Isn’t it wonderful to be able to pursue a passion?
For me, it’s gardening…and birds…and books…and dogs…and cooking. For my husband, it’s horses. He wasn’t raised with horses, but he loves them. And despite his ultra-busy career, he has made time to learn to ride.
His instructor, Viviane, is a wonderful and witty woman I met at the gym several years ago. She was looking for students and Harry needed a private instructor because he was dissatisfied with the group lessons he had been taking. It has worked out beautifully.
Now, Harry and I have a wonderful marriage, but we give each other room for our separate interests. I take vacations without him sometimes. He retreats to his hidey-hole (what I call his home office) to think great thoughts. Our lives overlap some, but not a lot. We treasure our travels together and always sit down to to a home cooked dinner together. So don’t be surprised that it’s been several years since I have seen Harry ride. But last weekend I tagged along with my camera and was most impressed with the lovely setting, Viviane’s wonderfully encouraging instruction and Harry’s progress.
It doesn’t seem that long ago that Harry was just so very stiff in the saddle. And it was just a few months ago that he came home and proudly announced that he was able to get on the horse without the aid of a step stool. Now, Viviane is encouraging Harry to ride in a show this spring.
Today is my birthday. I am turning <bleeeeeep>. As I assess where I am in my life, I have some regrets. I have some unfulfilled promises to myself. But mostly, I am grateful that I am blessed with the kind of life that allows me to pursue my passions and a family that supports all the little quirks that go along with that.
Thanks guys.
Robin
Behind our house and beyond the garden is a messy field that needs attention.
It’s about three-quarters of an acre that used to be in hay production until the farmer who tends the rest of our field decided that I should mow it instead of him farming it. (Thanks for that.)
My husband would love to see a huge swath of neatly mown green grass. I haven’t yet convinced him that traditional lawns should be a relic of the past. The chemicals that must be dumped on them to keep them as pristine as he likes are bad for the environment, as are the emissions of my riding lawn mower.
The other option is just to let is grow scraggly grass. As ugly as that is, it’s very good for the environment and as a habitat for the wildlife.
A more manicured idea is to make it a wildflower meadow. But those don’t just pop up from seed and look picturesque without some serious seeding and tilling.
If I’m going to go to all that trouble, why not make it my own field of dreams? A lavender field of dreams!
Have you ever been around lavender in bloom? The scent is intoxicating! Heavenly! I grew lavender for a couple of years as the border in my herb beds before I had to tear them out to install the raised beds. As the lavender bloomed, the bumblebees would be everywhere, working slowly and peacefully around the lavender blooms.
Before they faded altogether, I cut bunches of lavender to place around the house and lined my drawers with the blossoms. I even made a pound cake with lavender scented water and lined the baking pans with the lavender blooms.
Then, there’s lavender sugar, lavender lemonade, lavender ice cream…
Lavender farms seem to abound judging from a Google search. Most of the farms at the top of the Google listings seem to be small artisan enterprises that also produce their own products. Well, forget that. There’s no time.
I wonder if there’s a market for pick-your-own lavender farms? Nope. I don’t want all those people down here invading my privacy.
Let’s see…Maybe I can grow it for some large-scale producer? Probably not. They would want me to meet some quality control standards or obey other rules. I’m not good at rules.
Perhaps…nah. Not that either.
Maybe I’ll just make some lavender borders for now…And get a lavender colored chair so I can sit and watch the bumblebees at work. And those lavender fields will just have to remain my field of dreams. At least for now.
About those Survey Results…
Have you cast your vote for how you would spend the $10,000 Donald Trump is going to give you? It’s interesting that so many people are choosing hardscaping. And although I made my case for nice garden seating, as of this writing no one has chosen furniture!
Robin
Kris at Blithewold recently passed along the E is for Excellent award to Bumblebee…
She said that she particularly appreciated the discussions of public gardens and parks and the encouragement given to go, enjoy, learn.
Thanks, Kris, for the recognition! As you know, blogging is a labor of love, but it’s also sweet to get compliments–and comments from readers too.
Apparently I get to pass along the award now, so I want to recognize the quartet of writers at Gardening Gone Wild. Nan, Fran, Saxon and Steve have been doing an excellent job of writing substantive and thought-provoking posts. I particularly like their design series that encourages reader participation. It’s been some of the most interesting garden blog reading I’ve run across.
Thanks again, Kris. I hope to make it to Blithewold soon! So many gardens…so little time!
BTW, if I could figure out the HTML to get copy to wrap around an image, that big E wouldn’t be so darned big. All the HTML code I’ve tried doesn’t work. Grrrrr. I don’t win any awards on my clever use of HTML code.
Robin
