gratitude

Crimson sunflower

The Last Hurrah of August 

Is August crazy? The heat, bugs, smoky skies, and too little rain … so much fruit, we can’t keep up … with its tall, bold flowers, August is summer’s last fling. Got overwhelm? I’ve got a cure for you. Oh, and check out the photos of the new peachicks. Adorable!

Weedy garden chaos.

June Tunes: A Song of Garden Chaos

A lot going on here. What it is, ain’t exactly clear. June was garden chaos at it’s best, or worst, depending on perspective. Bee swarms, wild animal visits in broad daylight, attacks in the night…. I bushwhacked through grass, thistle, bindweed, and bramble to find my way through this thicket of life…

Pine Siskin in Star Magnolia

February Already! January Recap

Recap of the January garden: backyard birds, berries and seed heads, skeletal living willow sculptures, and Yes! flowers! Half-way between the winter solstice and the spring equinox! Days are getting longer! Should you track the changes with a journal of some sort? Maybe!

Reflection of trees in raindrop

A Time for Reflections

The end of the year is often a time for reflections. Here are a few I found this morning. Enjoy!

Morning Glory Invasion2

Garden Burnout, Letting Go, and Grasping the Now

What happens if at the height of harvest, you just leave the garden to fend for itself? Garden burnout – and overwhelm with life, politics, and everything else – is a real thing. Put down the to-do lists. Let it go. Escape to wild places. Live in the Now. Return renewed. It is possible.

Barefoot in the garden

30 Things that Make Me Happy

30 Things that Make Me Happy – Because we need happy things right now more than ever… so – coming to all of us in the northern hemisphere – here are some sure signs of spring!

Barkley on hill in sunshine - Sense of Place

Sense of Place

My dog, Barkley, taught me about having a sense of place. This happens, he said, when we develop a sense of belonging; it becomes an extension of ourselves. When we connect, we care; when we care, we protect; when we protect, we try to heal, nourish, and help grow. It becomes our personal truth.

Reflections and raindrops

2018 Highlights; 2019 Goals, Strategies, and New Beginnings

It is that time again to reflect over the year’s ups and downs, an exercise that has become cliché but that can still be quite helpful. It was a busy year! Here is a quick summary of what went down (or up, as the case may be) at Barbolian Fields, along with a few goals and strategies for the coming year. What will 2019 bring? What will we be able to do to make the world a better place? How will we help one another? How will we heal our planet? We can start by getting back to the garden.

Frosty rose blooming in November

Blooming in November: Flowers for Bees, Pollinators, Feathered Friends

I am always amazed at what is still blooming in November. Such gifts! The bees and other pollinators are especially grateful. So am I! In the midst of the leaf-raking season, be sure to take a break to smell the roses! Hope your Thanksgiving is full of blessings, your life full of gratitude, and your garden full of whatever it is full of. It’s all good!

Indian Plum

On the Wings of March

Walk along a soaked garden path in early March and what do you see? Raindrops, birds, insects, and the world waking up. So amazing, it drove me to write poetry. Herein a poem for March, the wondrous transformations in a garden, and the miracles of spring. They’re everywhere. If we build it, they will come.

Raindrops on purple goosefoot leaf

Rain!

Rain! This post was written after we had gone 3 full months without a single drop. Living in the Rainshadow of the Olympics in the Pacific Northwest is sometimes a challenge for the garden. Now we begin our transition to a time of drizzle and gray…and I couldn’t be more thankful!

It’s Your Day

"It's Your Day" Early December already! I realize I have not posted anything on here since May, and the picture of those creepy-crawly caterpillars greeting me every time I went to the blog site was enough to make me turn away. I was starting to feel guilty. I had let down “my people.” I watched the site visit statistics drop precipitously.

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Solstice, Suntracks, Supermoons, and a Happy New Year!

Full Moon Rise
Dear Friends,

I thought I might write you all sooner. At the time of the last full moon of the year, for example, would have been appropriate, but the great white orb managed to boldly rise in the cold night sky and then set in quiet serenity the following morning without any website fanfare on my part (although I admit to a certain amount of cavorting in song and celebration, which is usually what happens when I whip out my harmonicas under a full moon….). (Not to draw correlations, of course.)

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Thanksgiving Connections

sunchokesThe end of November! How did this happen?  It appears that we were so busy during the flurry of harvest activities and making sure things were getting tucked in before the coming chill, we forgot to look up! The days are not as long, you know; they are gone before you know it! We hardly noticed just how swiftly one turned into another while the sun skated low across the sky. What happened to high noon?

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November Blooms

The temperatures are dipping into the 20s, and yet… such miracles! The bees are so very grateful!

I think we, too, appreciate them all the more!

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Willow room in spring

A Quiet Place for Peace

The Willow Room in spring takes on a life of its own. Individually, the reeds are supple. They bend with the forces that shape them. Together, however, they are strong – forever interlocked. Recent events in Boston remind us how together we are stronger, and, too, how each of us needs an inner garden sanctuary in which to find peace and make sense of this world.

Happy Day – Rodent or Otherwise

What? Looking for shadows to predict weather? I’d say the bees are better indicators! As well as the snow geese, the pussy willows, and the Cornelian cherry…not hard to find things that say Life is Good! Happy Groundhog Day!

12 Good Things about the 2012 Garden

Wow. What a transformation! Here are 12 accomplishments and lessons learned in the 2012 garden. It’s all good! And 2013 promises to be even better!

A Message for Peace

I had to throw out my words today about crazy holiday gift ideas. The recent news of innocent children slain in Newtown make us all question who we, as a human race, have become. Maybe it’s time to get back to the garden…

Thanksgiving Every Day

Wishing you abundance in your life, however that may be defined! Have a safe and happy holiday – and may it be full of love and laughter!

The Willow Room Dance

Welcome to my secret garden: the Willow Room. It didn’t start out as much – just a few twigs; but it has transformed into something truly magnificent! A place to dance and celebrate autumn!

Reflections, Resolutions, and to All a Good Night

Do you make garden resolutions? I’m going to keep it simple in 2012 – going to make it a year to slow down, linger awhile, and smell the flowers. A garden teaches us so much if we just stop, look, and listen.

Thank You, Good Earth

Hope your Thanksgiving was full of giving thanks. A few thoughts on gratitude, abundance, and how fortunate we are. Thank you, readers, for following my posts!