Gardening
Garden Tending, Preparing and Protecting for Winter
All weekend, my husband and I prepared and protected our yard and gardens for the gifts of winter. It was so chilly in Chicago that I wore my heavy alpaca socks, a wool sweater over my overalls and my fleece baseball cap that has ear flaps. We prepared our perennial gardens by removing all the ornaments and…
Read moreMother Nature’s Gift of Change – A Pair of Pears
This morning, I returned from a meeting and was greeted by our lovely chanticleer (pyrus caleryana) pear trees in one of our perennial gardens. Jordan and I planted both trees 4 1/2 years ago. One to celebrate our 40th anniversary and the other to celebrate our granddaughter Yasmin’s birth. In fact, the burlap that was wrapped around the ball of roots of one of…
Read moreSpring Garden Gifts
My “Blue Brain ” is loving the long awaited “Garden Gifts of Spring”! Bleeding heart My winter yard is awakening after its hibernation. My naked gardens are now dressed in a plates of green. My buses and trees bulge in stages of pregnancy and birth. My spring garden gifts delight my senses with delicate bouquets…
Read moreBloggging Brain Break
I followed Joanna Young’s advise on her Confident Writing Blog and took a “Blogging Brain Break.” It was lovely and encouraging to read Joanna’s post and other individual’s comments. Her words offered me permission to take excellent care of myself and enjoy some “breathing space” for the past 6 weeks. My “Responsible Yellow Brain” no longer…
Read moreA Spring Gift
Yesterday, was a perfect Spring day in Chicago… a gentle warm breeze painted palate blue and white above us. Our crabapple trees, pregnant with buds, are about to proudly deliver their pink blossoms, the daffodils and jonquils were trumpeting bursts of yellow, white and orange, and our magnolia bush swayed with a sweetly delicate aroma. My husband, Jordan, and I began our day with a brisk morning walk through…
Read moreThe Weight of Winter
Over the weekend we had a spring snow storm. The following words popped into my “Blue Brain” when I noticed a fallen tree in our back yard. The weight of winter brought a wait of winter to be broken . Sheila N. Glazov, Author and Personality Type Expert who offers workshop, keynote and training programs.Please, visit my website to…
Read moreColorful Garden Photography
This morning, I attended an engaging and educational garden photography class at my favorite garden store, Hawthorn Gardens, in Hawthorn Woods, Illinois. The class was offered by photographer Lou Nettelhorst, owner of CloseupPhotographs, Inc. Lou also offers classes at College of Lake County, located in Grayslake, Illinois and in Sister Bay,Wisconsin (Door County) in the spring and fall. The…
Read moreA Lesson From The Birds and The Trees
My husband, Jordan, and I loved watching our resident Mother Robin building her nest within the supports beams below our upper deck. We secretly observed her construction project from the bay window that encircles Jordan’s desk in our lower level garden room. Mother Robin would gather dry grasses from our perennial gardens, lint from the pachysandra garden underneath the dryer vent and twigs from the apple trees . The custom fit…
Read moreDouble Delight!
Below is my Guest Author Post that I was honored to write for my freind, Karen “Mother Earth” Hanrahan’s Blog.Caringrace by Sheila Glazov “Sheila Glazov, author, speaker, and educator entered my world passionately. I needed her example. Little did I know how much. It’s one thing to find a new friend; one who has similar ideas about expression, one…
Read moreThe Gifts My Mother Gave Me
The “Newman Porch”
The variegated green vista invited me to enjoy catching up on emails and workshop projects on our 3-season porch. I made myself comfortable on the couch and glided the sliding glass window open to rejoice in the lushness and activities in our yard. I’m fortunate, I don’t have to wait for “John the fireman” to come…
Read moreOur Spring Star
Our “Spring Star” Each year, I feel that spring has arrived when the magnolia trees bloom. One of the unusual highlights of my childhood home, that my parents and I loved, was the placement of our living room. It was in the back of our home with a view was our beautiful and bountiful formal garden.…
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