A Winter Canvas!

The powder blue sky today has created a pure canvas for a garden painting! It looks amazing!

The sun sizzles the snow and broadcasts it everywhere like tiny raw diamonds. This sprinkling of shiny gems covers the Winter Gardens with a cozy white blanket. It shelters it from the cold until Spring, when tiny little green shoots pop their heads out and proclaim that the upcoming season is approaching.

A fuzzy gray squirrel is sitting on top of a fence post shaking his grayish red tail while preening himself before he scurries onto the chunky frozen pond to find a teeny tiny hole to drink from. I patiently wait for his feeder friends the cardinals to appear in Hope Garden. In all their glorious ruby splendor they never fail to take my breath away! Black Capped Chickadee's arrive too and claim their share of the bounty that has been offered to them and their furry friends. Feasting on this meal I can hear their chirping of heartfelt songs available to everyone that wants to listen!

The office window provides a panoramic view of my gardens. The painting today is of winter in all her cold and stark beauty. The icicles drip ever so slowly from the copper downspout and provide dramatic vignettes on the canvas. There is much to this painting and I want to savor it for the special sequestered spot in my memory that elicits joy and awe.

All the colors are accented by a fierce background of white and a high thick covering of blue! The sunset tonight sends splashes of gold and pink that penetrate the dagger shaped icicle creating a most magical event this evening!

I am blessed to be able to see such slendor unfolding before me everyday that I take the time to look and ingest my surroundings!

My first Garden was such a joy for me. I would visit it everyday and tend it faithfully. It gave me a new purpose in my life. I loved planting new things and cutting and clearing out dead wood. I gardened like this for years with a passion that I am sure many people feel for their own gardens.
I began after many years to feel differently about how I wanted to take care of my garden. I felt deeply that I wanted to begin to nurture my garden and not just work in it. I was often beckoned by my garden to visit and became intrigued at its whisperings!
Sometimes I would just go and listen and other times I would carry my heavy emotions and work. I knew in my heart that my garden was becoming a valuable part of me.
It has been many years now since I started my first garden. I now garden differently than those first years. I see today with clear eyes and visit and work with new understanding.
The voice that calls me into my Garden now knows I am listening and very present.
I wish to share in the coming months my experiences in my Garden and hope that you will share yours!