Digging a New Garden

The trees on the south side of our yard grew while we weren't looking. 

 Suddenly, it seemed, our beloved herb garden, was bathed in shade for most of the summer last year. 

 So, we decided to move it to a sunnier spot - which just happened to be in the middle of the lawn.  Good-bye grass..... hello, raised herb garden!

The Bearded One, my personal hero and the strongest man I ever met, was in heaven, digging and measuring and hauling compost from one side of the yard to the other.  No really!  He LOVES to do that stuff!  

My job was to design the layout and transplant all the herbs and plant the annual herbs - either grown from seed or purchased.  

What a team!

 Chives- a favorite spring herb since it arrives early enough to be on the table for Easter, also provides a bit of color in May and June, and the flowers can be chopped and added to the recipe or used to flavor a salad.

These tiny basil plants will become my pesto in August and September, when I prepare and freeze as much as I can for use all winter.  I keep snipping the basil all summer, topping it every time I see it trying to bloom.  This helps the plants to produce more leaves and provides the perfect accompaniment to fresh tomato salads.

This is one of my views from that lovely sunroom pictured above.  I am truly blessed to have this garden to look at whenever I want. The sunroom  is my treehouse in summer and my greenhouse in winter.  

Thyme is blooming it's little head off right now and that's OK.  It will bring in the bees and the scent is strong enough to waft into the house when it is humid.

This Carefree rose bush was also languishing in a shady spot so I decided to make this the focal point in the center of the herb garden.  I'm hoping it will take off once it feels the sun's warmth again.

I'm trying some new herbs this year.  I found a seed packet for Jamaican Hibiscus - the tropical hibiscus that flavors 'Red Zinger' Tea.  I have been buying this delicious herb from Mountain Rose for many years.  This year I'm going to try growing it in the garden and then moving it into the house in the fall.

My list of herbs for this garden includes thyme, Greek oregano, lemon verbena, basil, rose, calendula, lovage, fennel, dill, pineapple sage, chamomile, hyssop, sorrel, rue, artemisia, African blue basil, cinnamon basil, lemongrass and lavender.

In another, shadier area I have lemon balm and spearmint and peppermint. They are in containers to keep them within bounds.

Thought for Today - most herbs are easy to grow....... as easy as growing weeds!

Let's Go For A Stroll

Welcome to the calm before the storm... the storm of color that will erupt when June arrives in my garden.

Between the flashy daffodils and cherry blossoms of April and the peonies and iris' of June, my garden becomes a place to saunter from one little (delicate) wild flower to another.

  The colors are subdued and the blossoms are small. But the rewards of wandering around and looking closely are many.  I can while away an afternoon among these shy little gems.

Bleeding Heart just beginning to bloom

Wild Geraniums 

 These wild geraniums came from my mother's garden almost 20 years ago.  They return each year to wave to me like tiny purple flags in mid-May.

Cinnamon Fern 

Bugleweed

Chives

Over in the herb patch, chives flower and add some color to a sparse -looking area.

Wild Columbine

Iris Getting ready for next week!

 One of the joys of an established garden is seeing the return of old friends each year.  Many of my plants were chosen because they are reliable and hearty.  I  have no patience for fussy flowers that require an undo amount of pampering.

May Day, May Day, May Day!

 May is FINALLY busting out all over the place! My garden is alive again , with green growth and the soft colors of spring flowers.  The delicate woodland flowers and buds that are unfurling everyday  are perfect for taking close-up photos.

As I experiment with more and different settings on my camera, I rarely use the auto anymore.  I am starting to use the macro setting and gradually I'm teaching myself to adjust the other settings as well. I think my images are getting sharper.

 The joy and beauty of digital photography is being able to shoot 60 photos, go home, load them into the computer and see them immediately.  Even if one deletes 59 photos and has one keeper, it is worth it.

Here are some shots I took over the weekend in my garden.  Not bad for an old dog learning new tricks!

Delicate Daphne

Ferns unfurl (I love these!)

Wild Geranium bud

"Hello Sunshine, this is Hosta."

Solomon's Seal

Japanese Painted Fern

Late blooming Daffodils

Forget-me-nots

There is nothing more beautiful than May in New York.  Oh wait, there's June, July, August, September and October too! (November and April aren't bad either)

Blessed Be These Hands

Blessed Be These Hands, Blessed Be These Voices

 Happy Nurses Week! This is the third year I have posted this. 

 

Blessed Be These Hands....

 Nurses' Week begins on May 6th and ends with  Florence Nightingale's birthday on May 12th.  It is a time to honor nurses and , for that matter, all caregivers who fulfill the role of nurse.

 I have been blessed to know many, many wonderful nurses in my lifetime.  Some taught me to use my hands, my heart and my head to minister to the sick.  Some worked along side me, encouraging, supporting, nurturing me through my career. Some became my closest friends, forming a special bond forged in the fire of our challenging profession.   Some cared for family members and brought healing to them and when healing was no longer possible, they comforted my loved ones.   Someday, I have no doubt,  nurses will care for me with kindness and compassion when I am in need of  their special healing touch.

   John O'Donoghue, an Irish poet, suggested in his book, To Bless the Space Between Us, that we don't need a minister or a priest to invoke a blessing.  We can and should bless one another. In honor of all the nurses who minister daily to the old, the young, the terminally ill and all  recovering bodies and souls, I offer this blessing.  It is part of the American Holistic Nurses Association's yearly celebration, to be held this year on May 12 at 12 noon and called  'The Nightingale Moment.'

                                               Nurses’ Hands

Blessed be these hands that have touched life.

Blessed be these hands that have felt pain.

Blessed be these hands that have embraced with compassion.

Blessed be these hands that have been clinched with anger or withdrawn in fear. 

Blessed be these hands that have drawn blood and administered medicine. 

Blessed be these hands that have cleaned beds and disposed of wastes.

Blessed be these hands that have anointed the sick and offered blessings. 

Blessed be these hands that grow stiff with age.

Blessed be these hands that have comforted the dying and held the dead. 

Blessed be these hands, we hold the future in these hands.

Blessed be our hands for they are the work of Your hands, O Holy One. 

The Nightingale Moment, May 12 Blessing of the Hands 

On May 12, 2000 at 12 noon after a moment of silence AHNA members Mary Gorka, RN, CHTP, Charlottesville, Virginia networker and Cindy Westley, RN, MSN, HNC, University of Virginia Medical Center, Community Services Coordinator, along with Joan Murray, Chaplain at UVA, and a former nurse at the Medical Center of the University of Virginia gave a local blessing of hands to nurses. That year, other Chaplains joined in to lead a wonderful effort in support of nursing. This tradition has been continued each year as way to celebrate the Nightingale Moment and honor the spirit of holistic nursing. Copies of the blessing were given to those who attended the ceremony to take back to their units to extend the blessings. The blessing is a responsive reading, leader says one line, the group the next. 

This Blessing of the Hands is from In Praise of Hands, Diann Neu, Waterwheel, Winter 1989. Adapted by Corlette Pierson, Pastoral Care Resident at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Medical Center, Chicago, IL. This Blessing of the Hands may be copied and used for Nightingale Moment activities, but is not intended to be sold. 

Thought For Today :  I am thankful for all the wonderful nurses with whom I have shared my life's journey and I pray for and remember them in a special way this week.

April Gifts

This morning I woke up at 5:50 AM and stumbled out to the sunroom to watch the sun come up.  It was still quite dark and the first thing I noticed was the bright morning star  still twinkling in the fading darkness.  I heard (a very early) wren singing at the top of it's joyful lungs.  Grabbing my first cup of tea, I had a few minutes to enjoy the silence of dawn and count my blessings.  

Within a few minutes one of my most delightful blessings came out to join me.  My 9 month old grandson was wide awake and gurgling with that early morning joy that babies always seem to have.  He and his parents have been staying with us since shortly after Christmas and they are set to move into their new home in time for Easter, so my days of seeing him every day are numbered and more precious than ever.

Since this was Day 2 of spring-like weather, I grabbed my camera and went to inspect the garden after MG left for his first nap of the day. (How blessed is he?) The early morning light brought a soft glow to the trees that surround my yard and I can almost hear the new buds setting themselves free, at long last.

I found evidence that the peonies survived the winter, their gangly red heads poking through the recently softened earth.

The Siberian scilla, my favorite shade of blue, have been blooming for a few days but they looked especially handsome in the sunlight this morning.

My spring hunt for signs of life turned up a few Solomon's Seal, one of the hardiest plants around.  It is a woodland wild flower which will spread nicely in the shade.

Yesterday there was no yellow in the whole yard, but today----LET THERE BE SPRING !!! The daffodils have opened, there is yellow everywhere and all is right with the world!

We are moving our herb garden this spring which entails digging up a new garden.  The old spot has grown too shady in the past few years (perfect for the patio I envision) so the herbs are moving into the sun.  My sweet digger plans to begin this project soon.  I'll keep you posted.