How to Laugh at Fear

Decades ago, a great idea, and he (his house too) would say, "You can't do that." Garden plans would be diminished or stopped altogether.

Several years of this circus, I got off the merry-go-round.  No fear.  Began going to Europe, studying historic landscapes, received another degree, horticulture.  Opened a Garden Design business, new decades of family disapproval, "Use your engineering degree, don't be a bag lady."  Thanks for that refrain, dad.
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Many lean years.  To the bone.  I didn't care.
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Went to a career coaching weekend a decade ago & had an epiphany, "What would I do tomorrow if I were not afraid?"  Fear is a sure thing, it will keep coming back with new expertise/costume guaranteed.
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Jumping forward to the last 3 years, worst economy since the Great Depression, I've had the top earning years of my career.  Moved 'him' out, bought my own home & another home nearby to use as an office/guest cottage.
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Ironically, getting rid of fear taught me how to know if I'm doing the right thing in my career.  Choices are tough but once made, the choice is FUN.  And the choices aren't in my head, I ask my heart.  My head is a lizard brain.
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Are you afraid?  What would you do tomorrow if you were not afraid?
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Garden & Be Well,      XO Tara
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Pic via Habitually Chic
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"Wherever our most primal fears reside--our fears of the dark, of death, of being devoured, of meaninglessness, of lovelessness, or of loss--changes are good that beneath them lie gems of wisdom and maybe a vision or a calling. Wherever you stumble--on a tree root, on a rock, on fear or shame, or vulnerability, on someone else's words, on the truth--dig there." Gregg Levoy

Overdose Your Color

Choose a color theme.

Overdose on your choice/s.  Works every time.
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Garden & Be Well,         XO Tara
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Of course the cat is white.
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Pic via Whimble

Exterior Color: White on White

A client's yellow house is going white-on-white.  Cannot wait to see the results.

Pay no mind to the landscaping, above.   Totally subdivision, 1960's brick ranch let's make green foundation meatballs a la testosterone-on-wheels-mow-blow-go-commodify-all-I-touch.  And those pots?  Lipstick on a pig.
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Garden & Be Well,        XO Tara & Puppet Barbuda
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I adore Veranda, and subscribe, but know, too well, gardening is a pitiful stepchild to most editors.  Great exception was House & Garden magazine during the 80's.  See any at the junk shops buy-buy-buy.
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Pic via Veranda.

Large Pots

Something new to desire.

                           
                        And I don't mean man or child.  How did I miss these pots in Paris?

Desire, undervalued & counterintuitive.
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Garden & Be Well,        XO Tara
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Wonder which client past/future will have these in their garden.  Love Magic Man, I know he can make them!  Will have to tack on a pair to an order for me-me-me !
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pics via Paris Through My Lens.

Design Simplicity

How little can you do

yet have a full narrative with your exterior?
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Garden & Be Well,     XO Tara
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Pic, Paris Through My Lens

Bicycle Basket

Exactly.

I want one on the back too.
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Garden & Be Well,            XO Tara
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Described this to Handy-Man when I found a trio of bikes.  He got that glassy-eyed 'women-are-crazy' look.  Popped my balloon about being original, seeing the pic, but gave me a Cheshire cat smile because before the sun sets, Handy-Man will see this picture.
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And, Handy-Man, I want all my bikes to have 2 baskets.
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Pic via Paris Through My Lens

How to Design Your Garden

The most important garden views are from inside your home, vanishing threshold.  Laura, below, told me yesterday, body language, there was something GOOD in the garden.

I'm glad she did, otherwise I would have missed, below, completely.

Just outside the window, above, Torte-de-Shelle, her mother (now spayed) & my garden cat a neighbor left behind.
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Who needs TV with these delightful dramas?
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Design your garden for every window view.  In the garden, design your home's interior for every view into the windows.
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Garden & Be Well,   XO Tara
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Pics taken yesterday.  Much better drama, above, than earlier this year when darling Laura climbed the drape, shown, and pulled it off the wall.

Lawn

What is the fascination with lawns?

French parks have beauty, children playing, adults relaxing, Nature thriving, without lawns.  For centuries.
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Notice the choice to leave the tree trunks alone?  Brave.  Perfect.
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Garden & Be Well,          XO Tara
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pic Paris Through My Lens

Penelope Bianchi: Interiors & Gardens

With heart-on-my-sleeve, & happy obligation, pro bono is done each year, and making my voice heard by our state's largest trade group.  'Voice' was asked to lecture this month about Social Media.  Oops, there is a price for 'voice' being heard.  

Too many in my industry are not using Social Media's platform.

Owning every room I lecture in, props are set.  I do 100's of acres, what is a mere room?  Setting one of my journals down I had a 'moment'.  Miss Confidence, yes Puppet Barbuda, with less than 60 seconds to start, saw, above, pages from an old journal.

My journals make my eyes, brain, & soul HAPPY.  They have pages of beloved words, below.

These pages, below, delayed my lecture.  And changed how it began.

Journal was haphazardly opened to these pages created years ago of a home/garden.  Though busy, my eyes were drawn into stunned revelation.
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This is Penelope Bianchi's garden, above.  I had torn, squished, watered, dried, flattened, taped, written happy words with Penelope's garden.  Into my journal.  Moons ago.
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Puppet Barbuda honors few gardens in this manner.
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How is it possible in this huge world of peoples, distances, time I fell in love with a person's garden, & Providence conspired for me to meet the person, fall in love with her, and only then realize I loved her garden before I loved her?
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Go to Penelope's garden, here, and you will fall in love too.
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Garden & Be Well,   XO Tara
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top pic Penelope's garden, other pics from my journal.  My journals are a secret weapon for serenity & hearing grace.
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Penelope, You must know this experience made me, literally, woozy when it happened.  Everything you write to me about my work was mentored by Mary Kistner into my quiver of knowledge.  She's been gone for a decade, I miss her so, and yet I've met 1 person who embodies all that she was.  You.  I love you Penelope.     XO T

Pleasure Grounds

Pleasure Grounds, Pleasure Walk, Pleasure Garden were common terms, once-upon-a-time.

Look up 'pleasure' & you'll discover it includes overlapping elements of liking-wanting-learning.  
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Without the science/s of today previous generations intuitively knew design-pleasure-into-life.  It is something to be taken, & given.
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Is your garden a Pleasure Ground?  To you?  To all who see it?
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My Pleasure Grounds, aka garden, bring Nature & friends into my life.  Many times a hand scribbled note on torn paper has been left at my door or in the mailbox, "I love your garden, my name is........call me at this number .........", or I've been in my garden & a car stops.  Goo-goo eyed adult/s get out & sheepishly introduce themselves & ask to see my garden.
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Yes, it is good to take, and give, Pleasure.
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Garden & Be Well,  XO Tara
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Forgot where I saved the pic from.  Built a garden house for a client last year & suggested to him we call it the Pleasure House.  Immediately he axed the idea, "It's already hard enough to keep my teenage son from having sex......."  Though he did appreciate where I was coming from historically.
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Counterintuitively it's giving pleasure that is the most selfish.  It is where you will find grace.

Choosing Chairs

A small flagstone terrace is almost complete at my new French doors in the kitchen.  Need to order the Phantom screen doors this week.  

All this for a pair of garden chairs to USE.  Adirondack's, above, are too big.  French chairs, below, have no support for leaning my head back.

The new chairs must be easy to move and a lot of the time I'll be working wireless with my feet up in the opposite chair.
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On the hunt for MY perfect pair of garden chairs.  Life is good.
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Does anyone know how to keep cats from climbing retractable screen doors?
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Garden & Be Well,   XO Tara
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Project began December 2011 when my dad was diagnosed with cancer & died 22 days later.  During those 22 days my 30 year marriage was finalized in divorce.  'Planned' for last Christmas was installation of new heart of pine flooring in several rooms to match the rest of my home.  Existing flooring was refinished, all furniture, including office, was put into the garage.  To the ceiling.  I bought my own home late this fall.    That was the fear of divorcing, losing home/garden.  FEAR.  Instead, Providence deflated the housing market!  Did I mention I was afraid of losing my home of 28 years?  He, college sweetheart, began having car wrecks, most drunks do, in 2010.  One nite late, reading in bed, days after I discovered the 1st car wreck via my insurance company, I felt & knew something quite clear.  Fear had left.  After a decade+ of pure, daily, second to second fear, it was gone.  Time to divorce.  His alcoholism took me to poverty in 1999, I barely kept the roof over our heads.  Been a victim?  It stinks.  Took less than a month to figure that out.  Discovered Lois in a group meeting for friends/family of alcoholics.  Victimhood over.  Survivor.  But that wasn't enough.  Thriver.  Yes.  In a delightful twist my divorce attorney hired me recently.  Handing me a check she stopped in mid-air & began to cry.  She said it was not often she was able to see the results of her work & described my demeanor of fear/sadness when we 1st met in her office to what she had seen of me in her garden.  Teary eyed myself  & hugging each other, I thanked her for helping me divorce a 300 pound drinking problem!  We were laughing thru tears at this point, and aren't those the best?  Proudest achievements?  Financially doing all of this myself, no help, none.  Divorce was amicable.  Making the choice to be happy everyday.  'Damaged people are dangerous, they know they can survive.'  I'm super dangerous, I can thrive.            
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Top pic taken in my garden!  Proof, happiness/joy can be created, and more, a zone of grace around home & life.

Checkerboard Square with Circle

Untrained, unschooled & perfect.

Viewed from deck & house the existing lower garden, above, leads to their wild wood.
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They hired me to design their landscape.  Of course I left this alone!  Tweaks could be made but out goes THEIR charm.
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And, they built this DIY !
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Garden & Be Well,    XO Tara
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Alexander Pope......Men come to build sooner than to garden finely as if gardening were the greater art.  ca. 17th century
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pic via client's Facebook page