Garden glimpses 2

-

Bird of Paradise

A bit flashy, these flowers are the egomaniacs of our garden. Lurid orange creatures shouting "Look at us, we are beautiful!". And they are, but no one likes a show off. I miss the delicate unassuming flowers of England: snowdrops, crocuses, violets, london pride, forget me nots, snapdragons and bluebells. Flowers that know that mid-shin is plenty high enough, that there is secret power in making people bend over to admire you. But deep down I think you get what you deserve. I deserve these gaudy tropical idiots, outrageous bougainvillea, dizzying frangipani - I am too robust for delicate blossoms. In the other(imaginary / parallel) life, where I remained in England and was a spinster with a houseful of cats I almost certainly had a garden full of hollyhocks.

Waist high and mad with colour.

Popular posts from this blog

Gratitude

-
Image
This is my Gratitude Journal - every day I am supposed to write five things I am grateful for in order to remain focussed on life's positives.  I got the idea from a new (very inspirational and thought-provoking) friend on Facebook, Marike.

I am grateful for inspirational and thought-provoking friendships.
The journal is a lined exercise book with a firm card cover, wrapped in a really soft cloth that snaps shut with a very satisfying way.  The pen is a Cross and has my name engraved in the centre.  My husband bought me both for Christmas.

I am grateful for a generous and loving husband who knows not only that a pen and a journal will please me but also that having my name engraved on the pen and choosing a book wrapped in soft cloth with the perfect snap makes the difference between a wonderful gift and the perfect gift.
Did you notice that they are green?  I find myself suddenly smitten with green, he knows that too - it is a relatively recent love affair, but he picked it up qui…
Read more

Once a blogger

-
Image
I was wondering, if you once blogged regularly do you always long for it? Time and time again I am drawn back to Imagine the North, although sadly - as the many false restarts will attest - I seem unable to capture the former magic.  I guess we have moved on (and away) from blogging.  The closest thing I have to it is Instagram.  Like ItN my Instagram account provides me of diary of partial highlights; but still, I miss the text, the insight (my own insight gained through the act of putting a thought into words, a small concept with a beginning, middle and end) and the comments from friends.

Anyway here I am again, giving the old corpse of my blog a tentative poke with a stick, wondering if it is too far gone to resurrect.

Read more

Holding on and letting go

-
Image
"Life is a balance of holding on and letting go." said Rumi (apparently, I didn't check the source).  I find this is particularly true for me now. The struggle to maintain this balance manifests physically in the stuff we hoard or throw away, emotionally in the memories we revisit or forget, and psychologically in the habits and thought patterns we try to embrace or rid ourselves of. I am currently longing to let go... Of possessions, limiting self-beliefs and negative emotions. I wonder if, even in a tropical country my desire to let go aligns with the annual leaf shredding that is autumn. We let go in order to survive the winter and optimise new growth in spring. I wish I could tell you in more detail about the things I am letting go of because I think it would be therapeutic - but I can't. Wolf and I are good though, you have no need to worry.
Read more