Tag: garden

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A take-it-easy Saturday

I consciously left today completely unscheduled.

Last weekend was chock-full of activity; it was followed by an extra busy week; tomorrow is Sunday service; then this coming week we head down to Los Angeles for a weekend of programs.

So, when I realized I had no commitments on today’s calendar I promised myself I would leave it empty…and I did! In fact, I’m enjoying not having much of anything to share about the day.

I watered the garden. I sat on the patio. I read my book. I did some gentle exercise. I sat on the patio. I chatted with Ramesha. I read my book some more. I ate some good meals. I did dishes. I sat on the patio. We watched a show in the evening. And I’m on track to be in bed by 11:00pm.

A nice relaxing day, indeed.

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This time last year

I’m going back and reading some of my blog posts from a year ago. It’s the only way I can really tune back in to what life was like in the lead up to my stem cell transplant.

We had been in Sacramento for a few days at this point. The tunneled catheter was in my chest and we were preparing to have my stem cells collected the next day.

Hard to believe what a different reality that was compared to now. As I reflect on it, I think a part of me is in a sort of “reactionary” mode — experiencing lots of resistance to discipline, consistency, focus.

Maybe that’s why I’m so into upgrading my garden at the moment. Creating wine barrel planters is a way to channel my energy into something productive, but that’s also a treat.

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Expanding my knowledge base

An amazing assortment of rocks and mulches

Today I ventured into a new world. It’s called Rare Earth Landscape Materials and as I walked around I definitely felt like a foreigner exploring interesting new lands.

My reason for going is that I want to upgrade my garden plots with some sort of ground covering. Since wood chips are verboten (due to flammability issues), my landscaper friend suggested I check out the possibility of using rocks or gravel.

The sheer number of options was the first surprise. The price per yard was the second (this stuff is not cheap).

A very nice woman employee gave me a kind but rather remedial lesson on how to calculate the number of square yards (or, more likely, square feet — my yard is small) of gravel I will need, since math has never been my strong suit.

She also explained just how heavy it is, requiring a seriously big truck to transport it. Definitely not my Hyundai Elantra!

Altogether very interesting and quite fun.

I had beautiful “exploring” weather

Lots and lots of rocks, soil, and gravel

The likely winner
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An overall productive day

This morning we had a garden consultation, while sitting with our friends (landscaper and wife) on the patio enjoying coffee and treats.

I learned which plants need to go into the ground, which ones need fertilizing in the spring, how we could make our already beautiful view even better, and — yay! — I finally have the perfect location (and reason) to plant some jasmine.

This afternoon we took part in a lovely satsang at Chandi ashram house for the current crop of karma yogis.

Each person shared how they came onto the spiritual path, then we spent time chanting. It was quite the international group, as the karma yogis originally hail from Germany, Turkey, Russia, China, and India!

I came home in the early evening and — for the fourth day in a row — I practiced. It’s really quite remarkable, but I even downloaded a metronome app and used it as I did honest-to-goodness long tones.

I hardly recognize myself!

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Gardening ups and downs

The UP side: experiencing the satisfaction and joy of creating a beautiful, nurturing space in our patio area.

The DOWN side: the realization that I can’t just leave for six weeks without making arrangements for someone to water my plants.

Bottom line? Duality is manifesting itself through my garden.

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Treating myself to flowers

I’ve been craving more color in my garden these last few weeks. In fact, I found myself impulsively buying random flowers at Grocery Outlet and CVS.

And then it occurred to me that this is a healthy way to indulge myself, since most of my usual treats (i.e. cookies, pastries, popcorn, etc.) are off limits right now.

So, I went to Weiss Brothers nursery and thoroughly enjoyed shopping for still more flowers. They’re all planted now and it feels great.

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Breakthroughs and roses

It seems like the big block I’ve been experiencing had to do with some deep but subtle inner processing. Which — thankfully — has now resolved itself into clarity around a big decision.

(I’m pretty sure it’s no coincidence that Mercury is going direct in another day or two.)

I’ll share more about all that soon.

In the meantime, much of my afternoon and evening was spent in the garden.

Hence the roses.

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Being productive

Today was spent catching up at home.

Weeding and watering the garden. Tending the roses. Cleaning out the refrigerator. Doing laundry. Putting together a plant stand for the living room.

You get the idea.

All in all it was quite the productive Saturday.

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The day that got away

Where did this day go, I wonder?!?

Hmmm…

Music meeting; emails; radiation appointment; lunch; a couple of errands; water the garden; sit on the patio; do the dishes; eat dinner; watch a show; wash more dishes; evening affirmations and gratitude time; a few more emails…

Ah, that’s where the day went!

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Enjoying nature

Our patio garden is slowly coming together. I actually sat outside for a while this morning, enjoying the view and listening to the birdsong.

It provides a nice balance for how much driving around we’ll be doing this week.