When Things Need To Move Along

If I am not using something I own, I give it away or sell it. I release all things that no longer benefit me: objects, ideas, habits, or relationships. I make way for the new to come bursting forth into my life. I am fulfilled in every way.  — Louise L. Hay

A friend posted this quote on Facebook, and the thought fell on the quite fertile ground of my cleaning out and moving things along.  Over the last months I have been doing a lot of re-thinking about how I live, what I have around me, what I really need.  Occasionally I dip into the not-so productive area of how I accumulated so much and why I feel I have to continue to live with it, and I am reminded of something I read, many years ago, that Cher said (when she and Sonny were just becoming famous singers).  She said that Sonny found two of some kitchen appliance, like an electric skillet, I believe, and he asked her why she bought two of the same item.  She said that she was afraid something would happen, and they wouldn't have the means to buy one again, so she bought two as a hedge against the possibility of bad times.  Of course, I am really, really paraphrasing and relying on forty or more years of memory here, but that is the gist of the story.

I suppose that anyone who has had a bumpy road has a long memory, and I am no exception.  Not that I have two of things.  I just have things.  Things I am fond of.

I got a break recently when Jill said she was making felted balls for a school project for her son, James (an art teacher in a Knoxville elementary school).  I had a box of wrapped centers for felted balls, and even a few already-felted balls.  And a lot of ugly yarn I would like to wave on down the road.  How lucky!  What a bonus!  I set to work in spare moments— the evenings and television are the best for filling with brain-numbing handwork— and sent a large bag of balls out of the studio.  And, as he won't need these until Christmas, James will have another bag or so before I give up wadding and wrapping yarn balls.

Despite all my good intentions, felted balls won't get rid of everything that I don't need anymore.  In the house, I recently moved furniture around, sent some pieces to the downstairs bedroom for storage.  I am a restless person who likes to change rooms around, and the new arrangement gives me more floor space.  In six months, I will be itching to move things around again.  My plan is that if I can live without the now-absent furniture for a year, it can go to Good Will or to a shelter.  Once something is given away, there is no going back and finding it again.

Clothes are another thing that need to be sorted out.  Things I loved wearing, or things I made for myself or that Mother made for me— I can't even imagine what another person will do with them.  But, maybe I'm not supposed to imagine their ending.  Maybe I should just let them go.  Gently.  Folded neatly, as I care for them, but when the size is wrong, there is no remedy.

This is my current project, learning how to be honest about what I can and can't live with any more.  The past years of economic up and down figure heavily in this thinking.  I wonder, do others feel the same way, or is it just me?

The Garden, Thus Far

Oh, my goodness, but there is so much color in the back yard!  Too early, though, the azaleas have come and gone, and the Dogwood was confused and put only a handful of blossoms out for our admiration.  We have dug, moved, planted, re-planted, and every time I think it's almost done, I see another beautiful plant that must, somehow, be squeezed in.  It never ends— which is a good thing.  Gardens should never be "done," just as a home is never "finished," because all things that are alive or that provide a home for active people, should change with the seasons of our lives.

So, grab your mug of tea and let's take a quick trip through the garden!  Many things have been put in new, and they must wait for their time to bloom.  Others have bloomed quite out of their normal time.  It was the crazy winter-less past few months that set everything out of kilter.

The Irises are blooming now, and these are in need of staking.  For the first time, I planted annuals in the upper terraces.  Here you can see Marigolds and Cosmos.  Enjoy the little corner of Lamb's Ear (right lower) while you can.  I think it will be going to a new home in the far, far back of the yard where we put plants that have not played well with others.

Here is one of several re-blooming Irises.  It is always a bit of a shock to see Irises blooming at the end of summer, but they brighten up the fading garden:

The delightfully light and branching Euphorbia, whose blooms surprised us by showing up in early March!  Can you see the strawberry plant creeping through the thyme below it?

And as well as the Euphorbia, the red Dianthus has been bright much too early!  I love gardening here, as the bed is behind a terrace wall and is raised enough to make weeding a pleasure.

This was the big shocker of the spring garden, though.  Both of these peonies came from the same bush, and not only that, the tag said it would produce deeply pink blossoms!  Someone forgot to tell the plant, I suppose.

Below is an example of things gone amuck.  My impression of Verbena was that of a polite, very Southern plant who did not put a toe over the line.  Perennial Verbena, however, is hot to trot, and trotted itself right into the Lavender.  In response, the Lavender moved a foot to the right this year.  I was unaware that anything could invade Lavender!

On the subject of things getting out of hand, I have other examples to share with you.  On the upper terrace, I discovered a small mound of Dianthus between the Ice Plant and this lovely Thug:

The Wave Petunias, however, we want to get out of hand.  Oddly enough, the last one on right survived the winter in a concrete container, blooming the entire time!  Kudos to Alpha Petunia!  I will post her progress this summer.  The other four plants need to put the gleep on it and start spilling over the wall!

 The Lithidora is duking it out with a magenta-blooming Ice Plant for dominance.  Manners are set aside in this contest, but I noticed how the Ice Plant simply climbs down the wall when things get too crowded.

These last flowers, identified by nursery staff as different things, depending on where I take a sample, made the sad mistake of moving forward a little too quickly, and Charles and I dug dozens of these and planted them in the back of the mass.  When they bloom, a small quite brilliant magenta blossom appears at the top of the stalks, and they are beautiful, en masse.    I often have the feeling that I am watering and fertilizing a weed, but it is a beautiful weed.  In fact, I would like to plant Queen Anne's Lace to complement it, but I don't have the wide, sunny area it demands.  So many plants, so little garden!

Tea is cold, and we have navigated only part of the garden.  Maybe we should make a tour on another day?  Thank you for dropping in on me.  I love sharing our garden!

Work In Progress

It is time to get the garden in shape for the summer.  The routine is to be up early-ish and plant everything that came home from the nursery the day before.  On non-planting mornings, we dig and move things to (hopefully) happier spots.  And we dig/pull/curse weeds, especially little sprouting acorns.  I thought I would spare you the details of all this grind as well as the grousing over aches and pains by simple silence.

Fortunately, a lot of last year's perennials came back and are happy where they are growing.  Some things are a little too happy, however, and have overrun their neighbors.  Thus the relocation efforts.

I plan to be back with pictures some time next week.