Exploring My Task List From Yesterday

Today I completed a few exercises to cover some suggestions from yesterday with regard to my pursuing a new career in writing.

One of the suggestions was to read your own writings from some time ago. I surmise this gives you a perspective into your writing skills at that time and perhaps may even reassure you that your writing is actually pretty good. Affirmation perhaps.

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So… I followed the first instruction on my list of ways to avoid putting off beginning to write again, and stop procrastinating. Something has created a road block. Getting past that road block could be just a matter of taking a walk or a run. It’s one of the suggestions on my task list from yesterday. I myself chose an early morning walk at 29 degrees. It does get you going and well worth the chill you feel. An awakening for sure.

But I also decided to go back in time to my blog, and visited my very first post on June 30th of the year 2010. I’ve included the txt of my first post below.  It was interesting…..because I had, by that time, owned my new shop, Contessa’s Garden and Gift for a couple years. I had only just acquired a new digital camera and was still using a “flip phone” and I was teaching myself how to master WordPress, an online yearly subscription tool, that I’ve now subscribed to for over 13 years. I was using a laptop at the time. WordPress opened up a whole new world for me in communicating my gardening and store ownership knowledge, to my customers using the internet. Within a couple years I was into the purchase of an Apple iPhone and so I ditched the digital camera for a camera right on my iPhone. It was a fantastic transition. And it changed my business from known,  to very well known. And my writing skills from good to pretty darn good.

So it’s now almost 2023  and I’m going to take a whole day to read back to where my blog began. Check out my writing style and see where I can improve and learn some things about how my blog has evolved. In terms of “my writings.” I think it might prove to be an eventful exercise🦋.

One of the other tasks on the list from yesterday, was to read a book. I am reading a book right now and this is giving me an insight into the writing style of another author.  It gives me a focus on what this writer is trying to communicate, and in the case of this particular book, it has exercises in teaching you new skills. To see how the author writes and what he is trying to convey is interesting. This reading will broaden my vocabulary, perhaps improve my  spelling and grammar skills, perhaps teach me how to incorporate some humor into my writing and open my eyes to content that I have never read before. Of particular interest to me in the book is a technique in a chapter called Progressive Relaxation. The suggestion that if you are not truly in a relaxed mode your creative energy may not flow. For example, you sit down to write or create and you are just not able to spit it out or get the words on paper. It happens. Burn out, can sometimes paralyze creativity. So doing the exercises mentioned in this book might help, and focusing on some mind exercises to “relax” you, could very well be a great answer to turning your writing creativity around. Some deep breathing combined with some muscle tension exercises might create relaxation and bring a calmness into your heart and it might even lower your blood pressure, creating a sense of better, and a more whole relaxation. All good points and ways to combat, what I myself might call brain fatigue or brain fog.  

So today to recap, I explored two items on the task list which could help me to get past my current roadblock that’s keeping me from  creating new “writing,” and new ideas for content.

More exploration tomorrow. Tonight I am reading “past” blog postings and my book called; Fighting The Inside Dragons.  New steps to explore in broadening my new writing career.

We will return tomorrow to reference my task list again. I look forward to sharing once again with you.

“Contessa”

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Our First Blog Post from 2010

Gardening Tips for July

30WednesdayJun 2010

NOW  is a great time to clean up your garden beds and your pot containers.   Remove dead leaves and blossoms.  Cut back your stems by half.  Yes it will temporarily make you plants look bare, but nature is divine and she will  replenish your blossoms and beautiful leaves within about two to three weeks time.  Add fresh Miracle Grow Potting Soil by about one inch to your pot containers.  Push garden dirt towards the roots of your garden flowers.  They will love the attention and the protection they get from fresh, moist dirt around their stems.

Our intense heat in Virginia has been relentless and some flowers are looking a bit weary.  Mid summer is a great time to plant a few new flowers with color.  Try some marigolds, nasturtiums, morning-glory and sunflowers.  The birds will love these new additions and in the fall you will love the fact that these lovely colorful blossoms are still “Hanging In.”

Another great addition for July is to add some Sweet Potato Vine and Coleus.  They provide endless color and if you take clippings once your plants are established, you will be able to bring some in  and place them  in a vase with water.  They will root in a matter of days and you can then create new plants to enjoy and even share with friends.

Lastly, water only in the early morning, or late evening, but do water daily.

Contessa Explores A Writing Career

Hello ContessasHome Friends….

After blogging for fourteen years, and writing about gardening, yoga, my store in Delray, daily reflections and my spiritual prayer times, I am led to pursue my newest “calling.” I want to write a book. I have gazillions of thoughts and ideas in my head about things to write about. I have decided to pursue a writing career. My blog is and will remain a continued communication tool, in order to be able to keep in touch with all of you…..my gardening friends. 

I have been thinking about writing professionally for about two years. Today I visited the library to find a few books about how to start a career in writing. I will be doing some studying and some writing. I’m not sure where I’m going exactly…but it is all about getting started. Will it be a novel, or a series of short stories, a devotional, poetry or a collection of daily spiritual reflections. I do not know that yet. But “beginning” is where I will start. Creating characters possibly, making characters come to life, inventing a story and a writers style all come in to play. Being a writer will require some solitude, research, writing and rewriting and using the inner resources of my mind to gather all the material I’ve stored in my brain for these last fourteen years while I was blogging. My inner urge to write comes from my creator. I am no accident and neither is my inner urge to write. It’s all part of His plan for me. My best self so to speak. Diving deep into my mind to explore so many things I have learned about my life, my previous careers and just simply about learning. Life long learners are interesting folk. We have lived and grown and shared. This new adventure is a place I’ve not been before. But it’s been planted as a seed in my heart and so I will begin…..and I bring with me, for support and encouragement, my best friend, and the love of my earthly life and my soul mate. [JB/MP]

Tonight I’ve brought four books home with me from the Duncan Library in Delray. All very different. Each focusing on writing……and so now, for a week or so…. I will become a student of others research about writing. I will share with you as I go along in this new and scary, but exciting writing journey.

“Contessa”

Advent and Christmas…a study

Advent 2022

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November 2022 Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

Advent for the year 2022 is celebrated/observed on Sunday, November 27th

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We have prepared for this season by finding a publication with daily scripture and prayer for the time of Advent and Christmas.

There are 28 readings in this devotional study for Advent (Part 1), and then in (Part 2) 12 readings that begin on Christmas Day. We have used a devotional of Henri Nouwen for Lenten Devotions and our response from other students of his writings was very encouraging. So we shall continue with this publication as our guide for this upcoming Advent and Christmas seasons. We trust you will follow with us through this 40-day study.

Our first reading will be posted this Sunday, Nov 27th.

• Wisdom from Henri Nouwen •
Words of Wisdom for Daily Living

The Garden Museum, UK

Film: Lucian Freud’s Chatsworth Cyclamen Mural Did you know Lucian Freud painted a cyclamen mural in a private bathroom at Chatsworth House? In our new exhibition Lucian Freud: Plant Portraits we have recreated the space to give visitors a rare opportunity to see this little-known masterpiece. To find out more about the real thing, we visited Chatsworth to make a short film with Senior Curator of Programme Dr Alex Hodby, to share the story of this powerful plant portrait. Lucian Freud: Plant Portraits is open until 5 March 2023 Digital partner Patch Plants Watch the film New Talk! Freud and Flowers at Chatsworth The Devonshire Collection at Chatsworth holds a rich variety of works by Lucian Freud, including paintings, prints, objects and even a cyclamen mural in a bathroom. This talk by Dr Alex Hodby, Senior Curator of Programme at Chatsworth (as seen in our film above!), will explore these works in the context of the collection and house. Focusing on depictions of flowers and plants, Alex will expand on how Freud’s work is understood within the context of the historic collection, and in relation to the Cavendish family. Centring on works in the collection in comparison with other closely related painting, prints and drawings, Alex will explore the artworks and how she has come to understand their place in the dynamic home at Chatsworth. Alex was one of the curators of the acclaimed exhibition this summer of the exhibition of the family’s commissions by contemporary artists The exhibition Lucian Freud: Plant Portraits will be open from 6.30pm – 7pmbefore the talk (entry included). Tues 29 November, 7pm £20 Standard, £15 Friends £10 Students / Young Fronds Book tickets Talk this week! Charlotte Molesworth in conversation with Non Morris Artist and gardener Charlotte Molesworth has been making a gentle haven of a garden – an enclosed world of light-catching peacocks, plump tiers of variegated box – for forty years. The garden at Balmoral Cottage in Kent was originally the kitchen garden of Collingwood ‘Cherry’ Ingram’s Benenden Estate, and has been featured in Vogue, Gardens Illustrated, Gardeners’ World, The Telegraph and many more! Charlotte and her garden are a great inspiration to some of our favourite gardeners – including Rachel de Thame who commented: “I’ll never forget meeting Charlotte, ambling round that magical garden talking topiary. It was one of the few times I’ve truly resented having a film crew trailing around with us. I wanted to have her to myself … and possibly spend a month sipping tea in her kitchen. A truly remarkable person.” Non and Charlotte will be chatting about the delights of topiary – the way giant fennel and towering sunflowers dazzle against the formal structure, and why Buxus sempervirens ‘Elegantissima’ is the ‘Queen of box’. Tues 8 November, 7pm £25 Standard, £20 Friends / Young Fronds, £15 Students £10 Livestream Book tickets Book Extract | Leif Bersweden: Where the Wildflowers Grow Ahead of his Plant Science Lecture at the Garden Museum on Friday 25 November, adventuring botanist Leif Bersweden shares an extract from his new book Where the Wildflowers Grow:“Parliament Square wasn’t exactly the epitome of biodiversity. It largely consisted of Perennial Rye-grass, a species with shiny, dark-green leaves that’s often sown to create parks and recreation grounds. But as I wandered, I noticed little plants popping up here and there. There were Shepherd’s-purse and Common Chickweed, but neither was in flower. A couple strolled past, arm in arm, eyeing me with a mixture of curiosity and misgiving. I grinned sheepishly at them. Bright-red London buses slid by, heading south over Westminster Bridge. I glanced over my shoulder at the Houses of Parliament and eyed the police guards cradling their enormous guns. I felt like I was trespassing in one of the most famous places in the world. ‘Sorry, officer, don’t mind me, I’m just looking for midwinter wildflowers’ is the kind of excuse that would probably only increase their suspicion if I was questioned about my activities. My concerns were interrupted, however, when I saw the Daisy: tall, bright and open- flowered. I got down on the ground to have a closer look…” Keep reading Christmas Wreath-making Workshop ‘Tis almost the season for wreath-making! Create a beautiful bespoke traditional Christmas wreath from scratch using fresh materials and dried fruit and berries. Florist and floristry lecturer Elaine Fisher will teach you the techniques and guide you to make your own wreath to hang on your front door or even use as a table centrepiece. At the end of the workshop, you can take your festive creation home to decorate your home with. Tues 29 November, 7pm £60, includes all materials Book tickets Object of the Week: The Topiary Lawn at Great Dixter (c.1960) In honour of Charlotte Molesworth’s enchanting topiary garden, this week we looked for exemplary examples of topiary in our collection of historic garden photos and came across this photo of Great Dixter’s topiary lawn from c.1960. Complete with requisite dog sprawled on the lawn! Christopher Lloyd (1921-2006) is quoted on Great Dixter’s website:“A closely planted strip of ash trees on the garden’s west boundary, provide wonderful silhouettes of airy foliage against the sunset sky, in summer, but they do shed much seed into the garden, borne on the prevailing south-west winds. The yew topiary lends a particular atmosphere to several parts of the garden. There was more of it in my father’s time. It has a presence, especially when shadows are long and it appears to inhabit, rather than grow. It needs clipping only once a year. If done in August, it will retain its sharp outlines right through to the end of the following May. However, although we mechanised the operation soon after the last war, we seldom achieve this objective and are pleased if this prolonged task is completed by November. Yew grows much faster than people imagine, if the ground is well prepared and the plants are fed.” Explore our collection online Images: Chatsworth House photo courtesy of Chatsworth; Charlotte Molesworth (c) Leigh Clapp; Westminster Daisy (c) Leif Bersweden; Great Dixter Topiary Lawn c.1960, Garden Museum Collection Garden Museum 5 Lambeth Palace Road, London SE1 7LB gardenmuseum.org.uk

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A Different Path Today

2030……recommended by my gardening client “the General,” and my pick, Lake Wobegon Days by Garrison Keeler. My new reads from now through August 1st

I’m needing a change of pace in my free time…. away from the topic of gardening.  Very different titles, but both recommended. Looking forward to time with “my nose in a book.”

Sunday afternoon…….

”Contessa”

A New Read…..

Lifetime female friendship is the essence of this read. Elena and Lila rely on each other and survive a poor upbringing in Naples  Italy. The author Elena Ferrante gives you a story of a neighborhood, a city, a country and a nation, during immense change, and how it affected their lives and their deep friendship. If you have had the experience of a lifetime female friendship and you have lost contact with them, you will remember your friend with great admiration and how you relied on each other, as you navigated the good and the tough times. Sometimes these kinds of friendships only happen once. A great read.

SOLD Today on ETSY……Volume

Picturing Nantucket reveals a complete spectrum of the islands artistic heritage. Complete with 125 color and 180 black and white reproduction photographs from the Nantucket Historical Associations extensive collection. If you treasure Nantucket Art, this book is an essential reference for your personal collection.

Pristine copy. Measures 10.5” x 12.5” x 1”
A beautiful coffee table book. 253 pages.

A true Art History of the Island.

THIS  Sale just came through via our ETSY SITE. Our buyer lives in Chandler, TX.  Selling Total is $46.

“CONTESSA” says……”it’s all good.”

New Book, The Wounded Healer by Henri Nouwen

A simple book by Henri Nouwen.  I’ve used Nouwens devotional  writing for the Lenten season.  I like his writings very much.

Do you have a personal ministry?  You may, but you are not clearly aware of it. Think about this and read this book. It’s short, and it’s contents are needed by all of us.

We are all wounded in some way. And in our woundedness we can become a source of new life for others. You can be of service in your community and your church. The best way to minister to others is to identify suffering in your own heart, and then make that suffering a starting point to give service to others. Leaving yourself open as a fellow human being to others with your own frailty and  wounds is the best way to serve. This shows others that we can all heal from our wounds. This kind of vulnerability is very much needed by everyone. And so we serve others through our sorrows and our own suffering. It’s very simple but very profound.  Enjoy Nouwens simple approach to suffering and ministry.