
On Sunday we were coming to the end of what had been a busy week. Something to do every day of the previous week, plus a weekend scheduled to the hilt.
Trying to catch up on emails and reading, I reached my limit. Something had to give.
Thoughts of our backyard kept niggling at me. A comfy place to sit, an iced coffee, sunlight and shadows in our mini-forest, and a good book. Summer comes slowly to the Pacific Northwest but when she finally arrives, Summer is glorious here!
I followed my inclination to stop what I was doing and allowed my thoughts to take over. I headed outdoors.
Because of the slow start to the season, our garden isn’t blooming up to par with others, especially since we live in a mini-forest. Yet, lush greens abound and a few colors are beginning to fill empty spots.
As I settled into my chair and looked all around me, I took a deep breath and realized this was just what I needed.
What do you do when it all seems too much?
Try taking time to breathe.

Just lovely. Your photos remind me of my sister’s lush garden in Lake Oswego. We never get such beautiful flowers where we live.Enjoy. Breathe. Live. And most of all, Love.
Ah, Madeline, what a love lineup of words in that last line. Most of all, Love! Keep hoping you’ll come to Lake Oswego for a visit.
Your hydrangeas are awesome. It is interesting that you have both pink and blue in the same soil. My Auntie used to call them funeral flowers because they were often given away at funerals and she said you could tell how much sadness a family had by the number of hydrangea shrubs blooming around their house. I had them at my house in GA and they gave me nothing but happiness but I didn’t plant them, my grandma did and she had a lot of sadness in hers.
Interesting story about hydrangeas. Growing up in the south, I don’t remember much about them. I know my folks didn’t have any. Since moving to the NW and a very shady mini-forest, they seem to love our environment, and yes, the varied colors in the same soil is amazing!
Pretty flowers! When it’s too much I delete tons of emails.
Luanne, there is something very cathartic about deleting tons of emails! 🙂
It makes me feel exhilarated!
Breathe in, breathe out. In a garden. Best advice ever, Sherrey.
Thanks, Carol! Sometimes it’s the best medicine. 🙂
Just just came in from watering plants in my patio garden when I read your post this morning. I think I see hydrangeas, zinnias, and more in your lovely collage.
I know the all-too-much-feeling lately. Last week one of our tenants called to report 3 things wrong: leaky roof, warm fridge, and dead water heater. Then Monday our AC went on the fritz. (Remember this is Florida in July!) So we had to pay for the funeral of the chameleon that got into the compressor and short-circuited the control board. This week is Bible School at our church, so we are ferrying children to and fro. This is a good thing, of course, but gives me little “time to breathe.”
You’re right: we can’t wait to exhale. We have to breathe deeply as we go, a timely admonition.
This evening I’ll go back to my shady garden and water the pentas, begonias, and impatiens. Thanks for the reminder.
I think I may take this advice myself this weekend, although my little back yard (shared apartment backyard) is nowhere near this lush, it’s still quite pleasant. 🙂
I’ve decided to enjoy as much of our good weather as possible. No sense in being closed in the house just because I think I need to write so many words today or tomorrow. I hope you’ll find some of the reward I found on Sunday.
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