My Little Container Garden of Inspiration
Bell peppers, squash, zucchini, tomatoes, cucumbers, chives, and strawberries have all delivered decent yields this year. In mid-March, I started planting my container garden from little seedlings. Patiently watering, weeding, and feeding my plants have changed my patio into a little oasis. Daily over the last 3 months, I would fill my water baths for the birds in the morning, and look over the plants for bigger leaves, strengthening stems, and budding flowers.
The blooming flowers were beautiful, vibrant shades of yellow and a crisp white. Every now and then I would fry some squash flowers for a tasty treat.
Since the winter was mild, spring was a wonderful time for early planting and perfect temperatures gave the plants a good start. March in Atlanta had average temps of the mid to upper seventies. Not too hot and not too cold during this year's growing season. I hoped for more rain as a natural water source for my container garden. I've been told the water from the hose contains chlorine and rainwater is a much better natural resource for gardens.
With the days growing longer and warmer weather, the patio has also been a haven of inspiration. Looking through the patio door, birds would fly by and stop for a drink of water, a bath, or to steal a piece of fruit. I don't mind sharing. I've seen everything from robins, sparrows, brown thrashers, cardinals, blue-jays, doves, quail, hawks and owls. The songs they sing are serene to me. The bird feeder we installed seems to have been dominated by the aggressive squirrel family more than the birds. They have shaken, rattled, and rolled the feeder so hard that it has been ripped from the tree branches and the birds settle for the dropped leftovers.
Listening to the birds singing in the trees, watching the squirrel family cut a path through the backyard, and catching a glimpse of bunnies darting across the yard have given me inspiration to create new things and trailblaze new and unfamiliar territory: new jewelry designs and adapting my photographs into postcards.
I want to be practical, plan accordingly, and make the best decisions for my family and my business. I have hopes and dreams for my business. The balancing act of a full-time job, a family, and not enough time in the day to dedicate to my business to help it grow is the subject at hand for me. Am I too old at the age of 46 to go after, or even still have a dream? What do you think?
My daddy used to say America is the only place where an orphan can become President of the United States. I too believe in this philosophy. America, where I live, is the land of opportunity, but in reality, wherever anyone lives,
LIFE will throw you a curve ball.
Writing this blog is my therapy session. I makes me think. Tough questions are being asked, pondered, and definitive answers have to be delivered. This is where I am right now. I bow my head and whisper intensely,
"Lord help me, please!"
I love making handcrafted jewelry. My friend Adrianne got me into making earrings, necklaces and bracelets after I saw several of the beautiful creations that she made. What I enjoy so much when starting each piece, is the giddy feeling that comes over me, when the piece actually starts coming together. It also gives me this great focus on completing the piece that I've dreamed in my head and tried to place on paper. I'm not the best sketch artist, but I try. After completing a few of what I call dream works of art, I showed them to a few friends and co-workers. They gave great feedback and then asked that I make them a custom piece. Next, was the true litmus test. Several family members gathered at my sister Portia's gorgeous home for what we called "Grown Folks Weekend" during the Memorial Day weekend. We ate, drank, shopped and told lies all weekend long. We had a ball. While sitting at my sister's dining room table, with tools and a plethora of baubles and trinkets spread around, my cousins came in the room modeling the new outfits they purchased and started making requests of me for pieces to go with those outfits. Now these ladies can dress, and dress well they do, so the challenge was on. After that inspiring acknowledgement from my family about my work, as my family is brutally honest, I churned out some really fabulous pieces for them over the next two days. With the blessing of family and friends, I have decided to put my toe in the water and see if others like my work. I think starting out small at festivals, craft and art shows, is smart. I want to test the waters to see what other people think. Hopefully you all will enjoy the pieces of my collection as much as I enjoyed creating them. Please provide suggestions and feedback.
