| Canvas of my back Yard |
| The Gardeners Glove |
As a young girl growing up I had the unbelievable experience of moving 13 different locations from the time I was 9 to 17 ½.
Each new house that my family moved into allowed me to focus on the good areas of these locations, which helped to block
out the bad areas of pain that were going on.
I can recall a back yard to a small home when I was 11 years old. It was my kind of Heaven right out side the back door. Lots
of large trees, beautiful perennial flowers from the past owners and a wonderful cherry blossom tree right next to my
bedroom window.
When I was older I was invited to a very dear friend of mine’s home where I was taken to their back yard, which was
overwhelming. I saw many flowers that my friend cared for ever so tenderly. Wonderful assortment of trees and bushes
throughout the yard. A very large square vegetable garden was off to the South-East of the yard, she must of used miracle-
grow or maybe she just had a green thumb, but everything in that vegetable garden was thriving.
I so admired my friend, she had talent and an almost angelic singing voice. She would go about her tasks in her back yard
and be singing some song that made you feel as though you were standing with the angels in their flower garden. How
wonderful it was to see all the magnificent things my friend had done to just a simple back yard, but it had taken her years to
accomplish. She began with starter plants and flowers and as the years went by, each living item she had planted into the
ground was now showing off all their splendor.
Remember, I talk of a canvas often, as I am an artist. So many things come from the start of a blank form. Whether you’re
writing something on a blank piece of paper or starting a colored work of art on a canvas, it’s the same. Why not view your
environment area in much the same way. Stand back and really look at your back yard. Don’t just see an old fence or weeds
that have overgrown. Look beyond that and visualize that you want a place you are proud of. A near by neighbor in town
has a unique back yard, they always get ‘yard of the month’ with a sign placed in the yard, showing off all the hard work they
have done. Now, you don’t need a prize every month, you know when you have accomplished something, but ever now and
then it’s nice that others like and enjoy what you have worked so hard to achieve. This neighbor made one whole corner of
their yard a terracing rock formation water fall and tons of colorful bedding flowers that cascade from the rocks. The grass
throughout the yard is immaculate. It appears it is a back yard that requires a lot of work all the time, but maybe they like
that. All I see is the colorful canvas. They have painted many colors into their space of enjoyment, therefore any one
passing by takes a moment to glance that way. It’s no different than when you drive to the mountains to take in all the
beautiful Fall colors nature has blanketed for all to admire. Why not have that same kaleidoscope spray near you in your
own yard?
Okay, to give you an idea, I have many trees, I like trees they tell stories to me. I wrote a poem all about a tree and how the
branches are similar to how we as people stretch our branches to life. I have a beautiful blue spruce, several pine trees, a
couple of aspen trees and a few mixed ones for variety. To the North-West are border hedges that the local deer love to
sneak through every evening around dinner time. Along with my sacred rock garden I have a couple of other gardens, one
can never have too many garden areas. It’s the spice in your life as to what, when and how you make your yard , as for the
person that is inside you. Every garden believe it or not tells something about the gardener. My herb garden is tiny, but I
have the necessary plants for my tastes. A full peppermint plant, parsley, chives, basil, add a couple of raspberry bushes
and there you have it. This year I may add strawberries, however the8 local traveling deer and their babies love all my
bountiful food, so I have to be careful in what I choose if I want to reap any benefit from all the planting. Unless everything is
behind a tall fence, and I don’t care for fences, then the animals take whatever is handy. Because my favorite of all flowers is
an iris, I have a full row of assorted colors, soft peach, rose, purples, white and yellow iris, bed down along the side of the
house right under the dinning room windows. When I open the windows in the morning to breath in the fresh mountain air, I
am delighted with the fragrance of my iris. Nestled in among them are the Colorado columbine (the flowers that make up
several of my pressed flower designs). Tiger lilies are a fun flower and they multiply fast, so I added these flowers to the side
area, to shake up the other flowers. In the evenings, while I am sipping a fresh brewed cup of tea with a sprig of peppermint,
that I have just picked from the herb garden, I gaze around the yard and see my canvas of colors and I am pleased. I won’t
trade my piece of Heaven in my back yard for any city living anymore. I have had both sides of living in small towns and living
in cities, I choose a small town to keep my heart at peace. It doesn’t matter where you live, as long as you surround yourself
with beauty, then all else will follow.
| Color Your World |
| Take The Thyme |
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