Greetings on a soggy Sunday early morning. I find myself snuggled in with the cat and dog piled around me while it drizzles outside- still dark at 6:44 – what happened-Just a month ago I was outside at this time taking beautiful morning pictures of the fields….time marches on. As autumn settles in I find myself sorting and reflecting, trying to sort out what I want to do next year in the fields – what worked and didn’t work. My friend of Laurel Roots wrote about her “whys” which made me think of my “whys”. Always learning and always sorting.

I wish I could say that my “whys” are as great as Carolynn’s; bee’s pollinating, microbes in the soil, no till methods and food security….but honestly it appears I take those things for granted. Why do I grow? It certainly isn’t to get rich, but I do enjoy having an extra dollar, I do enjoy someone thinking my stuff is pretty enough to buy and enjoy. I asked myself what my favorite thing to grow was…..my answer was Lavender-I’m guessing the smell and the usefulness are two big reasons that I enjoy it so much. Upon further inspection, I realized I’m a creator, I enjoy having something in my hand – taking it and turning it into something it wasn’t, something beautiful, useful and enjoyable. It speaks to my love of sewing, my draw to pottery, and my love of crafting. It explains why I love a blank piece of paper and colored pencils but not really coloring pages.

Growing, reflecting and learning are always good things. Trying to figure out how I felt during the growing season, what brought happy feelings, what brought anxiety and dread. Weeding brought dread – but the push for enough fillers and good enough bouquets brought anxiety. I wanted to figure out a way to avoid anxiety, the weeding is just part of growing and it’s only due to my laziness that I dread it – it’s good for me so there’s no way around that. I figured out that the anxiety can be lessened if I lowed my demands to have enough fillers – and bouquets-but wanted to be able to still reach people with my lovelies because I also love to share! I’ve decided I will still do 10-or so subscriptions, but they will only be bi-weekly, five one week, five the next week, with a week off during the summer for us to take a trip. I will do flowers for my daughter, mom and whoever else I will be donating to on the same day – so demands are only two days a week, not four. It felt good to make that decision, I’m at peace with it and it lessens the worry!

Another decision that we’ve made is moving the gourd garden to the main garden this year – the kids and grand kids are enjoying the pumpkin situation – they aren’t cheap either – so why not grow a few more to be able to share with the kids and it’s fun to go hunting for stuff in the field. We’ll still do some food, we won’t let the sunflowers take over so much of the fields and there will be flowers!

I see that I haven’t been here in a while, I wish I could say it’s because I’ve pulled up all my glads, Dahlias and rows, but indeed, the only thing I’ve done is rows 1, 2,3, & 6 and I haven’t even finished 6! Joe has been super busy with work, I’ve been back at work kind of’ish. We’ve visited three pumpkin patches, my grand babies came home, a day in the yard doing resin with our neighbors 😉 lol –my brother-in-law and his wife. I’ve been making wreaths and planning events to have my friends over for wreath making. I’ve spent some time in the yard with my mom and her boyfriend. My perennial garden is planted and in the process of getting ready for winter time. So, I haven’t been sitting around staring at the walls, but I certainly haven’t been preparing the garden for rest! I still need to take out the Sweet Pea beds-but my social life and work life is so busy! I will work on priorities-Halloween shirts, shopping for stuff for my grandkids so they have clothes for this weather, carseats and coats, coffee date with a friend, the paying job….and of course garden time.

I best get a move on – lots to do today – nothing out in the garden of course, but tea with a friend and laundry room curtains for my daughter. Priorities….hopefully the garden will move up the list or maybe I will turn into super woman and be able to do all of it!? I hope your weekend was restful and your week isn’t filled with too much sludge! Until next time – hugs to you!