Friday, August 21, 2009

in my mother's garden


a few days ago i biked down to my mum's home in cobourg.
it's a beautiful ride.
around 55 km.
i took photographs of my journey the last time i biked there.
if you'd like to see them then have a look right here.

the day i rode down, the humidex was 42 c.
for my american friends that's 107 f.

it was really hot!

so you can imagine how glad i was to walk into my mother's home.
there was lovely music playing,
a cold english beer waiting,
and of course a good hug!!!

my mum told me that she'd been doing a lot of work in the backyard.
so i had to see what she'd been up to.

~

come with me for a walk 'round my mother's garden.

come on!!



i love gardens in which there is a blend of dappled greenery . . .

and splashes of colour . . .

a place to wonder at the incredible complexity that is a flower . . .

and a place to acknowledge the all of everything and nothing . . .

and best of all, a space to enjoy the unconditional gift that is nature . . .




all of this and more can be found in my mother's garden!!

50 comments:

Loren said...

Wow, that's quite the garden.

I wish I had as much energy as your mother!

Amy said...

I can see what else is there. Tenderness and caring and love. Beautiful.

Delwyn said...

Hello Steven

Your Mum is very lucky to have you for a son...

I love the colours in her garden and smiled to myself when I scrolled down to the pansies as my new camera arrived yesterday and I have just been outside practicing on the yellow and purple pansies.

What time of day did you bike...
the shadows look long and from the west - was it later in the day...

Happy days

alaine@éclectique said...

What a good son you are to bike all that way in 42C! That is hot! But I suppose when whizzing along you'd create your own breeze to cool you.

Tell your Mum that she has a lovely garden; I love the pansies in the last shot. Or are they Johnny Jump-ups? Is that what they're called over there?

NanU said...

Wow, your mother is some gardener! What a beautiful and relaxing space.
My garden is not neat, but meerly big. And it's generous; it keeps giving me fruit, more fruit that I can possibly use or even give away. Would it be possible to trade half of mine for half of your mom's?
Good for you for biking in that sticky heat!

The Weaver of Grass said...

A cold beer, the peace and serenity of that garden and a hug from your mum - what more could you wish for steven.

Bonnie Zieman, M.Ed. said...

So worth the ride, Steven! It's clear that you have received many gifts from your "mother's garden". Thanks for letting us enter . . .

Pauline said...

lucky mother, lucky son - that you visit her, that she looks forward to it, that she gardens, that you both recognize beauty in the smallest things...

Crafty Green Poet said...

that looks like a very beautiful garden to wnder round, thanks for the tour!

Jenn Jilks said...

I love the garden photos! One cannot see too many of these. Great to get good ideas from others. My garden is quite unscathed after yesterday's storm. How about your end of town?!

Hugh McMillan said...

Splendid pictures, I enjoyed them.

Tracy said...

Your mother has created an oasis of serenity and great beauty. How lucky you get to enjoy the garden too. Thank you for sharing it with us. :o)

Tess Kincaid said...

Even more than her beautiful garden, I love her unconditional love for you, Steven.

Golden West said...

Voila - violas! One of my all time favorite flowers - they start to thrive here in autumn and we'll be filling moss baskets full of them come October. Thanks for the glimpse of your mom's garden - lovely!

Anonymous said...

Worth the heat to get somewhere so lovely.
A garden, to my mind, is the next place to heaven.
I'm having such fun creating a garden for my son and his wife to come home to after their trip.
The garden center man is my new best friend since I go there every day.
Tell your mother I congratulate her.

steven said...

hi loren, nice to see you!!! i only showed part of the garden. there's actually quite a bit more!!! my mum has worked hard to keep this garden as lovely as it is!!!! she's done really well. thanks for visiting. steven

steven said...

hi amy, mmm hmmm. you're absolutely right!! a lot of loving care!!! thanks for dropping by! steven

steven said...

hi delwyn, i biked down through the late morning and early afternoon. these picures were taken mid- to late afternoon. i'm very grateful to my mum for lots - not the least of which is having me!!!! i always thank her for that!! have a lovely day by the river delwyn. steven

steven said...

hi alaine, they're called pansies here as well although johnny jump-ups is a much more alliterative and fanciful name!!!
when you're biking along you do get a breeze. the punishment really begins when you stop!!! i've learned lots over the years about hydration, and this year i've learned about electrolytes!!! thanks for visiting. see you again. steven

steven said...

allo nanu, i guess it was good of me to ride all that way in the sticky heat!! but it's very wroth it to see my mum and then as an added bonus to see how well she's done with this garden!! i'm sure she'd gladly ship you half in exchange nanu but the deal would have to be flowers for a pile of cases of good french wine!!! ha!! see you again. steven

steven said...

hi weaver, i couldn't ask for much more - i did - but my mum's good about stuff like that!!! have a lovely day in the dale. steven

steven said...

hi bonnie - i'm really glad you could join me for the little walk and look. keep on healing bonnie. steven

steven said...

hi pauline, yes we're both very fortunate to be able to share this time and to be appreciative of what we have. thanks for visiting!!! see you soon. steven

steven said...

hi crafty green, thanks for coming along. i'm glad you enjoyed your little look-around!! see you again. steven

steven said...

hi jenn, i love looking into other people's gardens even though it usually leaves me feeling a bit lackadaisical and lazy by comparison. our end of town came through alright. there's damage in other parts but not nearly as bad as i am hearing from around other places. my heart breaks for some of them who've lost their homes. have a peaceful day by the lake!! steven

Anonymous said...

You must have been soaked when you got to the house. I read your bike trip post.

And I enjoyed this look at your mother's garden. She shares some of the same flowers and grasses. I recognized several plants that we have here too.

My problem is that my stuff fills in a bit more than I anticipated and it always looks like there is too much of something. But the birds and bees and four footed creatures appreciate it all.

Thanks for all your visits, Steven.

steven said...

hey shug, splendid blog you've got. i'll enjoy following your mutterings and meanderings!!!! thanks for dropping by!!! steven

steven said...

hello tracy - yes, her whole home is a calm place actually but the garden i find especially so. i'm so glad you could come along for the visit!! see you again soon, steven

steven said...

hi willow - thanks for that!! you're so right - she's stuck with me through thick and very thin times and she's still there for me even now!!! i'm a lucky boy that's for sure! have a lovely day at the manor. steven

steven said...

hello golden west, it's fascinating to me as i wander through the blogs i love to visit, to read about how flowers are used, when they show up, even differences in their appearance. i hope you post some pics of your plants in their moss baskets when the time comes around!!! thanks for coming along. see you again. steven

steven said...

hello elizabeth, i'm so glad you could come along for the walk and look see!!! the thing i love about gardening is the window shopping, the picking out, the planting, the leaving alone, the care. it's a little like relationships of all sorts. i like your new site and i've linked it on here. i hope others pick up on that and pay you a visit. steven

The Bug said...

Beautiful garden! I often fantasize about having the energy & ability to create that kind of beauty.

steven said...

hi abe - great to see you!! i was soaked - oh yes!! i went through three litres of water on that ride - and a nice beer!! i wish my garden looked half as good as my mum's because i have the same issue of putting plants in that spread and overgrow each other and then i'm digging them up and relocating them. but it does look more "natural". thanks for dropping by and have a peaceful day down there. steven

steven said...

hi bug, it is lovely!! i too wish mine looked half as cared for because i'm sure that it would make me feel much better about it. ah well, next summer i'll see what i can get done!!! have a lovely day and thanks for dropping by. steven

ellen abbott said...

I love seeing people's gardens. Thanks for the tour.

Titus said...

hi steven, your bike riding is leaving me feeling exhausted! Beautiful garden, beautiful pictures, and the violas at the end just a treat! Thank you.

steven said...

hello ellen, i'm glad you could come along. i love seeing into people's gardens as well. it makes me feel pretty limp in terms of the quality of mine - oh and these other people actually know what they're growing!!!! have a peaceful evening down there. steven

steven said...

oh titus, yes i can see how it might affect people. i bike everywhere and so i don't really think about it. thanks for your nice compliments. i just explained to my mum how to read the comments at the end of my postings so hopefully she's seeing how kind people have been about her lovely garden!!! have a peaceful evening. steven

Unknown said...

After the funeral today, I loved having a virtual walk around your mother's garden. Thank you for the tour. I love that you included a walk down the garden path and a variety of annuals and perennials. The little blue and purple Johnny Jump Up in the bottom left corner is my very favourite. Johnny Jump Up blue needs to be an oil paint colour. Biking to Cobourg to visit your mother and her garden touches my heart! Awwww!
Your mother gives an impression of being very competent at gardening. Her garden is peaceful and beautiful. The way she raised you? Priceless! Does she have any tips on childrearing? 55kms? 42C?
I am awestruck!

Goldenrod said...

My goodness, Steven! I can close my eyes and almost imagine myself irretrievably (and not regrettably) lost in your mother's luscious green garden. Beautiful!

steven said...

hi linda, i didn't know that the funeral was today so please accept my most compassionate care for you and barry. in the very few days i've experienced on which i had to say goodbye to someone who has flown away i have felt the extremes of sorrow and joy. i hope you understand how those can be braided together in that essentially difficult experience.
speaking of difficult - my mum would tell you - she's 77 - that i was all of that!! very very much all of that. but she stuck with me! she has taught me an awful lot and still is actually - and that's the beauty of motherhood isn't it!!! have a peaceful evening near the bluffs!! steven

steven said...

hi goldenrod!! it is really lovely and luscious, she'd tell you right off the bat all that's wrong with it or that she'd improve or whatever else because that's how she's built, but it's really lovely there and i only showed the half of it!!! i'm glad you could come along for the visit!!! steven

Dan Gurney said...

A lovely walk. It reminded me of Delwyn's lovely blog walks. Your mother's garden (and surely her heart) is full of beauty.

How wonderful to have such a rewarding relationship with your mother.

steven said...

hello dan!! my mum's a good person with a good heart!!! i'm very lucky that she stuck with me and so i can enjoy the lovely relationship we now have!!! thanks for your kind comments dan. have a peaceful evening out west!!! steven

hope said...

Susan [stony river farm] did a blog the other day on Mothers and their gardens. I too try...but I think it's a generational thing..the Moms win the gardening prize!

Perhaps Gardening was our Mothers' comfort zone...a pace of peace and quiet. Plus they could pull up weeds instead of strangle us. :)

I'm glad you taught your Mom how to read our comments...she has a beautiful garden!

steven said...

hello hope, i'll wander over to have a look see at what susan shared. thanks for that!! mom's have a lot of petience - refined during their bringing up their unruly (sometimes rotten) children!! at the time my mum could have used a garden most - when i was an irritating, high-maintenance teenager - she didn't have one and so . . . . .
thanks for your kind comment. i'm sure my mum'll be tickled to read it. have a peaceful day. steven

Sixpence and A Blue Moon said...

OMG, what a lovely garden! I have a very small "postage size" yard, what few flowers I have, are a lot of work. I can only imagine the time it takes for your mom to keep this garden as beautiful as she does. What a lovely and loving mother you have - anyone who loves animals and nature... has a beautiful soul!

I love all the flowers!

steven said...

hello sixpence, i'll pass on your kind comments to my mum. she's a very loving mum that's for sure!!!! her garden has what she calls "scruffy bits" which she drew my attention to and later "chastised" me for not being honest with my readers about!!! you might get a broader sense of what she's like. but this is a beautiful garden and very much reflective of her generosity of spirit!! i'm glad you liked your visit. steven

Cheryl Cato said...

What a beautiful garden your mother has! The climate must be perfect for gardening. Is your climate similar to that in England where we see beautiful English gardens? I love the pathway and the mixture of greens with splashes of color. Bravo!

steven said...

hello lizzy, the climate here. well the first snow is october/november and the last snow is usually april. in-between we have a fairly good time of it with average temps around 20 - 30 c., a fair bit of rain (especially the last two years). plants fair well all things considered. i'll make sure my mum drops by here to read all the lovely comments. thanks lizzy!!! steven