It wasn't here when we got here, but it took off like a shot in no time. My guess it was here before and it's just taken over again.
I've forgotten the therapeutic benefits of getting out in the garden. I've become complacent, lazy. On Saturday morning I filled an empty green waste bin with ivy that had spilled over the paths borders. It felt good. It made me sweat, and I realise how unfit I am.
Last week I saw my uncle, and he asked me if I had 'one on the way'. I responded "No. I'm just fat!". I took no offence from it. I have stacked it on. Like I said, I've gotten lazy.
So back on the healthy eating, an attempt at looking after me. Getting back to the basics, the things close to me, that bring me satisfaction. Like tending my garden, taking photos and appreciating the simple things I have, and not getting down about the things I don't have or have time for.
Outside my front door, there is a place, my garden, that brings me peace. I never tire of the passing seasons and the wonderful things that happen there.
I've had a garden in every home I've lived in since I was 20. Besides my own garden, I have worked in two fabulous local gardens. Something I am proud of, and really I should be backing myself more than I do, when it comes to garden knowledge.
This year I have joined my local community garden. I've already convinced several gardening stalwarts, that the Slippery Jack mushrooms that grow there, are not weedy fungi. You can actually eat them! A bonus to our community garden if anything.
Being involved in the community garden brings new and exciting possibilities, dreams. Goals. I have already pushed my boundaries, and social anxieties, by approaching several local businesses for donations. I am still feeling apprehensive about it all, but know what I am doing is good. I am feeling unsure about the website I have set up for the gardens. Insecure. But again, is it a good thing.
But like blogging, I just have to believe. If it feels right, just keep pushing on. Keep plugging away. There is always encouraging people and moments of gold along the way. That little piece of sparkle is motivation enough. Motivation that my direction is positive, a step in the right direction. In the end, if the direction is not the one that I am not supposed to be on, at least I have learned new skills. Skills that will boost me on a new path.
What skills are helping you on your path?
Do you lend your skills to your local community?