Crowz Nest

Because it's time... as it was once before.

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Location: Port Murray, NJ

I'm a bit old to be starting out in life again, but that's where I am. Sadly. Or gladly. It's where I am. Come along. Watch the fun. Inch by inch, row by row, gonna make this garden grow.

Thursday, August 10, 2006

House-iversary

It's one year that I've been in this house. What can I say? Time flies? I can tell you that it was hotter a year ago than it is today, but probably not as muggy. It was one of the longest days of my life, and not entirely the smoothest one. I remember feeling with increasing certainty, as we tried to wedge all my stuff into this Hobbit House, that I had absolutely bought the wrong house.

I had friends who helped me, without whom I could not have done any part of what I did. Lisa, Katrene, Sandy, Jill, Kathy packed and directed and organized and worked. They made sure I stayed hydrated. They made sure I ate. They put arms around me when I began to fall apart. Many times I was able to keep going only because they did. And they kept going at times when I could not. I did not want to move into this house. I did not want to do much of what I had to do over the last 2 years, but I learned, finally, that sometimes you simply have to do what you have to do. I also learned that sometimes you have to ask for help, and accept it when it comes.
A lot has happened this year. Some of it's been good. Some of it's been bad. Most of it has been hard. All of it has had its reasons. I have fallen in love this year - with this house, with my garden, more deeply than ever with my dogs, certainly more deeply with my horse, with this yard and the work it requires of me, with the me who does that work. I have fallen more deeply in love with my oldest friend, who has believed in me, encouraged me, worked beside me, and taught me and given me so much. He never fails to hold up a mirror and show me my own strength. And he never stops raising the bar, and then showing me his faith that I can clear it.

Time passes. Life happens. I've felt as if I've taken a year off from my life, just trying to get my equilibrium back, but this house tells me otherwise. This little Hobbit house, this tiny little, cute, quaint, and quirky building, reminds me today of where I was a year ago, and refuses to permit me to overlook the progress I've made. I planted seeds only because I had to. But I've gotten to watch the garden grow. I bought the right house after all. I am right where I belong.

Tuesday, August 01, 2006

Dog days ...

It's August 1st. I think that's the official start of The Dog Days of Summer. It's hot. 6:00 p.m. and it's 97 F, with a heat index that makes it feel like 108. It's hot. It's actually astonishingly hot. When you walk out of our (over-) air conditioned office, your glasses steam up, and so does your skin, as you immediately break out into a fine sweat.

My garden is fading, but it's fading in a blast of glory. The cone flowers are sun-bleached, but the phlox is glorious. As the sun bakes it, all of its fragrance is released. Unfortunately, (or fortunately, depending on my immediate point of view) I had the window air-conditioner installed in the bedroom yesterday, which means I had to close the window that's right above the garden.
I did love waking in the middle of the night, wondering what that floral scent was that was filling the room. If one has to lay awake in the middle of the night, it might as well be awash in the perfume of a night garden.















The white phlox has just bloomed. It has a light, powdery scent that I really like. And I love the way it makes the pinks pop.






And for the observant among you, I might add, that I got out there Sunday morning and weeded all that shaggy stuff in the front yard that shows up in the picture of the shades of lavendar phlox. That's the one picture I took before I weeded - which I did in 90 degree heat first thing Sunday morning - on my hands and knees, using the electric hedge clipper, because the weed wacker was out of string and I didn't feel like going to the store. I should get out there and take a picture of what a great job I did with the wrong tool!