Happy Camper
Mr Chiots is a happy camper, yesterday we got a sailboat from a friend. He’s been wanting one for a while, he did a lot of sailing on this type of catamaran in high school. It’s a Hobiecat 16.
We went to our friend Joan’s house and got the boat in the water. Then we loaded up all the sails and the mast on it and our neighbor came to pull the sailboat to the boat launch.
We loaded it onto the trailer, but of course it wasn’t quite that simple. Mr Chiots and I went down to Joan’s house a few weeks ago to check out the trailer and pump up the tires. When we arrived yesterday one of the tires was flat. Thankfully, Joan had a compressor and we pumped it back up. We crossed our fingers when we loaded the boat on it and headed home. Taking back roads and watching the trailer.
Luckily we made it home without issue. Mr Chiots spent the afternoon putting it all together, checking to see which parts are missing and what needs fixing. There probably isn’t enough summer yet to get it out on the water this fall, but by next summer it should be ready.
Have you ever been sailing?
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Quote of the Day: Diana Gabaldon
“There was a curious peace in this day, a sense of things working quietly in their proper courses, nothing minding the upsets and turmoils of human concerns. Perhaps it was the peace that one always finds outdoors, far enough away from buildings and clatter. Maybe it was the result of gardening, that quiet sense of pleasure in touching growing things, the satisfaction of helping them thrive.”
Diana Gabaldon from Outlander
I hope you can spend time in the garden and find a bit of this peace today!
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Quote of the Day: Shauna Niequist
“I believe that this way of living, this focus on the present, the daily, the tangible, this intense concentration not on the news headlines but on the flowers in your own garden, the children growing in your own home, this way of living has the potential to open up the heavens, to yield a glittering handful of diamonds where a second ago there was coal. This way of living and noticing and building and crafting can crack through the movie sets and soundtracks that keep us waiting for our own life stories to begin, and set us free to observe the lives we have been creating all along without even realizing it.”
Shauna Niequiest in Cold Tangerines
I was working in the garden yesterday and thinking about this quote and about this idea. An acquaintance passed away yesterday after a long illness. She was young, not much older than I am. She leaves behind her husband, it’s sad, very sad.
Death is never easy, yet it will come to all of us. We know it will come, we just hope it will be when we’re old and when we think we’ve lived enough of our life. None of us has the guarantee of growing old, another day, or even another minute. Life is fleeting, even if we live to be 100.
And yet somehow we still find ourselves going through our days without noticing the things that actually make up our lives. So often we are waiting for perfection to start living and enjoying. We are waiting for that big moment, for that trip, to reach a certain place.
Our lives are lived in every moment, and often these are the moments that are most important. We live our lives in our offices, in our kitchens, in our gardens, on our sofas. All of these seconds add up to our lives. When we look back at those moments with loved ones who are gone, they often revolve around these moments and not the big events.
I have fond memories of shelling peas with my family and making up songs while we worked (I can still remember the songs). There are memories around the dinner table, of playing cards, conversations in the car on a drive, an evening walk; these are the little moments that are the glittering diamonds in our memories. Enjoy these moments. Savor each day, each task, each flower, each person, each interaction. Life is fleeting, don’t waste it waiting for something big!
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GRLT Garden Tour #6
When I read the words “privet hedge surrounding the garden” in the brochure I knew this was going to be my favorite garden on the tour! I decided to save the best garden for last since it would be perfect for my Friday Favorite.
The entrance to the garden is a beautiful perennial bed with a short rock wall in it. When you come through the arch you are instantly amazed by the beautiful garden that unfolds before you. There are vegetable, flowers, grass pathways, hedges, a small greenhouse, big shade trees, and so much more.
My favorite part about this garden is everything, a great inspiration for the main garden in the back. I’ve been making plans an this garden is pretty close to what I want to accomplish.
What’s your favorite part of this garden?
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GRLT Garden Tour #5
We’re on to the next garden in the George River Land Trust garden tour series. The photos don’t really do this garden justice, it’s so hard to fully capture a garden like this one. It was built in a ravine behind the gardener’s house. She had to clear out the overgrown mess that was there and found a lovely little stream when she did. This was the result.
The sheer number of plants in this garden was amazing, simply amazing. The best part is that she says it’s low maintenance because she mulches everything well and the plants are all so close together.
What do you like best about this garden?
