Mindful Gardening

'Walk as if you are kissing the earth with your feet.'

Its amazing what the last couple of weeks of constant rain has done for the lawn and plants, weeds included, and our little garden was crying out for some TLC. In years gone by I would have jumped in and done it in one session and blitzed through it, but these days, with little energy to spare, it is all about pacing and taking my time to enjoy the moments as well as getting the job done. I love the fact that my journey has brought me closer to being mindful in life, not that I always succeed, but when I do the joys are just so immense. This weekend was all about mindful gardening for me, pulling up weeds and then putting some of them in water to take inside. Appreciating the composition of the garden and assessing how I can create different moods by moving a few plants here and there, but it was mindfulness that made me enjoy my little conversations with nature.

Like the story of this beautiful strawberry plant injecting all its love and energy into the flower that will open soon.

 

 

The story of this beautiful allium opening with such purpose, such force. Every part of its conversation focused like a composer writing each note to bring a symphony of beauty through each individual flower.

The clematis rambling on and on about the meaning of light and the pleasures of sun.

The Hosta trumpeting a crescendo through shades of green leading up to flowers erupting like Beethoven's ninth symphony.

 

then there are these little beautiful alpine phlox's, sitting so pretty under the artist brush projecting a profusion of colour

 

and then the mosaic of herbs infusing my mind with clarity and direction

just in time for the bell a constant reminder of the beauty and dimensions of sound and how it enriches my soul.

 

Pulling up our first spring onions from the garden and feeling the dirt as I wash it off just before I cut it up to toss into a salad

This weekend it was my purpose to not only kiss the earth with my feet, but also to embrace it with my hands and to consume it with my  eyes and ears and to really get the most of the very beautiful world we live in.

I love this saying 'Walk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet' and in mindfulness sessions that I have attended in the past I have found it so interesting to do the mindful walking excercise, even although I couldn't leave the room. It wasn't about where you were walking, but more about the purpose, the connection with earth, the sensory qualities that come with putting each toe on the ground. The idea of feeling the connection between your feet and the earth is something so special and yet it is so easy to step all over it without noticing.

How blessed I felt when the kids brought these beautiful buttercups from their walk, how I love them!

 

Our weekends are rarely without cake and this week I chose this Banana and Toffee Sticky Cake as we had mountains of banana's in need of using. This cake is so easy to make and what I love about the cakes from this wonderful book is that it is wheat free and it uses vegetables in the majority of the recipes, in this case it was butternut. Once baked the cake getss drench in a very generous amount of homemade toffee and hits my little craving spot on!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and thank you so much for all your lovely comments on my Picnic Blanket, I enjoyed reading each and every one of them. Wishing you all a very happy Monday.

Hannapat xoxo