Creating a Retreat

When I first purchased my house I was in need of a retreat. I had struggled through a dark time in my life and I remember the day I first saw my house I knew if would be a place to heal. I began at that time thinking about how I could surround myself with all the things I love so I would have a place to rest and restore myself.

Meeting JEJ while he lived right across the road was not in my plans, but it sure did work out! He saw my vision of what I wanted to create. If you visited here often you know he is the vegetable planter and I am the flower girl. 

Slowly our place began to take shape. We planted trees, flowers, and vegetables. JEJ created furniture from the wood around the area. We added some water features and outdoor lights, and JEJ built the best spot on the property... the gazebo. Sometimes we didn't have enough water. Other times we needed to amend the soil. Plants died and plants grew too large.

Somewhere along the way I forgot that this was my retreat. I would try to take time to enjoy what we had created, but often in the summer I was racing out of town or getting us ready for camping, or grumbling as I deadheaded and weeded.

My sister told me once she loved to come and relax at my house. My friend Tracy just spent five days here and felt refreshed and energized when she left. I think we created that retreat I yearned for fourteen years ago. I am working hard myself at taking the time to see my own place, rest among the flowers, sit and smell the mock orange, and forget about the deadheading, weeding, and fertilizing that will get done someday.

I can thank my husband first for always making me stop and notice the beauty around me ( even straw bales... right honey?) I can also be grateful to my camera. I now have a long history captured in images of where I started, where we've gone, and what we have created.

I think I will grab a cool drink and sit and reflect. I have found peace here and have slowly healed. Tracy said I am more centered now. I believe dreaming, planning, creating,working the soil, and harvesting has helped me become more centered.
I am not even looking at those weeds in the far corner. They will wait for another day.

Observing the Unexpected: Lessons Learned on a Garden Tour

 I'm a planner and an organizer. I can do all the planning and organizing possible in the process of gardening, but unexpected things just happen in the course of the growing season. Weather changes, soil, birds, pets, and Mother Nature, and our human hands have changed the landscape of our garden plots. While doing my daily photo walk yesterday I was struck by the unexpected changes. In the photo above I discovered it was okay to let the bishop's weed take over and fill the front bed. The variegated color provides interest and fills in empty places. 

Hops have been a surprise success as a vine planted to add color and cover an unsightly pole.

 I learned our trees could provide shade much sooner than planned. I now embrace the coolness in the early evening on the porch.

We can even grow fuchsias now in one of the shadier areas.

The guest cabin looks like it has always been there thanks to the Virginia Creeper, a warrior vine that twines the door, creating a natural roof to welcome our guests.

Leaving the wildflowers alone from the driveway to the road was a lesson I learned. It has allowed the wild lupines and yarrow to spread naturally. The combination of colors in the evening sun are lovely.
It I stop my lists, put away the blueprints and close my gardening books I learn lessons from our gardens. I need to pause, listen, observe, and be present. I have a feeling there is more of nature's wisdom in unexpected places.

Ten Reasons Why I Love Heyburn State Park

I am not one of these jump in the car and hope to find a campsite miles and miles away kind of person. I am a researcher and planner when it comes to camping. I am a big fan of online campground reservation sites.  We just returned from Heyburn State Park, my favorite campground in Idaho. As I sat and enjoyed the peaceful setting I reflected one again on why I loved it so much, other than the fact that I can reserve the site and see a photo of it online before I even get there. Here are some of my reasons:

1. The sites are roomy and you have some privacy. I never feel like I am side by side with the campers next to me.

 2. The trails around the lake and the marsh are easy to manage and full of photo opportunities.

 3. There are enough squirrels to satisfy Annie's obsession.
4. It is safe, clean, and well maintained.
5. If you have to get a few comforts of home.... lattes, Zips, ice, and an ATM are ten minutes away.

 6. At this end of Coeur d'Alene Lake (known as Chacolet) it is quiet and scenic.

 7. You can see the sun rise and the sun set from most locations in the park. This was perfect since we visited on the Summer Soltice.

 8. There are lots of wildflowers.

 9. You can enjoy some of the oldest Ponderosa Pines around the Inland Empire.
10.When you gather around the table while camping food just tastes better, beverages from the cooler are more refreshing, and coffee and tea just hit the spot on a crisp morning. I think that is true of any campground!

Iris: Your World For a Moment

 “When you take a flower in your hand and really look at it, 

it's your world for the moment."

- Georgia O'Keeffe

Today I held irises in my hands and captured them through the lens of my camera. That certainly was my world for more than a moment. The weather seems just right for these beautiful flags this year. JEJ divided some so we are now seeing unique ones bloom that had been dormant for awhile. We also splurged and bought a few new ones. This collection has been taken over the last few weeks. Enjoy.

Weed Barrier Up! Before and After the Project

Last week I did a post about our best solution for weed behind our deck. You can find it here.Today the new weed barrier is done thanks to the hard work by JEJ. Our solution was to  move  the fence forward so the weeds were out of sight out of mind. I don't have to look at this anymore:

The section of the yard looked like this earlier in the week:

Now it looks like this:

 We resued the same pickets that were used when we found them. JEJ added some beautiful blue paint so it was an inexpensive project, but I can't put a dollar sign on JEJ's labor. He is priceless.

Starting the Day With Rhubarb Coffee Cake and A Keeper from the Recipe Box

 I wish I remember where I got this recipe. I think someone had made it at church and they shared the recipe with me because I loved it so much. Anyway... I hadn't ever made it myself so when the garden is exploding with rhubarb, the best thing to do is bake this delicious coffee cake.

Rhubarb Coffee Cake

 1 cup coarsely chopped pecans

½ cup firmly packed brown sugar

½ teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon nutmeg

2 1/3 cups flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

¼ cup butter, softened

1 ½   cups sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

4 cups  rhubarb, cut in ½ inch pieces

1 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 10” bundt pan.  In a medium bowl, comine pecans, brown sugar, and cinnamon until well missed. In a large bowl sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With electric mixer on medium speed, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Stir flour mixture into butter mixture until smooth. Fold in rhubarb and sour cream.

Sprinkle one third of the nut mixture evenly over the bottom of the pan. Spread half the batter over the nut mixture. Sprinkle with remaining nut mixture then spread with remaining batter.

Bake 50-55 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack 10 minutes. Then invert the cake onto a wire rack and cool completely.