Muddy

A very long time ago - I had a HUGE garden - more an English garden.  It took me almost a week to weed it and care for it..... I loved it - loved working in the mud - loved the peace and quiet - listening to the world around me.  (no one came near me when I gardened - I think they were afraid I would enlist them to help)

Then I got divorced and moved to a townhouse - and managed to carve out three gardens.  Back then I called it my secret garden - and there were fairies hidden around it.. and I would spend my summer under the red umbrella reading and soaking in the sun.

Then I moved to Kingston and I gave away my fairies and designed an oriental garden... and spent two summers tending it and enjoying it................ 

and now.......... 

I have no garden.   And it made me a little bit sad.  All these years of finding my peace and joy in the mud and now there is none.
 
BUT I kept thinking about my "secret garden" from Montreal filled with fairies ...... I found a garden center here that had bag gardens....... flowers growing in a heavy plastic bag and while I was wondering round  -- dreaming of all the gardens and all the flowers I have had in my life - I had inspiration.  

I WILL still have a small secret garden complete with a fairy............ 

I came home with a smile and a plan............... 

Wanna see??? 

These pics are of the flowers in bags - hanging on the walls on the balcony

 And this is my secret garden....... can you find the fairy?? you have to believe in fairies of course to find her............

and now I have my secret garden to find my peace and my quiet - a spot to curl up and read and soak in the sun........... 

Troubling Tuesday

Well yesterday was my "blue day" - the weather even matched my mood - cloudy overcast skies and a chill to the air. 

But that didn't stop me from curling up in my secret garden and reading..... loosing myself for a few hours in the world of fiction (I have finished 50 Shades and happily moved on) 

Just after lunch time the doorbell rang.  No one ever rings my bell - well except for Jehovah's Witnesses ...... I almost ignored it - but something made me unwind my legs and go answer the door.

Standing there was this whistling chap holding an amazing splash of colour  called azaleas.   Once inside I tore open the card - Oh I knew who they were from - but W almost never sends a card.  I figured the card would have one word on it "Breathe" ..... but no - it said "This isn't blue and you shouldn't be either".  I stood there smiling and crying and thinking "THAT MAN!!!  What am I gonna do with HIM!!"  and I knew what I was gonna do - the same thing I have been doing for years now - LOVE HIM.

And so the sadness lifted a little - and I know - thanks to all the wonderful people who left me inspired comments - and to this man who sends bright pink flowers on a blue day - that this next year will be a time indeed of goodbyes - but all those goodbyes are just paving the road for all my new tomorrows - filled with adventure.

 

Summer time

Can you hear Ella Fitzgerald singing it ......... summer time and the living is easyyyyyyyyy

I have been hearing her voice crooning away in my head since yesterday.

I did what I like to do best in the summer - I put my lil red umbrella up - got a cup of coffee and a new book and moved outside to my secret garden and read the day away.

There is - in my opinion - nothing better - absolutely nothing better than sitting in the shade reading......... letting the warmth of the air and the faint scent of the flowers wash over my soul............... 

I even slept better than I have in weeks 




Today I am painting my fingernails and toenails red...
I am packing up food for a barbeque
And packing up the toys...........
W and I are off to Oubliette again.......... 


The sun promises to shine... the heat will build - both literally and figuratively... 
Today will be another good day................ 


Oh yeah I am taking my camera with me..... someone asked me - the last time I posted about Oubliette - what some of the equipment was used for....... and as I could not "steal" the pictures - and know it is next  to impossible to post an explanation without a picture - I am going to take pics of all the equipment - hopefully - and will post next week about the joys and sorrows of BDSM equipment .............. 


Enjoy the day

Officially Summer is here!

Back some 35 years ago - when I lived out on the island, life was much slower, much more back to the earth.  It was - after all - mostly a farming community - with some summer homes, and with some new housing developments going in.  (Today there are hardly any farms or summer homes left - but I digress)

Back some 35 years ago I was the epitome of "Mother Earth".  I made everything possible from scratch - didn't buy any processed foods - grew as many veggies as I could during the summer and "put them up" for the winter months.  I walked to the shops.  I made my children's clothes.  I recycled - my god how I recycled - because they told us .........the powers who be ....... that we were destroying Mother Earth.  (remember now that was over 35 years ago)

Fast forward 35 years or so and I have come to my senses.  The powers who be are still predicting the end of the environment ......... and in my mind - nothing much has changed.  People have gotten back on the recycle bandwagon...... and preach recycle reuse reduce like it is some religious cult.  

Me .......... I sit back and remember how we used to recycle........

BUT a few summers ago I wanted to change my back patio from ugly cement to something a little more attractive and charming.  (yeah yeah - this all ties in - be patient)

W and I went to the garden center and this nice young (young being the operative word) chap showed me recycled patio stones - made from rubber from used tires.  He was quite excited about these recycled patio stones and sang their praises......... "they were lighter to carry and move than traditional patio stones - they were softer under foot cause they were after all made from rubber - recycled rubber - because they were rubber - recycled from tires - they could withstand Canadian winters - and the best part - I didn't have to do anything except plunk them down. "

So - despite their being twice the price of traditional patio stones (and yeah half the weight) I bought enough to do my lil patio.  I brought them home and yes just plunked them down........ and my lord they looked wonderful.  The pattern made them look like red brick - and both sides of my lil patio have brick privacy walls - so they matched and added an element of charm.  And they were softer to walk on than traditional patio stones.

About two springs later I noticed that the corners of each of those recycled rubber patio stones were curling up.  It was obvious they weren't doing so well through our Canadian winters.

W and I pulled them all up and went out and purchased some stinky smelly glue stuff.  We then glued them all back down.

Last spring I noticed that the corners were again starting to curl.  I ignored them.  

This spring I could no longer ignore the corners - because these recycled rubber patio stones had HEAVED .......... and were creating a mine field of possible trip and fall flat on your face areas.

Back to the hardware store I went.  Found another nice young chap - told him what I thought about recycled rubber patio stones and asked if he had something that would glue them down permanently - no more spring curls.......... no more heaving.

And of course he did.  Nothing recycled - and probably anything but good for the environment BUT he promised it would work.

I did of course - have to wait till it stopped raining.  I had to wait till all the recycled rubber patio stones had dried out (do you have any idea how long it takes rubber to dry out??!! recycled or otherwise!!)   

This week was finally the week when the stars all aligned the sun shone - the patio stones dried out and I got to glue them all back down again.  Now I did notice that something strange had happened - they seem to have warped - their nice square edges aren't so square any more...... so after I got them all glued down I noticed cracks between some of them........ I didn't much care - cause truthfully I am done - done like dinner - with recycled rubber tire patio stones.  IF this glue treatment doesn't work - next spring I am gonna hire someone to rip them all up and put down a nice new patio of traditional materials - that won't curl or heave or fade in the summer sun!!!


BUT .............. as I moved the patio furniture back outside - adjusted the red umbrella and opened it to it's full glory - I realized ............ 


IT'S OFFICAL - my secret garden is open - summer has arrived !!!