Tag Archive for garden

my news of late

So I’ve been sooooo quiet on all communications fronts – the last 3 weeks have seen me working 7 days a week, with 4 out of those 7 being 16 hour work days. Craziness. Yes, yes, I do it to myself, but man oh man, do I regret it when I’m in the zone of it all and counting down my days to a good night’s sleep.

Last night I finally had a 10 hour sleep, and whilst still not fully recovered from the cruel exhaustion that the last month was, am feeling somewhat better.

So, my news in a nutshell, or rather, several higgledy piggledy paragraphs that are completely unrelated to one another and veer randomly from topic to topic:

The 2 litres of water a day effort is going well. I have a 600ml water bottle, fill it up with warm to hot water (so much more tasty), and make sure I’ve drunk a bottle full by each major meal, then by bed.

Wedding planning has been absolute insanity! I could never have prepared myself mentally for the onslaught of the terrorising nature of the to-do lists and decisions to be made. I know I will LOVE marrying S, and am lucky enough to be having several amazing wedding events, but the planning? Meh. I will never do this again (literally! ha!)…

Facebook has locked me out of my account, citing malware on my computer. I’m in the process of doing a scan, but in the meantime, I’ll be pretty quiet on the social media front!

Choreographing 12 routines all at once has left me so incredibly brain-addled, but super inspired and leaving the studio always at once tired but filled with joy. I am so lucky to do what I love, and especially after all that has happened with my injury, so incredulous that I’m here, doing it all, still. Ahhhhh.

I have barely *looked* out at the garden during the winter months, and today (the first spring-ish day) when I stepped out, I was in horror. The weeds have actually overtaken the garden. Someone please tell me there is an easy way to fix this!

On Friday, for the first time in my life, I served up pizza at a dinner party. Not gourmet, home cooked pizza, but pizza that I ordered over the phone from our local and S picked up. I was simply too bleary eyed to even knock something simple together, and this way was able to squeeze in a short nap between work and when people started arriving all chirpy and happy to see us. To my amazement, it worked, was a wonderful night, and no one seemed to care about coming all that way just to eat pizza! Yay!

To end, to anyone who has seen me deliriously tired, tongue-twisted, slightly droopy eyed or simply crazed on adrenaline when trying to find my last vestiges of energy for the day over the last few weeks, I present you with this:

5 happy things

a dozen long stemmed roses

It was an incredibly busy weekend, which left me pretty exhausted, but so filled with happy moments that it was hard to begrudge it or deem it unworthwhile.

To start with, Friday night was a gathering of friends to celebrate Lys & Etienne moving in together, and it was nice to catch up with everyone, particularly my girls.

catchup with friends

rawking the animal print and happy smiles!

S also keeps upping the “perfect boyfriend” bar by sending me a little “romance is alive” gift after I had a bit of a melt down about being 30 and frumpy (shh, i know, i know, but let me have my moments!). I saw a quote a friend posted on facebook that was something to the tune of “Women aren’t made to be understood, they’re made to be loved” and I’m super lucky S gets this down pat every time. Instead of trying to fix my (totally non issue) problems, he just lets me rave and rant and then shows me he adores me anyway. LOVE.

a dozen long stemmed roses

long stemmed, and gorgeous.

After performing for the first time in months on Saturday night, S and I also spent Sunday in the garden, enjoying the great weather and the fact that we can start working on the house together again now that spring seems to be officially here. I did pretty useless things given my physical limitations, but did manage to pot my gorgeous new azaleas for right by the front door. Aren’t they pretty and welcoming?

potted azaleas in bloomAnd as I did this, S, to my utter awe and amazement (see above re “perfect boyfriend”) – pulled up ALL the grass and soil in the backyard with a spade, then re-soiled with over 20 bags of soil, and then reseeded it all. It took him over 9 hours of solid work, and he never stopped. And now, we have what is looking like a lush and healthy backyard that will be some very pretty lawn soon (hopefully!).

regrassing the backyard garden

that cherry blossom is just about to bloom too!

Lastly, we did what we always do for the week ahead – prep our lunches. It’s a soothing 1-2 hour activity that we adore doing together. Except this week I also made a bunch of asian boxes for me – rice covered in sambal eggplant tomato and mushrooms, stir fried vegetables and grilled pork belly. Oh, heaven that’s gonna last me all week long.

pork belly on rice for packed lunchbox

i had one today for lunch and it. was. good.

So yes, it was a good weekend. Did you have a nice one what with the incredible weather? Any particularly good moments? Somehow the sun being out seems to correlate with good things happening, or at least a better mindset to view everything in a better light, don’t you think?

single happy moment

lemons from my lemon tree

A bowl of sunshiney happines, from my very own garden, helped to quell the drearier days in the final months of winter.

lemons from my lemon treeThe delight that I can actually grow things hasn’t worn off yet, even though we moved into a garden house almost a year ago now. A YEAR! Can you believe it? I haven’t thought yet of what we’re going to do to commemorate our move, but I am thinking the planting of yet another plant, maybe a magnolia. Any thoughts? We have a part sun, part shade corner of our backyard that’s just begging for a tree that would be pretty!

5 happy things

1. Wearing a piece of history

These earrings, my mummy wore when she was my age. Years later, they are just as on point fashion-wise, but more importantly, go with most things, are light and dangly, and make me feel incredibly close to her whenever I’ve got them on.

vintage earrings

Every time I pick these earrings for an outfit, it’s like a thread connects us over the oceans and through time, and since my mum is the woman I look up most to in life, it’s a wondrous feeling.

2. Fresh flowers from my garden

Yup, a happy 10 minutes spent sitting on my front garden’s brick steps, basking in the sun and gently clipping an array of pink rose buds to line my window sill with. As the days have gone by, they’ve bloomed and created a vibrant splash of colour in my kitchen.

fresh pink rosebuds

shot glasses = bud vases!

I’d been looking around for some bud vases but haven’t found any that I like in stores. Then I found some little-used shot glasses in our bar, and repurposed them instead! Tiny glasses of delight, without the alcohol content!

3. New shoes

It’s no secret that I’m slightly shoe-obsessed, and my latest pair is a strong reminder for me to get better soon, because my high heels are missing me badly. Or I’m missing them. NAH, I’m sure it’s them missing me.

nine west green suede wedge heel shoes

This pair is particularly comfortable and I can already wear them for short periods, the stacked wedge heel makes them super stable, and I love the deep rich greeeeeeeen. Plus, you can’t go wrong with suede. Unless it rains. BEGONE EVIL RAIN GODS!

4. Being cooked for by my love

I’ve now lived away from home for 10 years, and none of my family live here. To have a home-cooked meal prepared for me is the ultimate luxury, better yet, to receive a home-cooked meal in my own home is downright incredible. As this household’s primary cook, imagine my surprise when S offered to make me dinner – and have it turn out amazingly delicious!

sauteing bacon & mushroom

the makings of a creamy pasta...

My auntie has a theory about “cooking from love” – which is that food tastes ultimately better when it is prepared for someone from the heart, and I truly believe it. As I lolled about on the couch being useless, S bustled around the kitchen whipping up the lightest, most delectable creamy pasta I’d had. I felt so adored as he served it up to me, and the smile on his face when he saw I’d finished my entire bowl (very rare) was lovely too.

5. Driving around with S

I love being a passenger in S’s car – we talk a lot, share anecdotes, and often have our best conversations in the car.

hand holding in car

I love that we drive around, my hand in his, sharing deeply whilst traveling to our next destination, the perfect metaphor for our life together. It’s perfection.

Do you have a list of 5 happy things that make you joyous in a simple way? What are they?

my therapy sekrit

If anyone had told me a scant year ago that I would find myself scouring gardening websites, tending to my precious plants every few days with the zeal of a new mummy, I would have laughed in their face. ME, queen of the black thumbs? In my city apartment, I could never keep anything alive . I’m convinced now that it must’ve been due to the high speed winds on the 20th floor balcony, because now, most things seem to be thriving. I’m guessing it also helps that I’m no longer working 17 hour days, and can devote time to this new hobby.

flourishing tomato plant

my pride and joy!

I have loved watching the few edible plants I have, sprout and grow. It makes me incredulous everytime I see how much things can grow in just a couple of days – my lemon trees are fruiting, the tomato plant (above) have an exciting bounty ripening steadily, the herbs are bushy and happy, and the jalapeno peppers are thriving!

Most importantly  though – gardening has been like the cheapest therapy ever for me. It’s given me an engrossing activity to keep my mind off my injury, and the limitations of living I’ve been grappling with for almost 7 months now. It’s let me behold what I have felt to be a dimmed life, in new ways, especially when I see seemingly dead plants and nurse them back to life.

Watching precious, tiny green leaves begin to blossom where before there was just a bush of dead, brown branches – the daily vigil involved, the magic of watching it all unfurl before you… it makes me wonder if all kids should be taught to garden as part of a nature based school curriculum. I think it gives people a new perspective on peace, and understand the magic of small, daily, improvements and growth.

It’s certainly helped me realise that any recovery I make isn’t going to be overnight, and reliant to circumstances beyond my control, just as the plants grow slow, so will I. Being able to sniff my fragrant palms deeply after a session of picking fresh herbs truly reminds me of the senses I still do have, and to be grateful for them. Sipping my morning coffee in my garden, beholding the magic greenery that is all around me, lets me forget that I’m aching, sore, and stops me obsessively wishing I was back to living a normal, working, useful life. Yes, I miss being useful, and meaningful. And the plants help me remember to be calm, to be patient, to retain my dignity during a period when I decidedly feel none of those things.

gardenia coming back to life

my entryway gardenia coming back to life!

My happiest moments last week, after I had a bad fall at the studio, were spend hobbling around the front garden, clipping some roses and buds for my windowsill. I’ll be posting about all that very soon, but let me just tell you one thing.

If your heart is hurting, your head is clouded, your body failing you or your soul needs some pats, get yourself a few plants and immerse your attention amongst its welfare. It’ll help, a lot.

5 happy things

This last week I’ve been battling with a lot on a personal level – difficult news that reminds me of my family being so far away, as well as pushing through pain barriers to train adequately for my dancing comeback, and sheer busy-ness as we prepare to travel next week. I thought I’d have a think about some happy things instead, and as always, if you want to identify them, they are plentiful, and all around us.

1. Our neighbours have the most gorgeous, massive tree in their backyard, and it hangs over ours too. On a beautiful day in Melbourne, as today was, all I need to do for some peace and solace is wander out into our back garden and gaze upon the blue calm sky. I’m lucky to have a wonderful thinking spot just 5 seconds from my back door.

gorgeous tree

2. On weekends, S and I like to head up to the strip of shops and cafes and have breakfast together. It’s one of the few meals we get to have together (and at the appropriate time) most weeks, due to our schedules! This last week we found a lovely cafe called Fuel, and the food was good, coffee great, and even better, we bumped into a couple of my old students there! As we went to pay, this sign made me smile, and I knew I’d found a cafe with spunk, and worth our patronage.

tip jar funny sign

3. I performed! For the first time in 6 months. 6 months ago there was a possibility I may not dance again. I’ve been crushed, despondent, and fearful. On Saturday night, after a long period of impatient recovery, and still not quite 100% yet, I performed. Not a routine that was horrifically difficult for me (that’s next weekend!) but still crazy scary as I was in heels, shaky legged, not as strong or flexible as I used to be, and hadn’t been training for very long. It was nice waking up 2 mornings later, trying to shake the soreness lurking, to see these babies lying on the coffee table, reminding me of the triumph from the other night. (Well, and how I’d staggered home, peeled them off and flung them on the coffee table).

fake eyelashes post performance

4. Speaking of heels. I’ve now managed 2 occasions in heels – first to Kat & Leigh’s engagement, and then to drinks on Friday night with my girls. Like I said, I’ve spent much of the last 6 months in trackies and laying about the house, so getting dressed up and wearing heels was a tiny slice of heaven. The bonus? Seeing the look on S’s face when he saw me. (He said he was going to disallow the outing, I looked too nice. Gotta love the man.) It may sound crazy, but feeling like a woman again goes a long way to confidence boosting when you haven’t left the house much in months.

sharon pakir

5. S’s parents and family have made me feel so incredibly welcomed into their arms. They visited this Sunday and the afternoon was filled with warmth and laughter. They’re so caring, brightened my day when I was sore, tired, in pain and apprehensive about next week’s performances, and I’m so grateful that I’ve not only got the most perfect man, but that he comes with wonderful relations too.

family

There’s my 5 happy things this week. What are yours?

identify the plant!

So I found this growing on the side of my house. It’s pretty, but my question is, weed or plant? I need help, all your avid green thumbed people out there!

need help identifying this plant

unidentified plant

My questions:

- What is it?

- Do I need to care for it, or rip it out?

- When does it flower?

- Does it like me?

(and now I’ve degenerated from bad gardener to anxious laydee.)

Please comment if you have the answers!

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