I'm a novice. An amateur. An eager student. I've recently jumped head first into a number of new and exciting hobbies that are sure to surprise and edify me if they don't exasperate and crush me first... as I really don't know what I'm doing. My new adventures are as follows; gardening, sewing, photography, writing/blogging, and (reluctantly) time management. I've created this blog to help me keep track of my progress and/or mistakes and also in hopes that any readers out in blogworld may have a little assistance, humor or interest that could be directed this way.
So here's the story - I'm minding my own business, living restlessly in my cramped, dark little apartment on a noisy street in the bad part of town, when one day my lovely friend, Gillian, calls me up to tell me that she's moving to China for a year... and that her to-die-for one bedroom cottage on the marsh is up for grabs. I grab it. I grab it hard. The cottage is big and bright and QUIET to boot. It's absolutely adorable. But, now here comes the tricky part. It's a whole lot of work to keep up the cuteness factor that Gillian created at her home. First and foremost, she and her boyfriend are master gardeners (at least compared to me). And they had a beautiful operation going. Daisies and sunflowers and lantana growing endlessly. Raised beds with tomatoes, carrots, and squash all summer and greens and beets all winter. Not even to mention the herbs. Some things still remain. I have marigolds galore, 3 giant rosemary bushes, 6 oregano bushes, and mint growing everywhere. Plus 3 asparagus spears just shot up today. I'm expecting the Shasta daisies to come up at the beginning of summer and the lantana bush is coming back to life. My friends knew what they were doing.
Cut to the present. I live here now. It has been about 8 months and I've loved every single minute of it. It's beautiful and serene and I get excited at just the thought of going home. I feel very fortunate. So in order to preserve the splendor, I have undertaken the responsibility of maintaining/rejuvenating the garden. The huge garden. With no prior experience. I was worried at first. Then I became overly excited to the point of obsession. Now I'm a bit overwhelmed. I don't know what are weeds and what may just be new growth from past plantings. I don't know how often to water vegetables, seeds, and bulbs. I don't know the difference between light and partial shade. What does loam mean? How do I divide bulbs? There is SO MUCH to know and I feel so incompetent! But whatever. Here goes nothing.
As for the other hobbies... they are practiced on rainy days :)
