what gardening teaches us

where to start? I'm not even going to bother with how to grow and nurture...let's go a bit deeper:

patience - obviously plants take time to grow and need you to invest in their care

 

commitment - putting a seed in the ground is the very beginning, if you walk away at that point, something might happen, but if you want success you need to be committed

impermanence - the natural world keeps reminding us that nothing lasts for ever and some things don't last long at all. We have to fully experience them while they are here and feel gratitude in the memory when they're gone....and we need to keep learning this over and over...

creativity - if a hundred gardeners were given the same materials, plants and plot, one hundred different gardens would be created. There is no limit to creativity.

immersion - call it forest bathing, forest church or whatever you like, being surrounded by nature in all it's forms - weather, wildlife, fragrance, colour, tactile sensations, space - is a super-sensory experience. Dive in or lay back but enjoy it all. By now, we all know it's essential for every area of health, self-care and wellbeing.

So much more to say, but don't forget art, engineering, design, mechanics, biology, zoology, botany, mycology, above all just get your fingers in the earth and enjoy x

some things take time...

.. to come together in my brain. This one was a slow burn - and then some...

For years I've admired Gustavian furniture especially bureau bookcases like this one from Blanchard Collective.com

and years ago I bought one for a song at auction. I painted and distressed it and it lived for a while in my bedroom and then the living room but was always just a decorative piece that I used to show off other items.

Last Sunday I watched the final episode of Gentleman Jack 

and there she was in Copenhagen writing at a beautiful Gustavian bureau bookcase and I suddenly thought 'it's meant for using, why don't I ever write at it?' No sooner thought than done...

I managed to squeeze a little writing corner between a picture window and a skylight so the daylight is perfect. My laptop fits on it neatly, I moved the chair (another of my creations) from the hall because I'm working on another item for that spot (more on that later) and it still houses many of my lovely old books. 

The object behind the chair is our log box on wheels which is next to the fireplace so this will be a cosy corner in the winter too.

There's a link to it here if you'd like to see more:

http://ilovemyhomeblog.blogspot.com/2016/08/cuter-n-little-red-wagon.html

as you can see it's only a little corner squeezed alongside one of the sofas but it really works for me and it only took an embarrassing number of years and a prompt from the fabulous Miss Lister to get right 😳! But, you know what? It doesn't matter, everything is constantly in a state of flux and I love it! Change is good, I get inspiration from everywhere and it's all about the process not the product - right?