For some reason the photos I am trying to upload to illustrate this posting are appearing on their sides so I hope to solve this problem soonest: they are viewable but it is just too weird to expect readers to tilt their heads onto their shoulders.
I'm going ahead with the post anyway!
All 'winter' here in Victoria BC the 'garden' is accessible to eyes and ears and nose from windows and deck and veranda. The daily to'ing and fro'ing across the land from home to sidewalk frequently turns into a side-trek of exploration. But the temperature does dictate being outdoors in the 'garden' and forgetting about time.
I say 'garden' to qualify that it – and my role in it – is more of a being than doing. I do dig and plant and dig out and water and trim and compost and scold squirrels in the hazelnut trees and wear a gardening apron and read articles and books on gardening and seek answers for questions like how to prevent the peach tree from getting black on its leaves and wear gloves (vinyl) when I rescue the raspberry canes from the bindweed and wear gloves (leather) when I put shovel to earth and foot to shovel and expect something major to occur in way of dislodging dirt. So this is gardening.
But all that is more the result, rather than the aim, of what I get from spending time observing and enjoying.
Comfortable seating is a must. A place to relax. A time to relax and not see chores that should be done but the simple delights of what is right here, right now. A spot to sit alone or with a friend; with a book or without; a cup of tea is always a good companion. As is a neighbourhood cat.
It is time now – warm enough! – to be out and about in the garden. I will leave off the apostrophes, now that I have explained my meaning of garden.
During the winter the slinkies and the pinwheel and the bright plastic hangers remain part of the garden and offer movement and colour.
The warming weather brings the bowling balls back into the garden. They come indoors in the months when there might be frost outside ever since the year when a friend of mine, who also likes the look of spheres of 'marble' in his garden, had one burst apart when water got into the finger holes and then froze. I wonder if it made a huge noise.
The smokey bowling ball sits on a stand that I think was meant for a candle and is flanked by two small birds. It is under one of the plum trees now – it may move: re-arranging things in the garden I much enjoy – in freshly-turned soil where some wallflowers might get planted. Some trees seem to want grass (meadow rather than lawn) under them so a human can sit on the ground with trunk of tree as backrest. This plum tree is more a chair- or bench-nearby tree thus the turned soil. Sometimes you have to live with a tree for a year or two to get the feel for the rightness of what is required. Sometimes trees change their minds. The neighbourhood cat was visiting and is in the damned sideways picture which you will see if when it gets posted properly. I like it when cats visit me in the garden. I like it when I see raccoons at dusk or at dawn tiptoeing through.
The amber bowling ball is in front of one of the several mirrors in the garden, this year in a different place. Last year I could see it from the table where meals are eaten outdoors. This year it is visible from the deck where meals are eaten outdoors. The ball may move when more meals are eaten at the table on the grass than at the table on the deck.
Two small green bowling balls are in a bed still wearing a leaf covering. A slinky nods approval at their presence and isn't about to whisper the secret of what those leaves will uncover.
Two yards over there are chickens. In the corner nearest to the chickens I have put two roosters. The kind that will not crow at four a.m.
Obviously I solved the problem of the sideways photos – thanks to a nice man named Don over on the Picasa Help site where you can explain the situation and people respond with what they think is wrong and offer solutions. I decided to leave the 'process' of this posting rather than delete my grumblings and pretend it never happened. Such an adventure of discovery and learning. As for the remembering of the learning…..ah, that's another issue…..and why I have notes on the wall above the computer!