have a wonderful day!

Agapanthus

Posted on January 30, 2017 by Arwen

We have removed most of the agapanthus from our garden, just a few remain. I have a love/dislike relationship with them. I love their colour and resilience but they are a bit rampant for my liking. Interesting snippet, in New Zealand Agapanthus are now registered as an ‘environmental weed’.

The flowers are reaching their end and I was going to cut them back this afternoon, but I noticed a couple of busy bees…

So fat, intent and busy, they made me smile. These bees are big, I would say easily twice the size of the honey bees we had when I was growing up in Australia.

Today’s harvest 🌱

Favourite moment from the past couple of days…we were out and about, I was on foot, my daughter on roller blades, she was way ahead and had stopped to wait for me at the crossing…I stretched out my arms for a hug and she raced back, smack, into my arms (like a professional speed skater). You’ll be glad to know I braced myself so she didn’t knock me over 🍃

Hope you were able to ‘kill ’em with kindness’ today (finding inspiration from my daughter’s pop music 🌼).

Strawberries

Posted on January 29, 2017 by Arwen

Something is bothering our strawberry plants, even so they are giving us a few berries…

…we might need to replace them next year.

Likewise, something was bothering me today…I started to think about something I don’t have and, with those thoughts, came all those associated feelings.