
……with hard work, commitment, love, patience and a shit-tonne of hypoglycaemic attacks, I have recently shaped my verdant, unruly gardens into someplace worth collapsing in.

Throughout the shovelling, planting and nurturing, I have been reflecting on the neglect I feel at a core soul level. If I were to post a screenshot of my spirit, every one of you would look away. Serious illness changes you intrinsically and you will never be the same person again. I am absolutely fucking knackered by life. Disappointed, even. Medically advised rest has been suggested, but am I going sit by the window and watch the garden grow out of control? Fuck, no.

Pruning while pensive lends itself to deep, dark introspection, and despite how Wednesday Addams that may sound, it can often precede a positive shift in perspective and subsequently – hopefully – your own reality and purpose. The struggle and physicality of hard labour has forced me to look at my own behaviour, my relationships, my dreams (remember those?). Who and what am I nurturing? Why? Whom and what nurtures me? How much time, money, and energy do I haphazardly invest in the human equivalent of Japanese Knotweed? Where do I derive meaning and wholeness and how can I focus again?

I am yearning to take a scythe to my current emotional landscape and mow the whole fucking thing flat. Start again. Re-seed. Irrigate. A low maintenance life for me.

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Are those photos from your actual garden? They’re GORGEOUS! I could spend all day out there!
Thank you 🙏.You’re so welcome here, bring a shovel! And a rake, etc 😂. Yes, four acres of gardens, paddocks, small woods and a little stream. I have a bad back ❤️🤗
I understand, all of it. Your garden is massively impressive.
Thank you 🙏🤗. I’m sorry to hear how easily you are able to empathise though. That sucks, but hopefully out of our suffering we gain insight, that could result in a more meaningful existence🤞❤️
“Pruning while pensive lends itself to deep, dark introspection….” This is relatable.
The garden look incredible! Ali and are very envious – we can’t keep the grass alive over hear! Some great points on introspection – something I need to practice more
Ha, it really isn’t much of a hoot is it? However, if true change and inner growth is the result then all the uncomfortable graft will be worth it (Or so I keep telling myself 🤣) ❤️🙏
Your garden looks gorgeous 💚💚💚
It’s entirely too organized! I’m kind of jealous. It’s beautiful! I’m not organized, I’m a “go with the flow” kind of gardener, I plant in drifts and islands. Many people might find it too chaotic to garden this way, but I believe not all chaos is bad. I try to be “chaotic good” and sometimes my method is rewarded by allowing a deeply buried native plant seedling to finally find the light and room it needed to grow.
Thank you so much 😊 ❤️
I’ve heard that gardening is therapeutic – you illustrate it so effectively here.
Thank you 🙏 😊. It really is. Natures teaches us so much about ourselves ❤️
You are welcome.
Thanks 🙏. Pretty sure it’s hotter over here than with you right now, if you can believe it! Introspection is excellent for realigning yourself with your goals, but more importantly, your true core values and making sure you are surrounded by people who also share those ❤️
Thank you 🙏 . I love that your plants have to want to live 🤣❤️. Even with a gardener, it’s impossible to maintain everything perfectly here as nature always, always kicks our arse. You have to be in tune with the seasons and how the land wants to live. There is a wildflower stream and plenty of wild grasses that we just leave to it. Same with the woods, but closer to the house I try to give structure otherwise it robs us of light. It’s lovely to have the contrast. Nature demands respect and you have to compliment it, and in return, it can fill you with childlike wonder again ❤️👍
Yes, so true and well spoken!
❤️
What beautiful pictures and farm!!
Thank you so much for the kind comment and taking the time to say ❤️🤗
You’ve invested so much effort and hard work. That’s commendable. No wonder the outcome is so beautiful! 🙂
Thanks so much for taking the time to read and leave your kind comments. I really appreciate it ❤️🤗
You have beautiful property😆!
What a beautiful space you’ve created! Your garden is absolutely gorgeous.
Thank you so much ❤️ I really appreciate you stopping by 🤗
Thank you for taking the time to visit. I really appreciate your comment ❤️🙏
I signed up to follow you by email. I hope it went through. You have a wonderful blog!
Thank you so much for your support, I really appreciate it and hope some of the posts are of value to you ❤️Wordpress can be tricky and I am new to all this and still learning. I think with email subscriptions you have to subsequently confirm it but the subscription confirmation email usually goes in your junk folder 😖. Alternatively you could follow from the reader page. Hopefully I will learn the tech to sort out my site properly soon so it’s super easy for everyone. Thanks again, you’re a star ⭐️
A beautiful garden. And excellent metaphor re: weeding, pruning, etc.
Your garden is beautiful! Growing plants, a garden, maintenance, being outdoors, watching the plants grow, harvesting, watering, maintenance, watching the insects and birds, getting sun and soil on your skin is such a healing experience. When married and raising kids years ago, I was an avid gardener, then divorce happened and for 13 years I did not garden much. But the pandemic spurred me on and I’ve been obsessed since. It has helped me get through a lot of troubling times and brought a lot of happiness to my life.
I see your beans growing on the sunflower – I’m doing the same but with snow peas. There was a point the peas started to take the sunflower down so I had to detach some of them and let them sprawl.
Thank you 🙏 I really appreciate it ❤️
There is definitely a lot of sprawl going on here too at the moment, it can’t be tamed! I love that you’ve returned to gardening finally and completely agree with all the benefits you mentioned. It soothes the soul and helps us out of all of our predicaments. The garden is probably the one thing that keeps me sane. What’s also amazing, is how we are more likely able to return to that childlike state of wonder when observing insects and how they behave. It really makes you stop and think and marvel. I do believe that being immersed in nature makes you realise what and who truly matters ❤️👍
Gosh, it looks great! Wish I had your skill!
Thanks so much for stopping by and the kind comment 🤗. Not sure I’m that skilled, but am certainly involved with the practice aspect! You never stop learning when you’re gardening….
I’d say the parenting endeavour you deal with day by day is true skill ❤️😆👍
Let’s just hope my kids look better than my garden then. 😉
Glorious gardens.
Thank you so much ❤️🙏