Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Ready .... Get Set .... SPRING!

Spring is my busiest season.  This is to be expected, since it's the time when I work to get my garden cleaned up from winter and prepared for its big 'show' in early summer.  Hollywood Cemetery is my other garden, and last Saturday's volunteer day was a big success.  The roses at Hollywood are definitely ready for their close up!

This is also the time when garden clubs want programs about roses ... did one last week, and I have another one to do in April.  These require at least a few hours of preparation.  I always spend an hour or two (or more) going over the PowerPoint portion of the talk, refining it and doing what I can to make it better.

In addition to garden things, I slave away at my sewing machine to stock the inventory of handmade collars for Greyhounds Rock.  Our first booth at an event will be during this coming weekend (March 28 and 29), at the Fredericksburg 'Rites of Spring' wine festival.

With all of this going on, it was particularly appropriate the other morning to see a sunbeam illuminating one of my favorite needlepoint pillows.




Believe it or not, this IS a more simplified life for me ... as I am working to strip down to pretty much only what I really WANT and NEED to do.  I'm not one to sit for very long ... you already know that I'm happiest when I'm active.  After being cooped up inside for most of the winter, it feels wonderful to be outside in the sunshine doing physical work.  This is a good thing, since there is a LOT of work around here to be done.

I have to try to remember ... 

One thing at a time.

Finish what I start.

It's a process ... directing my energy toward the completion of a project, instead of scattering my attention all over the place all the time.  I'm better at this than I was ... and I'm not as good at it as I will be in the future.  

18 comments:

  1. Love this post!
    It's so exciting that Spring is here.
    and I'm with you on the finishing a project thing...in thought anyway if not in action.
    But I'm getting better too.
    I hope you post about the collars. I'm assuming they must be martigales.
    So cool.
    :)

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    1. Yep, Cynthia, martingales. I have made hundreds of these babies over the years. Started out in only one-and-a-half-inch-wide 'greyhound' size, but now I make a smaller one-inch-wide size, too.

      Here is an old blog post, on my now closed Greyhounds Rock blog, that shows the process.
      http://greyhoundsrockfredericksburg.blogspot.com/2010/09/making-martingale-collars-for.html

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  2. I'm enjoying Spring and ready to simplify my home a bit more! With another Grand due any time now life is complicated but I love it.

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    1. Simplifying home is much more difficult than simplifying life, for me at least. Hard decisions to be made on what stays and what goes. Your most recent down-sizing and move qualify you to be a simplification hero in my eyes!

      I'm really excited about your newest Grand. Tiger will be a great big brother, and I know that you are over the moon excited.

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  3. Happy Spring to you, Connie. I know you pace inside all winter waiting for Spring. lol Love that 9 lives pillow!!!! xo Diana

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    1. Happy Spring to you, too, Diana! The pillow is a nod to our dearly departed cat Amy, who was quite a character and a total individual.

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  4. Connie the energized bunny. Happy Spring!

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  5. Your post reminds me of one of my favorite quotes:

    It's only when we truly know and understand that we have a limited time on earth - and that we have no way of knowing when our time is up, we will then begin to live each day to the fullest, as if it was the only one we had. ~Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

    Now... What do I truly want and what do I truly need.... Reflecting.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It’s a process. As I come across something that I don’t want or need, whether it’s an object, a person or a routine, I reevaluate. Things go to someone else who can use them, routines are abandoned … people are a bit more complicated.

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  6. Happy Spring! Or, in your case, happy, busy, busy, busy Spring!

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    1. Happy Spring to you, too! This is a good type of busy, busy, busy ... one that gets me out of the house and out into the fresh air.

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  7. I need to be more like you, in sticking to a project to completion, instead of jumping to something else. Easier said than done.

    Love that pillow! Great saying.

    Happy Spring ~ FlowerLady

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    1. FlowerLady, sweetheart, I need to be more like me, too. I am trying to be better at sticking to my projects, but I still skip from thing to thing more than I want to. All I can say is that I am making progress. Baby steps toward a goal ... and mostly without whining too much about it.

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  8. This is the time of work that it's hard to go to work, all I can think about is my gardens. I'm so excited for Spring, I can hardly contain myself. I've been trying to simplify all aspects of my life. Even some garden tasks. A girl needs to know her limitations, and where I want to spend my precious time. Go pull a weed or trim a rose bush for me today! ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It will be weeds this morning, lots of weeds, I hope, and sewing this afternoon after the mail arrives. (I ran out of collar hardware and I expect it to be delivered today.)

      Large parts of my garden are still an unholy mess, but I’m feeling positive instead of hopeless about it this spring. What I reclaimed last year is still in good shape … I think I can reasonably expect whatever I reclaim this year to stay that way, too.

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