Hello from the City Cottager! Things have changed since I have been away! I hope I can figure out what is what on the blog. Here goes!

I have just turned 72 year' old. I feel very fortunate to have not only lived for 72 years but have had a wonderful life. Nothing fancy, just plain living day to day, enjoying the moments and the people that came my way. Now at 72 ,I find that I have heart failure. Hmmm. I guess my heart has been failing for a few years but my body let me know about it last Dec. That would be December 15, 2020. It is now 7 months later, Aug. 18,2021. I have lived through a variety of life experiences, some fun, some hard, some that make me laugh now and some that scare me; did I really do that? Life. What makes up life?

I am back on my blog because I have the need to quietly share my thoughts. Once you speak words they are lost in another's feelings. Using the written word gives others the chance to "hear" think and hopefully reflect on what I am actually sharing.

So I have begun! Over the next few days I will begin to share about my new life's journey; how it came to be and where I am now. 

Till then keep on turning the page.

Spring

Spring is here! Along with the spring rain. I have just finished writing/compiling a short pamphlet about native plants to attract birds and butterflies. It was a challenge to get it into booklet form but it was accomplished! I will take it to the printers this week! It will be my first written work published! I hope to continue with the pamphlet form to increase my knowledge and ability to share that knowledge in written form.
The wonderful journey continues! I hope to begin writing on my blog once again. See you soon?

Taking a winter rest!

As I sit at my desk counting and naming the birds that are coming to my feeder I am thinking I am going to take a rest from writing, not that anyone will notice! I may look to another form of writing or just move forward to another adventure. Not sure. If my computer would be easier to use with this blog I probably would not take a 'rest'. But it is very difficult to load a picture and these days my chromebook doesn't always want to start up. It is just very frustrating. I do love to write, I just need to find my form. As my dear father would say, "We'll see".

City Cottager Goes to the Fair

I have no picture to post but just imagine a lot of people, the smell of fried food, the sound of metal rolling fast and country guitar music playing loud; welcome to the fair!
I have lived in North Carolina for 12 years and have never been to the state fair until today. The opportunity presented itself so my best little friend, Joe, and I went off to the fair! We got an early start so found free parking and did not have to fight the crowds until we were leaving and everyone was still "pouring" in!
The fair. I remember as a child going to the New England State Exposition ( I think that is the proper title). It was held each year and perhaps still is outside the city of Springfield, MA. It was big. My parents would take us out of school for the day and we would go to the "fair". We didn't do the rides but walked through the state houses and learned what each New England state was noted for and along the way we would get a lot of "free stuff". It was a lot of fun. There were a lot of animals, tractors and people. It remains a wonderful childhood memory.
I was glad I went to the fair today with my little friend. Fairs are about people, food, noise, smells and memories. I'm not sure Joe is old enough to remember, but I am. Someday I will share with him how he put his bare feet up on the "dash board" of the stroller, ate his pretzel and watch, listened, and smelled the state fair.
The journey is wonderful!

Fall 2012

Tivo catching some "shut-eye" and sun rays.

Fall, the time of year when everything starts to slow down except for me. I have come to realize that I get frustrated with fall because I am not ready to slow down in my gardens but that is what the season is all about; slowing down, preparing, time to get ready for winter's deep rest. Tivo gets it!

As I get older I have a deeper sense of the human life cycle and how fall relates to us as a living creature. The fall of our life is a time of slowing down whether we want to or not. The energy of our "spring" and "summer" is fading and the body even when pushed can do just so much.

This fall as in the past falls I will begin to transition from working in the gardens to planning for spring. I am going to review some of my early spring gardens to see how they look now in the fall. That will energize me and be fun to see how things grew! In my planning for the future gardens and plants I will look for ways to keep it all fresh yet easy to care for remembering that some falls last a long time!

Points for my Mission statement:
 - Live in unison with "Mother Nature"
 - Enjoy the rays of the sun

City Cottager's Snippets



City Cottager with her dear little friend!

 It is a gray, rainy, cool, damp day at the Cottage. As my outside activities are on hold I thought I would play with my blog a bit. I have a large pot of homemade chicken soup simmering on the stove top and a warm cup of tea to sip on as I type my thoughts. Life is good at the Cottage!

I have the idea that I need a mission statement to help me navigate though the years that are left to me, which I intend to be many! So with this quest in mind I have begun to collect meaningful pictures, quotes and my thoughts that I have had while working in the garden or just sitting on the back stoop with Tivo Le.

This is a perfect picture to begin this personal quest for a mission statement. That is Joe when he was about 4months old and me, "The City Cottager". I have had the wonderful pleasure of being Joe's Nanny since he was 2 and 1/2 months old. Watching him grow from a new born, helpless and completely dependent to an active, inquisitive 9 month old has been a journey of wonder and amazement on my part. Life is so very precious and beautiful. Joe radiates the joy and excitement of living and learning.

The following Native American Proverb is most appropriate for this picture.
"Treat the earth well: it was not given to you from your parents, it was loaned to you by your children.
We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors, we borrow it from our children."

My mission statement will most certainly contain some of these ideas;
 - radiate joy and excitement of living and learning
 - treat the earth well
 - remember that the Earth is on loan to us

Raising chickens in my backyard will add to my life's journey and help me to live out my mission to treat the earth well, and be a bit more green!

Well my soup is ready and I am ready for my soup!
The journey continues at the City Cottage!

Fall garden

Tivo Le enjoying the fall sun!

 It is fall and Tivo has the right idea, take in a few "rays" in a bed of fallen oak leaves. The sun is lower in the sky these days and my veggie garden no longer gets the amount of sun it needs to be fruitful. So it is time to clean it up and put it to bed for the fall.

I did grow some annuals in my garden that are still showing color. The white vinca, yellow marigolds and a few garden mums, yellow and white. I planted a few pansies very early and now it is time to add to the few I have. I will plant some light blue, white, and yellow as they will show off their color as the days get cooler. They will take the place of the vinca after the frost comes.


The fall garden



This is the time of year I begin to think about what I want to do different next year. This is only the second season I have had a garden in this location. It has done well as I made raised beds and fenced it in to protect my plants from Tivo and the rabbits. Some of my veggies did not do well here this year though and I think the competition for water and light from my very large Oak tree made it difficult. The tree drip line is now just about the middle of the garden. I will keep the garden here as it was too much work to put up the fence but will rethink what I will plant. I am thinking I will place some perennial and a lot of annuals next season with some lettuce for the early spring.

One of the wonderful things about gardening is that you can rework and move things around. Now I don't mean large trees and mature bushes but I do mean perennials and even small bushes. I have moved azaleas, and other small shrubs successfully. I like to be able to mix it up! and "Mother Earth" is happy to let me do it!