Author: susansdailygarden

One thing – Pursue Your Wildest Dreams

This one deserved a blog. It is an example of a “pretty, and great reminder, but does not match me”.

I love the saying, and it is a very cute design, but … I like coffee cups that can go in the dishwasher. This one technically can, but .. dishwater seeps into the plug in the bottom (because it was supposed to be vacuum sealed, which I really don’t care one whit about). When we pull it out of the dishwasher, and turn it upside down and put it away in the cabinet, I forget it will have trapped water. When I go to use it, even when I think all the dishwater is back out, it is not, and it leaks out some more, all over my shirt, before a conference call, which is not my “wildest dream”.

Go forth encouraging saying coffee mug and find someone who likes to hand wash coffee mugs.

One thing – “I’m bored”

Two words that, if we heard them when raising the boys, we stopped everything and paid rapt attention, because if we didn’t, good things were not going to happen.

I cannot believe it, but I, myself, am bored. It is a not so great feeling. I am not at all used to it. It, in itself, tells me I absolutely need to find a new “wildest dream” to pursue. Like we knew our boys needed activity, I know myself. This is not going to go away. And it is not a “do the dishes, put in a load of laundry, find one thing to declutter” need. I need a “love it, inspired” … next step. You see how I avoided that “P” word, that has a “roject” at the end? Yah. Have a little aversion to those 😉

Yesterday we had a symbolic moment. I will give history for understanding. When we moved here we had a very different color scheme. That was a LONG time ago. I have kept some of those quality items, because, well, you know, you never know, they might stop making, well, for instance, seaglass colored bath mats. You never know. The three seaglass colored bath mats were sitting on top of the huge baby bouncer our grandson has outgrown. I was trying to decide – stay or go? For the bath mats, not the bouncer 😉

I was working in my office and heard some rustling. My sweet husband had previously had that “I am going to have some fun” look. I knew I better investigate. There was a bag in the hallway, ready to go out the door. What was in the bag? The 3 seaglass bath mats.

Now you may laugh, and it is kind of fun, and funny. But it was also a moment. The camper doesn’t need seaglass bath mats. The little house up north is sold, and it didn’t have seaglass bath mats even before we sold it. Nothing in our townhouse needs seaglass bath mats. Time to go. So off to donations they went, with the pans and kettles that came with the camper. They are now released for someone else to use and enjoy.

But it symbolizes where I am. Like that time of seaglass color scheme, which went quite a while ago, I loved the chapter we just closed – with the little house up north. And although others have made suggestions, I have absolutely no idea what God will have for us, for me, to do next. I am kind of out of “wildest dream” bucket list biggies. Although I would still love a little old house by a brook with deer and squirrels and bunnies to shoo away when they get up to mischief in the lawn turned to garden, that is not happening so far. Maybe. But not even a hint of it yet. So I do what I have trustingly done so … many … times. One foot in front of the other, keep busy with the daily things, and watch and wait.

Wrapping up

The hummingbirds have been gone for a week and a half, the geese are flocking up and filling the skies with their wonderful honking, we have had our first frost, the shamrocks are out of the gardens and up by the patio, transitioning to their eventual move indoors for the winter, and the daylily seeds are almost all harvested, and in envelopes, safely stored until February stratification time.

We have also worked through a lot of what we brought back from the little house up north. Some was not worth sharing, but definitely needed purging. We are once again in a “manageable decluttered” state. Not perfect, but back to continual maintenance.

I recently planted the two hostas that were really struggling at that little house up north, back into the garden here, the last transitional piece. As a bonus, we hear from our former neighbors that the new homeowners are very nice. A match, and a blessing indeed. We were blessed to enjoy that wonderful home during its, and indeed our, transitional period, and had wonderful memories there to enjoy for a lifetime, including friendships we carry forward.

Now the fall things at the townhouse remain – cutting back the garden after the color is largely gone, balancing between enjoying the last bit, and getting winterized before significant snow flies. It is part of the cycle, and a good time to wind down the garden blog for the 2022 season.

So I bid you a fond adieu until the gardens pick up in spring 2023. I will post from time to time as “share worthy” things come up in the interim, and will catch up next spring for another garden season.

Take care!

A recent sunrise. I stood in awe!

One thing – kettles and pans

Kettles and pans – a big thing in this household. We had one very nice set for 20 years. Then we bought a new type, and donated the old set. Then I had an anniversary with a company and chose another set. Then we bought a used camper and it had another set.

Oh goodness!!! We are swimming in pans and kettles! The cabinets are jam packed, and still … a cast iron pan is always sitting on the stove, and my husband’s two favorites – a pan from IKEA and a stainless steel kettle, are most often in the dish drainer.

The camper kettles need to get donated, the pans and kettles that were at the little house up north need to go to the camper, and we need to settle on a few here. This took place during a weekend trip up north. Someone will be very happy with a full sets of pans and kettles.

One thing – these stay, and more old chippies go

Last Saturday we took our first boxes of “One Thing” donations to Salvation Army.

IT FELT SO AWESOME!!!

Keep going if you are joining along, and I hope you are seeing results too!!!

When we were getting unchipped “old chippies” pattern dishes safely packed, we were reminded we brought these ADORABLE dessert plates back from the little house.

I bought them when we realized we wanted the white everyday china we have here, up north as well. I had wanted these little Evergreen Ernie plates for two years and finally pushed “ADD” to the cart. Hint, they were open stock, not in a full set of dishes. We find we like open stock best. No coffee mugs, please.

These little plates were so fun up north, and now they are here 🤗

Oh and we discovered we had four coffee mugs that matched the old blue chippies pattern, and two ramekins (we never used any of them). In the donations they went.

One thing – drink mix

Usually when we get into a declutter, we inevitably reach a “what’s next” phase. At that point life is nice around the house again and digging deeper gets stressful, tugs on heartstrings, even gives me guilt. I think, “That is good enough for now.”

But then we go through the day and a little thing makes one of us cringe, just a little – like the drink mix that needs that ridiculous shaker bottle – you know, with that metal wire ball, and the lid that traps unmixed goop? The one that takes longer to wash than to drink the contents? Yeah. That one.

Be gone vegetable and fruit drink mix that makes me feel guilty because it cost a lot. Take your goop trapping friend too. So I am not tempted to repeat that poor choice. Because I would. Gotta get those fruits and veggies …

One thing – strong smelling candle

We are having a ball purging stuff. This one is a hoot! and another (upcoming) on drink mixes made my husband’s day. You know … sometimes, dear man, he just doesn’t push a point. But when we got rid of these he definitely had a smile on his face.

First up – the “fireside” candle. Tomorrow, the drink mixes. But, in truth, today, they are already both GONE GONE GONE 😊

I really like what I am reading people now call “blue hour”. I like the peacefulness, before the activity of the day starts, and as things wind down. And I like candlelight for that. But I need to get rid of our strongly scented candles. After about half an hour they give me a headache.

The “fireside” candle went this past weekend. One, my husband said, smelled like a forest fire 😂

Goodness! The descriptive label said “fireside”, not “forest fire”! But yes it is too strong. Although, full disclosure, I already got rid of one he said smelled like a urinal cake. OK. TMI, right? Yes, I am laughing so hard my eyes are watering!!!

Planting days are numbered

It started yesterday – winds strong enough to make the falling leaves look like a shower. A cold front moving in. By Tuesday night we are forecasted to have our first frost here. Our planting days for 2022 are numbered. Time to get the rootings planted.

This year I rooted two Autumn Joy sedum from breakage (planted them together), one Sundazzle sedum from breakage, and one coneflower from breakage (planted them together). If they survive the transplant and the winter we will have three new baby sedum and a new baby coneflower in the spring.

The two Autumn Joy rootings I planted out front.

The Sundazzle and the coneflower rootings I planted in the corner by the patio, where I was deliberating what I was going to plant there after we pulled out the Patriot hosta last year. (There is too much sun there for the Patriot hosta.)

As an example, these are Autumn Joy sedum rootings, all grown up 🤗