He who bends to himself a joy Does the winged life destroy; But he who kisses the joy as it flies Lives in eternity’s sunrise. Eternity by William Blake The golden days of summer are flying. Soon the hills will be a tapestry of rich color. I've already had to put a quilt on the bed. Many thanks to Carolyn gail at Sweet Home and Garden Chicago for hosting Muse Day and giving us…
By the time the Heath Fair is done, the family has departed and the leftover books from the Friends of the Library book sale are taken care of, I am tired. The excitement, family noise and general chaos are all great fun, but last week I was feeling the need for some quiet. Some Serenity. Fortunately for me, my friend Kate's parents were renting the Serenity Stone Cottage for the month and they invited me over for tea and…
'Life will not be denied!" is the cry that often goes up when I am in the garden, especially when I'm pulling weeds that have come up in the path through layers of cardboard and wood chips. Sometimes the undenied life is beautiful like this tendril of a Grandpa Ott morning glory that just peeked through the slats in the Welcoming Platform in front of the house. A couple of years ago I planted a teepee of Grandpa Otts…
Katarina at Roses and Stuff invites us all to share what is in bloom on Blooming Fridays. How many more will there be before the cold shuts down the outdoor show? I'm sure I have the name of this dahlia somewhere. The cosmos are from Renee's Garden seeds. Foxy Lady has already made her way into bouquets. Patty Cake has just begun blooming. This nameless hydrangea has been blooming for over a month. I love Red! Especially scarlet…
My wisteria has gone wild. Tendrils are twisting everywhere. New shoots are coming up everywhere. The wisteria’s genetic vitality has never been so vigorous. I am blaming it all on the cool and rainy summer. My history with this wisteria is long and varied. During our first year in China we saw many beautiful wisterias with their graceful pendant flowers blooming everywhere from the long gorgeous pergola in Purple Bamboo Park, to humble trellises in dusty…
Pulling Together was the theme of this year's Annual Heath Fair organized by the Heath Agricultural Society and supported one way or another by just about every one of the town's 800 residents so that thousands of area people can enjoy a day in the country and gain a sense of the abundance around us - even in these hard times. It would not be pushing a metaphor too hard to say that it takes a lot of people …
We first met Dan our first spring in Heath in 1980. He stopped by the house to say he had come to get some farm implement that the previous owner said he could leave in the barn. The ensuing chat revealed that he and other friends had lived in our house for a time. Although we could not know it then, this was really a sign that our lives were already joined through the house, and would become even…
Last weekend my cousin Jay married the beautiful Juliet in a white garden designed by Robin Kramer, the owner of the house where the wedding took place. A summer wedding could ask no more beautiful setting than a white garden such as this. White gardens seem to have a place all their own in garden literature. I suppose one reason is that there are so many flowers, shrubs, vines and trees that bloom in shades of white…
Paul Tukey of Safe Lawns sent this moving letter: "In the midst of planning movie premieres and national anti-chemical campaigns, our life as we knew it stopped suddenly when my wife went into labor at precisely 12:55 a.m. last Thursday. For the next several hours, I was either glued to a stopwatch or being gripped fiercely by my wife as her contractions grew closer and more powerful in succession. Incredibly important questions came at us from all directions…
Late blight has infected my tomatoes. Yesterday afternoon I went out to pick more beans and noticed that the single dead tomato branch was now several dead branches on all six of my tomato plants. It is difficult to see in the photo against the straw mulch, but the reality was very clear. If there was any doubt, one look at the tomatoes made it imperative to take instant and radical action. I pulled up all the plants and…