It's the last day of the year and the day I was born in 1981. I arrived bright and early. We were on our way home by dinner time. The hospital was too busy for us to stick around and mom is one resilient woman and didn't need to stay. I was born two weeks late. It also happened to be one of the worst winter storms Michigan experienced in many years. Or at least that's how it is remembered.
Born with a packet of seeds, a bag of soil and a gardening trowel, I was ready to dig in the dirt. I have loved plants my entire life. I spent my days as an infant, sitting in the greenhouse atop a bench while mom watered the annual bedding plants they raised. To this day, when I enter a greenhouse, I want to curl up and take a nap.
My parents always enjoyed a good vegetable garden and it was only natural that I get my own plot for what I wanted to grow. A cucumber, a marigold, an apple seed, the sky was the limit.
Not much has changed. Only the scale has changed. Bigger is better. More and more, I want every plant I can get my hands on. Iris, fall bulbs, hosta, hellebore, clematis, roses, epimedium, delphinium, foxglove, daylily, herbs, vegetables, trees, shrubs, vines, and on and on. I dream of a farm with lush gardens all around the house. Mostly shade in the front and a bit to the west, provided by large trees. Soothing green ferns, moss, hostas,rhododendron, hellebores and ephemeral, woodland plants soften the beds. To the east and south, sun, lots of it. Cottage gardens stuffed to the gills with pink, blue, purple, white and some soft yellows. Some areas slightly formal, some wild and full. Once I leave the yard I venture into the small fruit orchards and giant vegetable plot where I grow food for my CSA members. The barns and animals reside back there as well. I picture all of this on 20 plus acres. A piece of wonderment.
It will be awhile before this dream is real but in the meantime I can keep dreaming, planning and moving ahead on the path of life.
To 2010! Let it bring us new dreams, hope and promise of better times for all.
13 comments:
Happy Birthday!
RO xxx
Happy Birthday!And Happy New Year!
Hello dear heart!
I Bid you a Very HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!
Wonderful time to be born ~full of new years grace and promise!
LOVE your pathway into the earthen garden way! Is that your Garden?
I look froward to springs delights at your place ans also seeing more like the ere mentioned garden pic..more please..love to see the transformation!
KK
Happy Birthday! Happy New Year 2010! May all your dreams come true.
Your Mom was resilient! Home by dinner is pretty impressive.
Happy Birthday and a Happy New Year!
Happy Birthday and Happy New Year... count the blessings and hope for more.... ~bangchik and kakdah
Michelle, what a lovely post. Especially enjoyed the part about wanting to curl up and take a nap when entering a greenhouse. What's to stop you? You just need a bigger bench than when you were an infant.
May all your dreams come true. Happy Birthday.
I agree, new year.... new plans and another year closer to our dreams! Happy New Year~
HAPPY BIRTHDAY and Happy New Year to you.
Cute post with all of your wish list on it. Sounds like me - the more the better. Sometimes I think I'll never get there. LOL
So have you ever given in to your urge to curl up and take a nap at a nursery? Too cute!
Wishing you and your family a wonderful New Year.
A belated HAPPY BIRTHDAY to you Ms. Michelle! And a most prosperous gardening New Year!
Excellent! To our dreams my friend! Happy Birthday, too!
Happy Belated Birthday. What a sweet post. Lovely to read about your childhood. I love the photograph too! Many Happy Returns! I did the same thing when my son was born in and out in four hours. I did not want to go to the hospital in the first place. Safer at home unless there is a special need. May you reach your dreams one day soon. Carol
This is delightful! I wish you luck in reaching your dream!!
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