Bumble bee on Sedum spectabile
When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.'
- Wendell Berry
Everyone who knows me, knows how much I love the poem above. The compassionate educator, Ted Bowman, in his wise and wonderful little books, ('Finding Hope When Dreams Have Shattered', and 'Loss of Dreams'), frequently suggests that one way in which people can help themselves through difficult patches after a loss - including death - is to find solace in the Natural World. I've discovered this for myself many times - and have seen how it can work so well for others - so after the events of yesterday, (detailed over at Autumn Cottage Diarist), time in the gardens at Autumn Cottage was more than usually special to me today. Here are some of the beautiful sights - at all stages on the circle of life, both growing and in decline - that are there just now.
Verbena bonariensis at the back of the new trellis border - each tiny floret is exquisite
Stages of decay which no-one really wants on view are those taking place in the septic tank - an unbeautiful but necessary fact of rural life. The initial impetus for starting what is now the trellis border was to hide the manhole cover which gives access to the tank - and since it is due to be emptied this week, all the pots camouflaging it have had to be moved.
Can you see where the 'manhole' cover is? The big pallet normally covers it - with pots on top...
The burgeoning Lavatera 'Barnsley', down by the pond - a very peaceful place to sit, though all the newts have now disappeared - out and about, foraging in the undergrowth.
The beans are still producing non-stop - the jolly nasturtiums trailing away long after the peas have been taken out and relegated to the compost heap...
Look at the apples! Chutney making is on the agenda next week...
Buddleia weyeriana - with deliciously honey scented flowers - back over in the trellis border...
The delicate breakdown of the Hosta sieboldiana leaves, by the pond...
More of the pond area, with the summerhouse - all overgrown - but a major component of next year's 'Quiet Garden' project
An opium poppy - self seeded around the garden for the 26 years that we have lived here
...and now there is but one. Pip - The Cat Who Walks By Himself...
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