I wrote about spending some time in my garden a few days ago; I wasn't really doing anything there, just enjoying it, touching and smelling it and looking at the things I've raised, nurtured and cared for. It was time well-invested.
I've had a few people ask me about my garden, requesting to see it, but that's not something I'm overly keen to share on the blockchain - My home is my castle and I don't need people seeing all my siege engines, catapults, trebuchets and ballista that protect it. Ok, I'll be honest, there's none of that at all, honest...or is there?
I'm not going to disclose what defensive strategies I employ at home and like to keep my home private, few in my real-life-world ever come here let alone showing it to online people, but wandering about the other day, seeing just how nice everything looked, made me want to capture a few images. I decided to take a few pictures with my camera, an mirrorless Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark III, and used my macro lens to get a little closer to the plants.
I focused on the flowers mainly as the colours are pretty spectacular. I've always loved the contrast between the colour of flowers and the green of the foliage and at this time of year my garden shows that off to full advantage.
Above you can see lobelia, orchid, pelargonium, stocks, sweet pea and French lavender - I think the colours speak for themselves so there's not much more to say on that. The scents from these flowers are stunning also - in the early morning and at dusk sitting in my garden is simply glorious.
My garden isn't just for show however, it produces.
I have a fair amount of fruits and vegetables in the garden, not enough to completely replace having to go to the market, but I get quite a lot of produce and am able to trade some for other things on occasion.
Below you can see two variety of tomato, apricot, lemons, oranges, apples, tomato plant flowers and nectarine. I have much more though including, French beans, lettuce, capsicum (green pepper), spinach, cucumber, strawberries, asparagus, limes, plums, onions, a multitude of herbs, red jalapenos, almonds and so on. It keeps me busy at times, but I love raising the things I eat...they just taste better.
I spent a couple hours taking photos - not because I had two hours worth of things to photograph but because I'm not the worlds best photographer and I have to take a gazillion shots to get a handful of good ones. I enjoyed it though, despite getting frustrated with the wind, the plants and my camera...Ok, it wasn't their fault the photos weren't coming out, it was mine. I got a few reasonable ones though, some of which I've shared here.
I'm a busy fellow and have a lot going on in my life, professionally and personally. Am I pressured? Yeah, I am I guess, pushed and pulled in different directions. I'm good at prioritising my time and tasks though and I always make sure there's time for my garden and natural places in general. I'm far from the best gardener who ever walked the land, and very far from the best photographer, but engaging in both things, combining them at times, is something I gain a lot of enjoyment from and whether I do them well or not, it's the enjoyment of it that really matters.
Design and create your ideal life, don't live it by default - Tomorrow isn't promised so be humble and kind
All images in this post are my own