Needing to know there's a butterfly . . .

I love the quote, "Without change there would be no butterflies". I often refer to it when life presents unrequested, and unexpected, curves in the path. But I have never felt that I couldn't learn to appreciate the change and embrace it as a gift - a puzzle piece that I hadn't anticipated needing to complete my life's picture. But now, watching someone I love very much dealing with unrequested (although not totally unexpected) changes, I feel uncertain and somewhat fearful. How will I handle those curves in my path, which advancing age will surely bring? Will I be aware that my faculties are failing? How will I react when the simple - the things that I can now do almost without thinking - suddenly seems so difficult and confusing? Will I be embarrassed? Will I be afraid? Will I be aware that my reasoning is no longer up to even the most ordinary task? Will I even know that I am no longer capable? When will that day come? Soon? Oh, please - not soon.

Of course there are no answers to these questions. Only time will tell. But, for now, I am being presented the gift of learning patience and empathy, and am trying to trust that even these changes can give birth to a beautiful butterfly. Oh, how desperately I need there to be a butterfly . . .

(This beautiful butterfly friend landed, and stayed, on my side porch for almost 30 minutes, waiting patiently for me to figure out where I'd left my camera, and for me to snap a few shots before he/she went off to attend to whatever butterfly business was at hand. I try to remember that only through profound changes is he/she the delicate and beautiful creature of today.)

Mastering the art . . .

Did you know that there is an art to stacking limbs in a wheelbarrow? Well, there is, I assure you. But will I divulge the details of the art here? Of course not, because I have not yet mastered it! I have no idea what it is!!!!! All I know is, I'm from the school that says "pile absolutely as much as you possibly can into the thing, then pile on some more! And curse every time either a) the load shifts and half of the stuff falls off and has to be picked up and loaded back on, of b) the entire wheelbarrow gets overbalanced and completely turns over, spilling everything you just spent an hour picking up! When will I ever learn?

But I'm that way about everything. I'll spend double the time, and triple the frustration, trying to work around something rather than taking the minute or two (maximum 10) that it would take to properly prepare for my project. Like painting around light switches. It takes about a minute, including going to the tool drawer for the screwdriver, to remove the switchplate, right? But I'll spend 30 minutes carefully painting around the thing, stopping numerous times to grab a wet paper towel to correct my mistakes and clean up my errors.

Oh well, the sun came out today, and I picked up 3 wheelbarrows full of limbs and sticks from the Wish Garden. Things are looking better already!

Choosing the uplifting

So today was spent on a task that I hadn't planned, and quite frankly didn't enjoy. Sunday morning I completed a gorgeous flower bed in the Wish Garden, filling it with beautiful blooming periwinkle, white and pink vinca, and some lovely lavender wildflowers Rich dug up from the perimeter of the property. With the bird bath placed at the center, it was a most bright spot in the developing garden. But, Sunday afternoon and again yesterday afternoon we were hit with sudden, SEVERE weather, with hurricane-force gusts, hail, and torrential rain that persisted for about 2 hours each day. Since The Enchanted Forest is just that - a forest - you can imagine the number of downed limbs and debris that we were left with. And, since the Wish Garden is mostly under 60+' tall pine trees, the volume of limbs and pine cones pelting down on everything in sight left me dejected and sad. My newest flower bed was demolished, and everything is covered in soggy leaves, pine straw, hard immature pine cones and branches. Things were blown down, overturned, broken and generally trashed. So I turned my back on the Garden for the day, too disappointed to even deal with it, and tackled the job of cleaning up the rest of the property. Five hours and many wheelbarrow loads later, the pile of debris was taller than me!

But instead of posting photos of the trashed Garden, or even the huge pile of debris that I single-handedly created, I'll choose the uplifting . . . and show a 'before' of the flower bed, and our recently-completed mantel makeover. Changing it from a dark, disappearing-into-the-wall-color wood tone to white and adding new tile made all the difference! So here's a "how we found it when we bought the house" and an "after' taken today! Yea! One task marked of the list! Hundreds more to go . . . including cleaning up the Garden. Tomorrow.

Bone-tired and lovin' it!

Today was one of those dream-come-true days . . . when I can stay home all day and do nothing (not that I didn't have plenty of other things to do, mind you!) but play in the Wish Garden all day! Oh, the joy!!!! A good day's work, if I may say so myself . . . giving a new home to a boatload of plants 'rescued' from the "distressed plants" cart at Lowe's! Love it! It may be late in the season for some of the annuals, but the perennials will (hopefully) reward me next year for my act of heroism - saving them from the landfill. At least in the Wish Garden, if they are not happy and don't thrive they will give new life to others through the compost bin! So here's a glimpse of some of today's accomplishments, and some that have been in place but not yet revealed. (Beginnings of a flagstone wall . . . lots of plants in the ground, but many more still waiting . . . relocating some of my twig garden fences. . . Oh, what a wonderful day!)





Tools put away - check

Shower - check

Dinner ordered (take out once a week is acceptable - right?) - check

Hammock-time - Can't wait!!!

Dumb blonde jokes - personified!

So if anyone saw me this morning, doing this totally ridiculous thing, they would surely either have called the police or the psychiatrist - or maybe both. But it made sense to me at the time. You see, when I look in the mirror, I see something entirely different from what I see in photographs of myself. My face is faaaaaarrrrr from symmetrical (and they say symmetry in the face is the mark of true beauty!) so when I see the camera's mirror image of what an actual mirror tells me, I'm always appalled at how terrible I look. I digress. So, anyway, I'm especially pleased with my current haircut, and wanted to capture a close-up of it to remind my hair stylist for future cuts. So here goes. I grab the camera, point it at the mirror, and I kid you not, I was surprised to see the camera right in front of my face in the reflection. I laughed out loud at my stupidity, and was totally embarrassed even though I was standing absolutely alone in my own bathroom! So I tried holding the camera over my head, thinking I'd just crop out my upraised arms and the camera, leaving a gorgeous, in-focus, and perfect close-up of this wonderful haircut! NOT! (See image above right, in case that's not obvious!)

So, although it's not such a good pic of me, I did finally get a decent photo of the super-great haircut! See:

Look closely . . .

Today is a mix of rain showers and sun - literally from minute to minute it changes. I love that about the weather. It seems to be one of the only things we humans don't claim complete control over, and that we are unable to predict with any real certainty at all. You go, Mother Nature!

Anyway, these are particularly beautiful today. Look closely . . .They look almost like Easter Lilies in July. 'Could almost fool you, but they're not lilies at all . . .

They're the blooms of one of the beautiful hosta in our front bed. It's a happy thing.

Inside out . . . outside in . . .

So today we're inside, having planned a long-overdue project because we expected a rainy day (it's noon, however, and no rain yet!). We've tackled removing our fireplace mantel, retiling the surround, and re-affixing the mantel properly (which it was NOT originally!) But . . . if we weren't in the middle of this messy project and I could be outside, here's where I'd be!

(Best $29 I EVER spent! This wonderful hammock was the buy of the season at one of my favorite shopping stops - Southeastern Wholesale in Chattanooga)

More "Fast-Forwarding"

. . . skipping over lots of interesting and trivial goings-on, I'm eager to show off the progress in the Wish Garden to date. Then I'll back-track, in later posts, and fill in the gaps. But, since (as I mentioned in previous post) the 'garden' doesn't yet have the plantings and such to make it an interesting journey (but, instead, reveals itself all at once :-( - saving none of the mystery), I will reveal it here in bits and pieces and will resist the urge to post all the photos at once! (Ooooh, self-restraint is not one of my strengths!)

So here is a glimpse into the path into the Wish Garden - a cozy spot for conversation and a beautiful view of The Enchanted Forest. Early mornings are delightful here! (Vintage lawn rockers have been in my family, and passed from one to another, over many years. So happy to have these two 'back home' - Thanks, Jacque! Love you!)

This beautiful life goes on . . .

Why have I been away so long? Perhaps because once you are away for a short while, there's so much "catching up" to do, the task seems too large for the energy/time available. And another day goes by . . . and another . . . BUT, here I am, making another attempt at journaling my experiences here in The Enchanted Forest. I hope you welcome me back, but if you do not, I still find this exercise to be enriching, cathartic, and just plain fun!


Autumn, Winter, and Spring have all come and gone here, and each was 'enchanted ' in its own way. I'll skip over the 20+ weeks of recuperation from a badly broken ankle, during which I was grumpy, demanding, temperamental, and difficult, and jump right to now - this gorgeous Summer here on Sand Mountain.


Spring was, well, enchanting, and Summer has been lovely, although quite hot for these parts. As soon as the weather began to warm and I could put weight on the injured ankle, I claimed the side yard as my "Wish Garden" and began its transformation. To date, it's a strange collection of "things" - not really a 'garden' at all, due to its lack of plants andfoliage. It's mostly under pine trees, and I'm still learning about what/how to grow things there. Meanwhile, I've had too much fun (and spent money I didn't have!) on garden whimsy and items of interest. It's like having another entire 'house' to furnish! Having no 'walls' is both a challenge and a blessing - 'can move things at will without barriers, but having no definition of spaces means the entire garden is revealed in a single glance - not at all as a garden should be, revealing its secrets as you make the journey through its maze of plantings and such. Someday, maybe. Someday. Meanwhile . . .here's where it all began. The first day I crammed my 2-sizes-larger-than-normal swollen foot into a sneaker, grabbed Handsome's power tools, and made my version of "chippendale" from branches found on the property. Proud, indeed!