Dreaming of Gardens
The first gardening catalogue has arrived, signaling the post-Christmas ‘longing for spring’ season, and now that the weather has turned bitterly cold, I’m ready for dreaming.
I look at the pictures and covet plants, and dream of bigger changes, too.
I can’t decide if I’d rather have a labyrinth in my garden (in my fantasy, a much larger garden complete with gardener), or a toy train winding through the plants.
Ah ha! I know what I want. Both! A train for play, a labyrinth for meditation. And a gardener for weeding.
Maureen
Muddling Along
I’m supposed to be editing, but I’ve had no brain for it. I’ve been pulled in a million directions – summer and family and renovations and planning for fall (both daughters heading to university, one out of town). The garden has been growing voraciously, and we’ve been fighting back. I dug out a clematis bent on world domination, getting stronger every time I cut it back. We’ve taken out at least three compost bins worth of trimmings and weeds.
I have odds and bits to do for the Banff course in September, admin work I’m simply ignoring, and I just remembered the pending deadline for a grant application.
What I really need to be doing is editing the third in the Veil of Magic series. It’ll be out in the spring, so the pressure is on to get the manuscript ready for publicity before the release date.
We’re still editing for content, although I’ve been assured the remainder won’t be extensive, as the manuscript is quite clean. For now, the focus is on working threads a little deeper, intensifying, adding tumult and more magic. I love all that, couldn’t possibly argue against more magic, and yet… my brain has had no sparkle, no creativity to launch in and tackle this.
Until this weekend.
I was woken in the night by drunks partying on the street (hot night, open window), and instead of settling back to sleep I found myself sitting in the living room with a note pad, writing out the changes I want to make.
I’m hoping I can find a quiet time and quiet mind to finish this round of editing without having to write in the middle of the night.
Maureen
Summer in the Garden
It feels like fall – a bit of wind, a touch of coolness in the air – and I love it. I know some people will bemoan the lack of heat this summer. Calgary’s a city of extremes – hot, dry, windy, except when it’s cold. But this summer, well, this whole year has been wet, and the temperature range more average. Calgary’s not an average sort of place, so it’s odd, but I love it. No plus 30′ C days, more days in the low 20s, perfect for gardening or a book in the garden. Or, perhaps, a manuscript to edit.
Maureen
Hail and Dill
We came home from a lovely, although cold and wet, two days in the Rockies, to find our garden thoroughly hailed. The old van has pockmarks on every panel except the back one, where the rust spots are. The pears and apples will be bruised this year. And we need to rake up the greens scattered and crushed across the lawn. But we figure we got off pretty lucky. No new roof this time. No broken windows. No broken branches. Or heads.
We’ve collected some treasures with broken stems – an otherwise intact delphineum bloom, most of the dill from one flower bed. Dill with tomatoes and cucumber for dinner, I think.
Maureen
More Wild Kingdom
Besides the crows and magpies, our visitors include grackles, sparrows, robins, a very large bunny, bees swarming the veronica and voracious squirrels. It’s amazing what a couple of bird baths and a lush garden will encourage.
Maureen