Clearing My Garden--Clearing My Mind March 14, 2013

Clearing My Garden--Clearing My Mind

 

March 14, 2013

 

This is what my front garden looks like.  This is not my photo, but you get the idea.

 

At least it doesn't look this sad and forlorn.  This is not my photo, but it was taken somewhere in the United Kingdom.

 

This is my own photo of my front garden.  Best feature these days is the birdbath, used by many birds and squirrels.

 

      I am going to ruthlessly rip out the raggedy plants, that used to be beautiful years ago, and clear spaces for planting new healthy plants.  I don't know where this gardening urge came from yesterday, but I started by giving my front garden a good hard look.

 

     This morning, before I leave for work at 11am, I am going to attack with a vengeance.  On my way home from work, I'm going to pick up some plants that attract butterflies and bees, purchased at my local Home Depot and my local favorite garden shop, Palmer's Nursery. 

 

      This has the same mind-clearing effect as clearing out the clutter from one's closets and cupboards.  I need to help Mother Nature reclaim the front garden, as it was over 6 years ago.  I have honestly enjoyed the years of watching nature at my front window, and I want to reclaim that pleasure. 

 

      The one feature that has remained lovely is the birdbath.  Every morning and evening I watch as the tiny finches (?), graceful mourning and ring-neck doves, woodpeckers, cardinals, and squirrels enjoy a nice drink or a short bath there.

 

      Here is what I would like for my front garden to look like after I clear and plant for the next few days:

 

 

 

      If my motivation holds out through the weekend, I'll have cleared and restored both my butterfly garden and my brain!

 

Click here to see my pinterest interests, especially my "Gardens" board. Enjoy!

 



 



 



 

 



Two Days and Counting        November 4, 2012

      As my friend and I traveled  to buy a plant for my newly constructed bathroom storage shelf unit, I began to realize how much time I will have on my hands a year from now.  When I returned home and repotted the plant in its mint green ceramic pot and saucer, I realized that this time next year I had better have similar activities to occupy my days.

      I'm an automatic early riser, 5:15 a.m., so that gives me way too much time to sit at the computer, morning and evening, before and after work.  How will I possibly drag myself away from the keyboard to mingle with other retirees, wandering Orlando like zombies, all looking for busy work to fill their waking hours?  I see gangs of them hanging out at a fast food restaurant daily.  How much time does it take to drink coffee and eat hash browns?  Not much. 

     I do the same time-wasting when I have dinners with my friends at local restaurants, where we can stretch fried rice and noodle soup into two-hour discussions.  As I see it now, the only difference is I am a working person, and the morning coffee groups are all done with lifelong careers.  Prejudiced?  I believe I just might be.  That surprises me.

     This drove me to google "Senior Retirement Activities" on the internet, naturally.  Know what I found?  Not much.  The most intriguing activity on a list was treasure hunting.  Wow, that is absolutely something I have always wanted to do with a metal detector, for many years.  That explains why you see old codgers roaming beaches with those machines, staring at the sand instead of the beautiful water and sea birds.  They have been doing this way before google gave us this site.

     My small income will take a big hit if I have to go purchase expensive devices to find a few civil war bullets on the beach once a week.  Or worse yet, I will also have to simply move to the beach. 

      When I bought this house, I dug in the backyard, thinking I would plant beautiful flowers.  What I found were two gigantic railroad rails, nine or ten feet long, put there by the lifelong owner, probably as a flower bed border 40 years ago.  But they were eventually buried 6 inches below the ground! 

      Thank you , because I listed these ancient railroad rails for free and they were snapped up very quickly.  So I did like finding "treasure," but I would prefer diamonds, precious stones, and lost rings.  Oh, and bags of money, of course.

      The other activity suggested by the site was to hook up with senior dating services.  That would be the last activity on any list I ever made.  I know there are some very fine people who need to get out of their homes like I will, but I'd rather hang out with people who just want to hang out together.  Oh.  That must be what they do at the fast food place every morning. 

     For now, I will begin a kinder and gentler list, maybe adding three or four activities I discover each day.  Within a year, I should be able to find at least ten things that will hold my interest at least for an hour or two.  I'll report on the most interesting, but not dangerous, activities that make the list.  Hey, wait a minute!  Didn't I used to be a really good bowler?  Add that to my list as number 2.

www.pinterest.com/mimihylton