nature
-
The Last Bouquet: Clearing the Garden and Mind
Way back. At the beginning of summer, I sowed a 90-foot row of zinnias. The seeds are a combination of my saved seeds and gifted seeds from my Aunt Laverna. She has been saving those Dockter family seeds since her grandmother’s day. Zinnias are easy to grow. The colors, sizes and shapes of each bloom Continue reading
-
Challenges of Gardening (and breathing) in Extreme Weather
This was a good year to cut back on farmers markets. With the damage in my lungs and current medication, I have become sun sensitive, heat sensitive, and unnaturally tan. While it hasn’t stopped me from weeding and harvesting in the early morning, standing in the parking lot in this heat would be very uncomfortable. Continue reading
-
From Seeds to Serenity
Many families spent Memorial Day weekend on a lake, cooking out, eating watermelon, and relaxing. The rest of us, well everybody knows at least one, worked frantically planting our gardens. After the most welcome rain and ever-warming nighttime temperatures, gardening has begun in earnest. Overnight, the trees have greened, the grass lushed up and will Continue reading
-
Lessons from ‘Warning’ by Jenny Joseph
Remember the poem everyone called “When I Am an Old Woman?” It was written in 1961 by a 29-year-old woman named Jenny Joseph. The poem’s real title is “Warning.” If you are not familiar with this poem, here ya go. When I am an old woman I shall wear purpleWith a red hat which doesn’t go, and doesn’t suit me.And I shall spend my pension on brandy Continue reading
-
Spring’s Promise: Finding Beauty and Strength in the Garden
We are tying up loose ends as we prepare to head to Rochester, MN, to Mayo Clinic to “literally” have my head examined. Ask me how I feel about that. I am due for a MRI on my brain to see the progress on shrinking tumors hit with the Gamma Knife procedure in January. The Continue reading
-
Overcoming Loss: The Story of ‘Dan’, a Resilient Tree and Symbol of Hope
I love plants. My house is full of plants. If a leaf drops and you leave it lying on top of the soil it becomes another plant and they continue to grow and reproduce until you have a houseful of plants. The front of our house has a long porch with lots of windows. Those plants love it out Continue reading
About Me
I love to write. My background is graphic arts and journalism. My roots are German-Russian from McIntosh County, North Dakota.
My time is spent reading, writing, gardening, cooking, blogging, fiber arts – you name it, we try it.
INDYchildrendotme 