it's about perspective

this is where I sit in my garden.

i sat here to read the papers on sunday.  i had a cushion, i put up the parasol. sunday was a beautiful sunny day. i sat here on monday night with grant.  we sat out until it was dark.  here in the north that was until nearly 11pm. i know, crazy. these long summer evenings are my favourite.  these are what i long for in the dead of winter.  not the kind of snow on the ground winter but the rain all day and all night winter when going out isn't crisp, it's dank, damp and annoying.  i sat here last night.  i talked to a friend for nearly an hour.  there was no cushion involved that time.  there was humidity with a little wind.  the kind of pleasant warm wind that cools you just enough but not too much so you have to reach for a cardi.  

this is my view.

these are my veggies.  this year i'm on tomatoes in a big way. five of them. strawberries too.  last years plant is looking sorry for itself but this years is growing quickly and already has four feeder plants growing from it.  my peas are a disaster. the snails and caterpillars have got them.  beyond repair.  my courgette is healthy with so many shoots and flowers coming i am excited.  this year i am trying to grow butternut squash.  it's coming but compared to the courgette it's slow.  i need patience.  i water.  i feed.  i talk to them.  slowly they will come.  these green leaves will turn into flowers and from them fruit.  they have been happily growing for a couple of months now.  we've had too much rain and not enough sun but that is coming and growth will be put on and progress made.

i have a lovely neighbour who tells me you can't stay on top of your garden when you are working full time.  i am sure this is her way of trying to make me feel better about how overgrown my garden is.  

when i was on the phone last night i got up and wandered around.  now i could tell you i looked at how dirty and green my deck is.  i could tell you i wondered if i should just scatter wild flower seeds and properly let my overgrown boarder come into it's own.  or i could tell you it's all about perspective.

i looked at my veggies from the other side.

i have no idea why i have got two months down the line until i've done this.  but there it is.  my first tomato.  and look at it. (you know that if you click on the photo it goes to the bigger picture, don't you?)  it's not a tiny i've just arrived tomato.  it's a tomato that has been growing underneath all the big green leaves for weeks now. how could i not have noticed it?  what on earth have i been looking at?  there it was.  getting on with the business of growing all by itself.  in fact we all get on with the business of growing all by ourselves come to think of it.  but that movement, that change of perspective, caused me to shriek down the phone. caused me to beam.  caused me to stop and realise that you can get caught up just looking at things from one point of view.  your own.  if you don't move around you don't get the benefit.  you don't get the full picture.  just around the corner, on the other side could be the most wonderful new thing.  it brought into sharp focus we are not meant to sit still.  move your perspective and wonderful experiences occur.

Emma