This site is an archive of ChiotsRun.com. For the latest information about Susy and her adventrures, visit the Cultivate Simple site.
Thank you for all your support over the years!

Quote of the Day: Kate Morton

August 26th, 2019

“The sun shone just as brilliantly as if Adeline had put in an order with the Lord. The extra lilies arrived and Davies raided the garden for more exotic species with which to gild the arrangements. The nocturnal shower that had kept Adeline awake and anxious had succeeded only in adding sparkle to the garden, so that each leaf looked to have been polished specially…”

by Kate Morton in The Forgotten Garden

A few weeks ago I found this book at my local thrift store and have been thoroughly enjoying it. Though not specifically about gardening/gardens, there’s a lot in there about a specific garden. I read this passage after a day and night of rain.



Taking photos in the morning after a rain is one of my favorite things. The garden is always fresh, the colors somehow more vibrant. I don’t know if the plants are somehow greener because of the fresh soaking or if the water on the leaves makes them appear more saturated. Oddly enough, I have tons of photos of the day after rain in the garden but failed to label them as such so I couldn’t find a lot (not to self, new label in photo software).

What do you like about rain in the garden?

Quote of the Day: Annejet van der Zijl

June 8th, 2018

“Perhaps this was Allene’s greatest achievement, above her wealth, her titles, her many houses, and her impressive guest book: that despite everything she’d experienced and endured, she always clung to her ability to enjoy life and be grateful for it.”

Annejet van der Zijl in An American Princess

In the summer, I don’t get much reading in, but I try to get my free Kindle First Book (you get to choose a free kindle book each month from a selection if you have an Amazon Prime membership“>) every month and get through it. I chose this book a few months ago and have enjoyed it. Since I don’t have large chunks of time to read in the summer, I need books that don’t require too much time at each sitting.

I’ve always been a tactile person, so I thought a Kindle wouldn’t be my thing. Then Mr Chiots got me one for Christmas three years ago and I LOVE IT!!! It’s so convenient to have lots of book on hand (I have 150 books on mine currently). I got one for my mom when she was sick and had a hard time holding heavier books and she really enjoyed it as well. She was able to read a lot of book in her last months of life because of the Kindle.

What books are you reading right now? Any great books to recommend?

Quote of the Day: Monty Don

June 3rd, 2018

“But the gardener must try not to be blindly selective about what constitutes acceptable ‘wildlife’. Slugs, moles, rabbits, urban foxes and mosquitoes are all wildlife, too. Many creatures that seems harmful to your immediate garden might be an integral part of the food chain, enable to the more obviously beautiful birds or mammals to exist.”

Monty Don in Down to Earth



Quote of the Day: Monty Don

May 6th, 2018

“I would not want any garden of mine to be like anyone else’s any more than I would not want my bedroom to be like a hotel room. I increasingly long for the personal and the idiosyncratic. I want as much as possible to be handmade, one-off and distinctive. I like gardens that have their own accent and their own rules, and are ruck in dreams and memories that everyone can share but no one can replicate.”

-Monty Don in Down to Earth

As I finally am approaching the point where I can start making this garden my own, adding plants, hedges, sheds, greenhouses, and other things, I find myself constantly thinking about what would look good, what would work for my gardening styles, what works with the climate.

I have grand plans of soft fruit gardens, a hazel copse, a woodland garden, a spring garden and a parterre potager. Big plans, but I often thinks it’s better to dream big and size them down that to not dream big enough.

What are you big plans for your future garden?

Quote of the Day: Winter

January 15th, 2018

I have a mediation book I try to read every morning, this past weekend had a fantastic entry:

“See the pine trees and learn their lesson,” a friend once said. “Pine trees are nature’s reminder that growth continues even in winter.”

Winter is an important season in our lives. It is more than a time of coldness and snow. It’s a time of going within. A time to rest from the work that’s been done, a time to prepare for the lessons ahead. Long for the sun on your shoulders, but let the frost and cold come. The ground has been left fallow in preparation for nourishing the seeds of new life.

Honor winter’s lessons. Despite this time of lifelessness and inactivity, this is still a season of growth. Trust what’s being worked out in your soul. The snow will melt. The sun will shine again. The time will come to remove your heavy garb and return to the activity of life.

Cherish the winter. Cherish its quietness, the time of going within to rest and heal. Cherish this time of preparation that must come before new life. Cherish the hope that lies beneath the snow.

Melodie Beattie in Journey to the Heart

About

This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

Admin