My Garden, My Health

Today starts a new entry that recognizes my garden as one of the many benefits to my health. In other words, life, love, peace, nourishment, both for body and soul come from the joy of working, playing and resting in my garden. Many times I have been overwhelmed by life's never ending influx of stress and problems. By the end of the day I know that I can retreat to one of the many quiet places in my garden and curl up on our wonderful garden swing with a book and nice cup of tea and loose myself from the day's heavy weights.

In the past I have grown tomatoes and other vegetables to see how well that they would do. Some did better than others and our local squirrels let me know that hey were all very tasty. So after battling and giving into the squirrels I decided to plant shrubs and flowers. This way I could have color and privacy and not worry if there would be any harvest to share with the pesky squirrels. As I lay on the swing, feeling the warmth of the sun on my skin and feel the breeze across my face, I dream of a home that has this kind of weather everyday so I can spend my days relishing the beauty that surrounds me that we have created to be our sacred space, our place of sanctuary, our garden.

Now I don't live on acerage or out in the country as you might think, but we live in a suburban area surrounded by a sea of houses. In the 6 years that we have lived here we have dug and moved tons of dirt, brought in piles of rocks and hauled truck loads of timbers to make our garden from a once hillside of dying grass to what it is today. From the day we moved in I could see our yard as a blank canvas in which to create the spaces that lend to nooks of color and areas of rest. Each year we have added another element to the canvas of our yard to bring interest and delight to the eye. we are collectors of garden art and pieces that we find on weekend trips around Colorado to add to the beauty of our garden. Our garden is ever changing with colors and pots, trees and flowers. I will keep creating until it is time to go and when we do sell our house I hope the next owners find the same joy and peace that we have over the years.