Retirement brings a new horizon to my life. Where once I was outward facing I am now inward facing. Realizing a life that I always desired, I feel fortunate. Economies have changed as well as my perspective on what is truly important in life. I would say I always desired a simple life and now as I age I can follow that path. That is what Sunday Simplicities are about -- my easy outlook toward life. Stay tuned to more Sunday Simplicities on most Sundays. .
Sunday mornings are usually very peaceful here on Bear Mountain. My one lane dirt road is sleepy today without cars to arouse it and nature weaves its way through the morning quiet. This morning I am joined by bird calls and songs as well as a few insects slowly inspecting the environment. The morning is cool as a strong windy storm moved through during the night bringing a cold front. Not that cold -- just right for my plans this morning.
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As I have little flat land that is sunny I thought a container garden with herbs and some bright flowers would work in my semi-sun driveway -- up against the house.. Sound strange? No it will be easy to care for plus will be a nice welcome home for me every time I pull in the drive.
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Everything I do is on a budget now that I am retired. I collected canisters over the past few weeks at garage sales. Also, went to plant sales and visited a farmers market to pick up plants. I found stands for the plants at some used furniture stores.
As I fear, cheap potting soil might have sludge in it, I went all out and shot my wad on two special blend bags of potting soil. This morning I started putting everything together. I know I will not finish it today but I will have a head start on getting it completed.
My homestead came with most of the land fenced when I moved here in 2007. I was delighted about that as I had Lil, a black lab that likes to take off for yonder woods. Then I became the owner of Sal who is a huge male Golden Retriever that loves lots of exercise. Inside the fence they are safe. And I don't have to chase over hill and dale if they decide to investigate the countryside. Fencing makes it easy.
Sal is appealing to me to let him out of the gate so he can be by me while I work on the new container garden. He has tons of room to roam inside the fence but always likes to be where I am. I can't take chances as he will roam up the lane to visit other dogs. Oh, how do I resist such a plea? Easy. I cannot run as fast as my dogs, so its better to know that they are OK in the big yard. 
I inherited this little section of garden that is also out by the drive. It has horrible soil and I have rather ignored it over the time I have been here. I did put in the bird bath that someone had placed in their trash pick-up. I am not above picking up such things. Someday I will do something about this little patch.
Another storm was brewing on the horizon and I had accomplished most of what I had planned for the morning. I've learned to be easy on oneself -- no need to rush through life. Not only did I accomplish some of my project but I noticed the locust blooms, the titmouse eating a tent caterpillar, a small green worm crawling over the wire fence where the dogs were watching me, some white daisy like wildflowers, heard woodpeckers drumming off in the woods, and saw the lovely cumulus clouds becoming heavy with rain. 
Locust blooms by my drive. It has been a good morning.For ideas on gardening anywhere check out my post about the book, Gardening Anywhere.
Kentuckee -- Thanks for the nice comment. I live in Central Kentucky. I guess we are kinda neighbors. -- barbara
ReplyDeleteHi Barbara:
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your Sunday Simplicities post. You have a knack at describing simple things that promote harmony and peace within. As busy as we are here at OOHF, I also try to relax and enjoy the simple things in life on Sunday mornings. This past Sunday I awoke at 4:00 AM and caught up on some reading, fed and watered the chickens at daylight, then walked around the property for a few hours. I was not as observant as you were noticing all the subtleties of nature, probably because I was preoccupied mapping out my next project or evaluating the success of past projects. Later in the morning I returned to the house and made a fantastic breakfast consisting of fresh farm eggs, sausage, fried potatoes, and a few pieces of french toast. I was very surprised how relaxing it was to cook (something I don't do very often), eat outside on the porch, then clean up the kitchen. It felt so peaceful and rewarding. Despite my intention to relax the entire day, all good things must come to an end as I made a snap decision around noon to go ahead and mow my lawn, which had already gone about 10 days since the last mowing. My fear was that with rain in the forecast for the first part of the week, I would not be able to mow until the next weekend, in which case I may have to use the tractor and brushhog rather than the lawn mower! Maybe I'll make up for it on Monday or Tuesday evening by heading into the woods to pick some ramps and muggins for another gourmet meal.
Thomas,
ReplyDeleteI was intrigued by your use of the word muggins -- an edible plant? Your breakfast reminded me of those I had on relative's farms when I was a girl. Hearty and delicious. We are having lots of rain in central Kentucky along with cooler weather. Grass grows fast in these ideal conditions. Maybe sometime you can post your Sunday readings? Great reading your comment on how you spent your peaceful Sunday morning. -- barbara
Barbara,
ReplyDeleteWhat a sweet, sweet post. Slowed me right down, back to joyful recollections! And I love where you shop for your planned planting: yard sales, coupled with a little high-end soil. Good choices! :-)) And that dog! OMG! Who could resist those soulful eyes!!?? Re: muggins...me, too...what's "muggins?"
Elora
BTW, I love your new masthead illustration!
ReplyDeleteElora
I enjoyed this post very much. It seems we have a lot in common. I am looking forward to hearing more about your container gardens - we also live in a mostly shaded area and I've been thinking along the lines of containers myself. We're in southcentral KY, near Lake Cumberland. Lots of woods!
ReplyDeleteLaura
Elora and LauraO --
ReplyDeleteLauraO, I grew a container garden for a few years when I lived in Michigan. It was in a very sunny spot and required lots of water. I struggled with it but hopefully this time around I will be more successful. I will attempt to update my container garden ever so often on Sunday Simplicities. Elora, glad you liked the masthead. I tend to change it quite frequently, as you may have noticed. I think I will rotate about five of my favorites as I do like change. Yes, I have found some reasonable priced plants by being patient and not heading out to the local nursery. What I saved I blew on soil -- but I feel soil is extremely important to growing healthy plants. Thanks to you both for the nice comments.-- barbara