Substance of Living

Have you ever looked at September as an ending?  After all, school starts in many locations in the northern hemisphere, the fall solstice begins on September 21st.  This is right around the time we say goodbye to summer and start seeing changes in the weather or the turning of the leaves.  I think of September as sort of a beginning and ending in the same breath.  Yes, those things I've mentioned do happen but it's also a time for gathering.  We harvest our gardens and prepare them for the next year.  That's my ending.  The beginning is my birthday, which I celebrate the entire month.  This is also when I evaluate or reflect on the year and set my intensions for the next year instead of using January 1st.  It seems that I remain faithful to my goals.  My new year's resolutions used to be quite lofty - workout every day, get organized, stop eating junk food, etc.  By January 2nd I felt like a failure. September is also the ...

Fescue Lawn DH has this thing about our grass while I tend to be more about the plants in the yard.  Our differences make us a good team, as I'm sure you can understand. I don't remember who gave us this schedule to care for our fescue lawn but it never failed us.  We followed this schedule and had the most beautiful lawn.  It was lush, thick, healthy, and weed-free.  We have shared our "little secret" throughout the years one at a time and now we'd like to share it with you. The time schedule may have to be moved a bit depending on your region; we are in the Carolinas. Fescue Lawn Maintenance Schedule February 25 (or somewhere between February 20th and March 1st) - Fertilize and Crabgrass Preventor March 7 - Lime 30 pounds/1000 square feet April 7 - Weed and Feed May 20 - Fertilize and Crabgrass Preventor June 15 - Lime 20 pounds/1000 square feet July - Iron Chelate August - Iron Chelate September 4 - Aerate, Lime 30 pounds/1000 ...

Earlier this year DH and I decided it was time for us to put down some roots and leave the highways to someone else.  We've sold all our toys, had a beautiful home built, and now in the process of moving.  In fact, we've been "moving in" for about a month now and still have two storage units of stuff and need to figure out where we are going to put everything. Originally, about 10 years ago, we put our belongings in storage until we figured out where we wanted to live.  We kept out the necessities and moved from city to city.  We thought it might take a year or so.  In fact, some moves lasted a few years while other moves were only a couple months.  We like to call the latter moves "vacations". Here is what we knew we wanted once we settled down: Park-like setting Community involvement Great neighbors Close to the city, hospitals, shopping, dining, etc. Far enough away from everything and the traffic to feel a sense of calm The list goes on....

Although it's the middle of July, it's never too late to start planning a patio garden or gathering landscaping ideas.  Here are some pictures that I took last week while I was out as well as some great ideas around the internet. These ideas inspire the imagination.  How about a stay-cation in the back yard?  Turn the backyard or patio into a quaint deli for the afternoon or imagine visiting a luxurious bed and breakfast.  The fantastic thing about all these ideas is that they are absolutely do-able! Isn't this a beautifully landscaped sloping back yard.  They have privacy and still have a view of the golf course. Better Homes and Gardens Even though this is actually a patio, it would make a beautiful sun room or a cozy area on a covered porch.  (Can you see the kitty?) Better Homes and Gardens Perfect.  Absolutely storybook perfect.  This is a lovely example of using the space between the house and garage or a small back yard....