Every journey has a beginning and an end
When summer finally arrived the garden flourished. Early one morning I was thrilled to see a Kingfisher amongst the grasses in this border. My first sighting for two years.
Plants reached dizzy heights and bees returned. I foraged with the children, lay on the grass watching the swallows hunt above the garden. Two garden parties brought the family together.
We had such fun on both days.
Seedheads formed and the gentle summer breeze took them to new places :)
Berries formed adding a splash of colour to shady areas.
A small group of rare bees arrived. One of the Megachild solitary bees (Heriades truncorum), confirmed by the Kent Wildlife Trust. They have laid their eggs in the bee units.....they will be safe in my care :)
Butterflies returned. Their numbers are low but with a good summer next year things will improve.
Gabions have been places in one of the flowerbeds. Some filled with herbs, some filled with rocks. Discovering a common lizard in the garden inspired this project. He now has somewhere to call home, should he so choose.
Saplings have been planted around the treehouse, Silver Birch and Hazel. Poppi has tended the deck areas. Annuals and Acers in pots....hanging baskets full of ivy, and heathers have made a lovely feature.
Third Grandchild was born. I am smitten with this little fellow. I am so truly blessed.
This is the garden as it looks today. I spoted a Grass Snake swimming in the pond this morning. He made a hasty exit when he saw me.
My exit is not hasty. I have thought long and hard as to whether I want to continue blogging.
The answer is I do not. I truly believe my blog has run its course. I struggle these days to find things to write about. It has become more like school homework I was never very good at that either :)
I want to thank you all for following my blog, giving me your time and always leaving such interesting comments.
I have been humbled by your kindness and compassion.
I fully intend to visit your blogs here and there.....so it is not goodbye.
Enjoy the Autumn, it has so much to offer :)
Hi Cheryl....The new Grand baby is just so precious,I can see why you would be smitten, and you are truly blessed !!
ReplyDeleteI do understand your reason for not continuing with the blog..I have had that feeling to, but I also find when I do I have connected with a community of
wonderful people like yourself...or situation are different since I am alone so much of the time, but it sometimes feels like a chore!!
All in all it looks like your summer came together quite well..so "tickled pink" for you ♥
Grace
I think of you often my friend, and will continue to !!
Bless you Grace,
DeleteI hold all my blogging friends in my heart, they have become so dear to me. Like you, I always think of them on a daily basis.
I will be around, I just won't be blogging myself........
Hugs to you my friend.
My dear Cheryl, I was truly saddened when I reached the end of your lovely post. I was so thrilled to see you were back and really didn't see this coming but should perhaps have realised that the clue was in the title ;-). I absolutely understand and respect your decision but write this with a genuine sense of loss...truly the end of an era! You and one other particular blogger were very much the inspiration for me to pluck up the courage to start my own blog for which I thank you. I will miss you very much.
ReplyDeleteMany, many congratulations on your new grandson, what a really beautiful baby he is! I can see you will have plenty to occupy your time with the expanding family and of course the garden, which looks as lovely as ever, will continue to keep you busy I know. What a treat to see the Kingfisher, the Lizard and the snake, I would be over the moon with those! I am so pleased too that the bees have taken advantage of your bee unit, they could not be in safer hands.
I do hope your parents are reasonably well and were able to enjoy the family parties.
Thank you so much for all your lovely blog posts over the years and for the sweet and generous comments you have left on my posts. It has been a real pleasure and privilege to get to know you Cheryl, have fun, be happy...
Sending, love, hugs and XXX
Dear Jan,
DeleteTku for such a sensitive comment.
You have also been one of my blogging joys. You and I belong to a bygone age I feel. We understand each other.
I have been reading your posts but not leaving a comment :) I remember when you did that :)
You can imagine my excitement to see the Kingfisher....that beautiful flash of turquoise as it flies across the garden.
I love snakes and lizards.....I never thought they would visit this garden and I am overjoyed. Of course, it goes without saying the rare bee is a dream for this bee-loving woman.
Tku for asking about my parents. My dear father has had several falls during the summer and his health is not good.
Mother has struggled to take care of him......they do not want to go into a home. I shall be there for them, for as long as I can.
I will continue to visit your blog Jan. I may not leave a comment but rest assured I am not far away.
Tku also for your wonderful comments, you always made me feel that you actually read my posts and took everything on board.
Sending love and hugs back :)
Dear Cheryl who loves the bees,
ReplyDeleteWhen you opened your garden gate ( 5 years ago?) and invited me in I knew I had met a true keeper of the Earth. Not only did you listen to the wind but also to the voices of the trees and the cries of the bees and butterflies. And you responded. You planted, provided and taught me to also be a steward. You showed me, post after post how to honor this sacred ground we call home. We laughed together and cried...we walked the lane and held hope in our hearts. It has been an honor.
Thank you for your influence. Thank you for your open heart. I will reread your blog many times. It is a celebration of your love of your gardens. Your blogs are a photo essay of the amazing power of one voice, one garden that has touched the lives of so many.
You have blessed us.
Thank you. Be happy in your next adventure. I will be ever near.. a thought away.
I love the photograph of the marigold and the butterfly...I love that the rare bee has found you. I love that I found you.
Love and amazing light,
Sherry who dances with butterflies
My dear Sherry, who dances with the butterflies,
DeleteI am humbled, thank you.
I believe I started blogging five years ago in November.
Our friendship has grown with each passing moment.
Q's Corner has been a sanctuary for me, I will always visit.
Your connection with the butterflies has taken me on a journey, you have been my guide. I cannot see a butterfly without thinking of you :) My butterfly in the image feeds from your Marigolds......I collect seeds each year and will continue to do so. You are very much part of this garden.
I am so pleased to have the rare bee.....I watch them each day filling the bamboo canes. When their work is done I shall put them in the shed for the Autumn/Winter.....I will keep them safe.
Next year hopefully I will have many....each year may they increase in numbers. During the winter I intend to prepare another bed of blooms just for them. They love plants that belong to the daisy family, especially Ragwort.
Tku for visiting, tku always for your beautiful comments, your sound advice but mostly for your gentle ways.
Namaste
Love and Light,
Cheryl
Our journey must go on...
ReplyDeletethere is a lot of flowers to smell & photograph!)))
have a great sunday!
xoxo, Juliana
[pjhappies.blogspot.com]
Tku Juliana,
DeleteHave a great Sunday to and remember take time to smell the flowers.
Dear Cheryl, I will miss the strolls through your garden. Hearing about the bees, birds and butterflies of your garden. You have already given so much. I treasure all, especially you. I think of you often when I am in the garden. I have always hated homework too. :) I am thrilled that the bees have found your sanctuary. All of the creatures are lucky they come into your garden. I have never had a lizard in our garden. Hearing about yours gives me hope. Namaste.
ReplyDeleteDear Lisa,
DeleteAt last someone else who dislikes homework.....I never understood why I spent the whole day at school, only to get home and start again. I always wanted to be outside :) Nothing has changed.
Tku for your sweet and generous comment....I also think of you, what you are doing, how your garden is coping with the weather conditions, and of course dear Luna. I will be dropping by your blog Lisa, so we will still be in touch.
I was thrilled to see the lizard. I sighted one when we first moved here but had not seen one until this summer. He was around five inches long. I do hope he stays with me.
Happy Sunday Lisa.
Namaste
A lovely post Cheryl and beautiful shots of your garden - glad you enjoyed your special summer. Although I am a relative newcomer to your blog I always looked forward to reading your posts and am sorry there will be no more. I will just have to be satisfied to read your back catalogue when I need a shot of Cherylness. Take care.
ReplyDeleteHi Elaine,
DeleteTku for such a lovely comment...so kind.
You have indeed been an inspiration to me. Raised beds are planned with fencing around the area to keep the rabbits out.
By this time next year I should be picking my own vegetables.
I will be visiting your blog for on-going ideas :)
Dear Cheryl,
ReplyDeleteYou are a true spirit of the earth and your love for nature is infectious and inspiriring.
Whilst I have not known you for long I feel truly blessed to have met you and understood your deep and passionate ethos for gardening with nature. I remember listening to your plans for the garden and then I have been able to see it continue to develop via your blog ... long may your journey continue.
Hopefully our paths may cross again someday but in any event I will always think of you as the plants you so willingly gave me continue to flourish year after year.
Bless you and all your family. Enjoy every new day and the majic it brings.
Love and hugs ... FAB & Anita.
Tku Frank for such a beautiful comment.
DeleteI have met some wonderful people via blogging and I include you in that. For me, it was so good to know that I was not alone, that there are people who love wildlife as much as I do.
Tellima and William Guinness thrive here. Like you, when they bloom, I think of you and Anita when you came to visit.
I think we have a connection. Our elderly parents need us and as time goes on it becomes more demanding. Our love for them keeps us focused.
Now that I will not be blogging it will give me more time to visit other blogs :)
Enjoy your escapades in the English countryside........
Dear Cheryl, I was so excited when I saw this post on my sidebar this morning and then rushed through it, fearing what I would find at the end. I am so sad to hear that you have decided to stop blogging, but I do understand. I know that there is much going on for you right now, and taking care of yourself and simply enjoying the garden is so much more important than worrying about what to write about. It has been such a delight to stroll through your garden these past few years and enjoy the simple beauties of nature. You were one of the very first commenters on my blog and have continued to be a true blogging friend ever since. Lisa, Beckie, and I still talk about your visit--can it be two years ago already?--and what a treat it was to meet you and Mr.P and get to spend some time together. I hope you will stay in touch.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on the new grandbaby! So, so precious. My youngest will have his first birthday in two weeks; hard to believe how fast the time has gone. And congratulations on your rare bees--I'm sure the Trust is as excited as you are to have this species nesting in the area. This is also the first time I've seen the completed treehouse; what a marvelous job Mr. P did! I bet Poppi and Riley have spent countless hours up there.
Although this may be the end of your blogging, I hope it is the beginning of a new journey for you, Cheryl. I want to echo the comments of all the other commenters here--you have touched all of us more than you know. Take care.
My dear Rose,
DeleteYes indeed, Beckie was one of my first contacts and then you appeared, her best friend. I treasure my American friends and will always do so. I am sure at some point we will meet again....perhaps when Mr P decides to retire :)
Oh my nearly a year, it seems like only yesterday your Grandson was born, time flies Rose. I intend to spend as much time as possible with our new arrival.....he is a beauitful baby.
The tree house is wonderful. I write my journal there each day.
It is fabulous to sit amongst the trees and watch the birds through the windows. Of course it gives me the opportunity to plant many things, they are our of the rabbits way :) It will change with each passing year and little Grandson, one day, will be able to use it.
The rare bee is wonderful......ten years work, at last the rarer species are coming. I have much to do in this garden before my days come to an end.....I am hoping I will live to be 95 like Gt Grandma :)
Tku for your lovely comment Rose, I will be dropping by your blog at some point. I need to see how your garden grows, it has been a journey that I have held close to my heart. The novice, that turned into a talented gardener.....there is such joy in that.
You know i have only been blogging for a little while but i feel like you, school work and never very good at it.
ReplyDeleteHI Karen,
DeleteI have been blogging for five years. I was so very enthusiastic for the first couple of years but then my life changed. I just do not have the time to do it well.......
Dear Cheryl,
ReplyDeleteWhilst i cannot pretend that I am not sad that I won't have your beautiful blog and photographs to brighten my day anymore I do understand that everything runs its course and when we no longer feel it in our hearts we know it is time to turn our attention elsewhere,
In the time you have been blogging you have shared so much with us all and your blog has been one of my very favourites since that post about your old apple tree a couple of years ago first bought a tear to my eye.
You have what very few bloggers do and that is the ability to communicate from an honest and true place that makes everything you write beautiful, even when it is just a simple few lines.
With love and blessings to you, your family, your garden and the wonderful wildlife that dwells there.
Let me know if you are ever visiting Sussex. One day we must have tea and walk round the garden at Charleston.
xxxx
My dear Lucinda,
DeleteTku, your comments have always delighted me, for I know they come from the heart.
This garden was landscaped around the old Apple tree......she is sacred and always will be for as long as I garden here.
I shall visit your blog....In fact, I have been popping over, just not leaving a comment.
You are an inspiration, I have you to thank for my herbal medicine cabinet:0 I thought of you yesterday whilst picking elderberries and blackberries from the hedgerow in the garden.
I was in Brighton in June.......we joined in the London to Brighton classic car rally. It would be wonderful to walk the gardens of Charleston with you, perhaps next summer :) I will stay in touch.
You, my dear, have always given me hope......hope for the future of Mother Earth. I send many blessings to you and yours.......
Oh Cheryl, I was so saddened to hear that you won't be blogging any longer, but if it feels like a chore then it's time to stop. And of course, you have your beautiful new grandson to spend time with - far more important than looking at a computer screen.
ReplyDeleteI will miss your beautiful photographs and wise, gentle words. Your outlook on life has been an inspiration to me, and a reminder that no matter how busy life gets, it's important to always take the time to appreciate the natural world around us, and love and protect it.
Dan
-x-
Dear Dan,
DeleteTku, it has been such a pleasure getting to know you and watching your pretty cottage take shape. I am hoping you will show your garden one day :) I will continute to visit you......
I feel sure in my heart that when you start your garden you will make a wonderful space for you and the wildlife that surrounds your home. When our life is so busy, nature has such a wonderful calming effect.
I must just add, I have never forgotten how kind you were sending biscuits for Nella, it really touched my heart :)
Dear Cheryl
ReplyDeleteI shall miss you greatly. Always your garden is a joy to see and your words are touched with a beauty all your own.
So sad to see you go but so much else for you to do. Wishing you all good things
Laura x
I was looking forward to your return this month. So sad to hear you won't be blogging anymore, but all good things must come to an end, I suppose.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your garden and its wildlife, and that lovely little fellow.
But always remember to take time to smell the flowers. (I think I pinched your words there, sorry)
Dear Cheryl,
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful and sweet little boy! He is a blessing and I can see why you are smitten. What a joy for your family and how nice for Poppi and Riley to have a little cousin to spoil!
I can't believe 5 years have gone by so quickly. I too started in the fall of 2007 and Beckie and Rose were two of the first (and very dear) bloggers, then you and Sherry.
Your posts are always so full of interesting tidbits and your pics absolutely stunning. I have yet to capture a bee or butterfly! You've taught me so much Cheryl, about wildlife and plants, about your little corner of the world and I hold you dear to my heart.
You've put into words what I only felt - how gardening is nurturing to the soul, how we can see ourselves and how we change just by looking at our gardens, and on and on....
I shall miss you too, and consider you to be one of my closest blogging friends. But I do understand and life with family and putting hands in the earth and bees and butterflies and everything your garden, your sanctuary comes first.
Sending love and light my friend,