The Cheater Gardener

Okay, okay.... If you turn these little jars around a quarter turn, you will see the little Amish labels on them. I only WISH I had pickled eggs, snapped green beans, and marinated those little cauliflowerettes. I didn't do squat today. I spent the morning in town snapping little photos of geese at the lake, squirrels on a tree, my favorite shop's outdoor loot.... but something was gravely wrong. Too much light. I took my mom to the hairdresser, sat at the lake and watched a little boy fishing. He was a cutie. About eight, and he came down the road singing a little song. He said, "Hello, black ducks!" and then turned to the big white geese and said, "And hello, White Beauties!" I thought that was adorable. I was sitting in my car, so he really didn't see me but later he waved casually and baited his little hook and began to fish and sing... I don't think fish will bite when people are singing, but he was having a great day. I thought, "Wow... how to raise happy kids like that?" and I also figured he was really glad to be out of school this morning.

I did nada the rest of the day. I read in my SWAG book; I read in a couple other style books; I read in a self help book.... I tried to take a nap. It was lovely rainy and all purply in the sky.... I was just a stinkpot. I called a dear friend who'd been grating zuccchini, picking green beans to CAN, feeding chickens, sweeping her garage, and planning this weekend's menu which included Baked Alaska!!!! I'm impressed. I felt kind of lumpy, dumpy, and grumpy today. Tomorrow will be neater, I promise.

I will have to get my video of Chocolat out and clean. It's just magical. I put that thing on in the kitchen and while Vianne works her magic on that old shoppe, my kitchen comes to life and brownies appear in the oven. Swear! And when I am depressed (which for some reason I may be???) I watch it at night and let it run while I sleep. Soothing music all night after it runs once. She is my role model... cute sweaters, red shoes, vibrant shop, magical spirit, Johnny Depp (who doesn't hurt), and all.

So, I think I'm on sensory overload. I have been reading style books, blogs, and all those wonderful posts.... and I just fly to bed and dream of all kinds of projects, parties, soirees, ...... and then when I wake up, poof.... I'm movin' a bit too slow for my dreams.



However, this is something I made for myself about seven years ago: This is the quote on the bottom: "Our words are powerful, so powerful that they can change our reality - the quality of our days and nights. Moaning rarely makes either us or those around us feel better. In fact, it often makes everyone feel worse. Learning to shrug is the beginning of wisdom. " It's from Simple Abundance, and oh, so true. I have this on my desk at school and in my kitchen during the summers. See?