Hi! A New Chapter

Wondering where I've been?
I'm here and there, very quiet and apart.
It's almost Easter time with the grandchildren. I think all holidays are more fun with small children to enjoy them with.

The garden is just waking up, here at the end of March.
I'm still working on my goal to "eat from the garden" and decided to include more flowers and color right along with the edible vegetables. I need to pull up the overgrown lettuce and plant some new things. Maybe over the weekend, if the rain stops long enough.

A year ago I added a screened-in porch to the side of the house, with a deck and brick patio. I spend a lot of time sitting on the porch, watching the birds. Reading a book. Crocheting an afghan. Relaxing.

I've been doing some bookbinding, with handmade papers and embellished papers decorated using a Gelli plate, acrylics, watercolors and colored pencils. I'm crocheting and knitting quite a bit, because it's fun and gives me a restful break.

I just got a delivery of some jewelry findings, so I can make an intaglio necklace I've had pictured in my mind. If it turns out well, I'll take some pictures to share. It will be the first jewelry piece I will have made in a long time, if I do. And I think I will.

I've given myself permission to do whatever thing creatively that I enjoy doing. Or as little as I feel like doing. No production pressures, or pressures for deliveries. Just doing things that I find fun and fulfilling.

And that make me feel creative and productive. And just plain happy.

Outdoor Living

The Gazebo Under the Pecan Tree

 Besides the plants that I have added to the yard that produce good fruit, we are lucky to have several very large pecan trees around the house. Every fall they drop lots of pecans, and I get exercise by picking them up. Last year we had 20 pounds of fresh pecans shelled, and I'm hoping this year we will get even more of them. This is the gazebo in the side yard where we enjoy the mornings and evenings - and shelter during pecan season when the trees are dropping lots of nuts on our heads.

The Square Foot Gardens By the Picket Fence

We added the picket fence last year to keep critters out of the gardens, and it has been a great addition to the yard. The three 4X4 foot beds are in their second year of use, and I started a compost pit this year so that next season will be even better. We chop up all the leaves that fall and add them to the compost pile, and next spring those leaves will go back into the beds to make them even richer.
     I even lucked out at the garden store and found two plastic greenhouse covers that were 4X4 foot size and three feet tall on sale. I grabbed them so I can extend the lettuce and cold weather plants in two of the 4X4 foot beds, and get an early start next spring.
     I hope you have enjoyed seeing the gardens, the fruit that comes out of them and how I use it. By December, those little beds will just be flat spots in the yard again, waiting for spring so they can fill up with vining and blooming plants in the new season!I'll rake up the soil, add compost and leaves, and cover them for the winter. 
     But what will I do with all the extra time on my hands when there's no garden to tend every day?