 So to my paint box I did go last night with a good cup of ginger tea. Now since it had been a few days since I had picked up my brush, I was curious to see what it would paint in my watercolour journal.
Because one never knows where a paint brush might take you on a summer’s Sunday night. But it didn’t take long for me to find myself back in my Imaginary Secret Garden. And as I walked on a long and winding road, down by the babbling brook, I heard the barking of a funny looking little doodle dog called Spotty. Now he was a rather odd looking, but cute and frisky little fella who was playing with his ball. Up into the air he threw it and then chased it so that it wouldn’t get away from him. Oh what fun he was having until a little red Doodle Bug landed on his nose. Well dropped the ball he did because I suppose he didn’t expect to have a bug sitting on the tip of his nose. The bug looked at him and he sat very still looking at the bug. And the minutes of silence passed, until Little Spotty sneezed. Well away the Doodle Bug flew as fast as its little wings could fly to hide up in the trees. And quick as a wink, the pup picked up his blue ball to have another fun game of jump, chase and catch. And as I closed my book of colours, I thought to myself that a good time was had by all in this place of my childlike imagination, which is always for sure, a very good thing.
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 It had been a beautiful sunny day and then the clouds started to darken the sky. As I felt the change in the weather, I got the alarm on my phone about the tornado warning.
Memories of the one that I had seen as a child and the devastation that it had done heightened my sense about the possibility of the oncoming danger. We had been lucky back then because as the whirling tunnel swooped towards our house, uprooting one of the tall trees in our front yard, it suddenly turned and did its damage to the mill on the other side of the road. Yesterday as the sky darkened, I listened to the thunder, watched the winds kick up a storm and the heavy rains fall. I was also on the lookout for the dreaded tunnelling tornado, hoping that it had not had the weather conditions to give it what it needed to build itself up into a raging force of nature. The power went out and the thunder rolled. But like the old saying goes, storms never last. And after a time, it was all over. We got power back and thankfully no damage was done. And yes for sure it was a very good thing!  So to my paint box I went again last night to see what I could paint, because if one wants to learn how to paint, one must practice. Inside the tin box were many colours but it took a wet paint brush to bring the colours to life.
So with a little dip, dab and doodle of the paint in my watercolour journal, into the Imaginary Secret Garden I went once again with a paint brush in my hand. And there I saw the Little Lost Bunny sitting all by herself beside a bright red Doodle Flower. She looked so sad and all alone with nowhere to go and no one to love her. But this is not the first time she had scampered away from her family’s home in the thicket behind the old grey barn. No, she had hopped away many times before, because she loved to sit and watch the wild doodle flowers grow. And every now and then she would take a little sniff of the pretty petals and sometimes they made her sneeze but she didn’t seem to mind that at all. Although the time came for me to leave this place of my imagination, I didn’t want to leave her there all alone. But then I heard a thump and a hop, and yes, much to my relief, it was her mother who came to take her Little Lost Bunny home. And yes for sure it was a very good thing!  So to my paint box I did go again last night with a good cup of tea and some sit down time.
Now one never knows where a paint brush will take you when you dare to let it lead you into the colourful world of the Imaginary Secret Garden, where another adventure of creativity is waiting to be found. So as I walked along a very long and winding road through the woods, I found myself standing in front of the littlest lake I had ever seen. Then I heard a splash and a splish and much to my surprise I saw a whimsical little fish dancing in the tiny pond. Up out of the water it jumped, twirling, spinning and diving back into the water in the most delightful way. And as I watched it playing in the sunshine, I thought to myself that one does not need a big place in which to live as long as one finds a reason to be happy there. And yes that is for sure a very good thing edit.  I was talking to a woman the other day and she was telling me that although she loved summer, she did not like having to deal with all the creepy crawly bugs, bees, birds, mosquitoes, dragon flies, and the frogs at the summer cottage on the lake that she was renting.
She didn’t like the strange looking weeds and tall grasses that were growing everywhere. And she didn’t like going for walks because she was afraid of bears, coyotes, bobcats, groundhogs, beavers, squirrels, deer and moose. She wouldn’t go for a swim in the lake or even take the small canoe out because she said was afraid of water. She had really looked forward to spending a month away from the city in such a beautiful place in the country, but she had not expected to have to deal with so much outdoor living. And as I listened to her concerns about living in the country, I thought to myself that to live in a place like this where the tall grass grows is for sure a very good thing.  As I walked around the garden yesterday, I noticed that the Bee Balm is in full bloom. These beautiful perennials have faithfully come back every year to brighten up my garden in the month of August.
I had planted a small packet of seeds about 6 years ago to see if they would grow and that they did much to my surprise. These flowers, also called Monarda, are a part of the mint family and the bees, butterflies and hummingbirds love them. The leaves and the flowers are also used to make a delicious cup of herbal tea that supposedly helps to chase away colds and the flu. So I will be dehydrating some to add to my winter teas because like the old people used to say, a good cup of tea can cure what ails you. And that is for sure a very good thing!.  As the days of summer go by, the flowers are ever changing. Since the month of May when the first little spring bulbs pushed their way towards the sunshine, I have been gifted with many different and colourful blooms in my flower gardens.
They have all showed off their beauty throughout the season and have given me many reasons to smile. But like every thing that grows in a garden, there is a time to bloom and a time to fade, a time to reach for the sky and a time to save the memories and seeds so that they will grow back and bloom again next summer. And the thing that I know for sure is that there must always be time to sit and watch the flowers grow because that is such a very nice kind of good thing.  So to my paint box I went again last night with a good cup of herbal tea. And with Mittens the Kittens curled up beside me and a Netflix movie, I opened my watercolour journal.
I started to dip and dap a little watery paint on to the page and soon I found myself back into that land of whimsical doodles, where creativity can sometimes run a little wild. As I imagined all that there was to see in such a colourful place as the Imaginary Secret Garden, I noticed a small red polka dotted grey short-tailed Quibble Chicken running through the doodle flowers. Now being a Quibbler, it started to nit- pick and quibble when it seen me standing there with a paint brush in my hand. So, as not to upset my little fowl-feathered friend, I put down my brush and closed my colouring book. And with the last sip of my tea I thought to myself that to let one’s imagination run carefree and wild can sometimes be a very good thing!.  As I was walking around the yard yesterday, I noticed this spark of colour in one of my flower gardens. It was the only one like it and it stood tall and proud amongst all the other blooms and greenery.
I remember having similar ones years ago but they had died out. And yet here was this beauty, more beautiful than any that I had ever seen before. A flower garden is a mysterious and unexplainable place, where some things grow and others don’t. Where annuals, self-seeders, biennials, and perennials grow up together in splashes of delightful colours in our summer flower beds. And sometimes if we are really lucky a beautiful stray like this one will show up to live in them and that is for sure a beautiful kind of good thing.  So I said to Me, Myself and I that it was time to get myself a little something because sometimes a girl needs to spoil herself with a little pretty.
So a new watercolour paint box I got myself filled with the most delicious and wonderful selection of colours. And as soon as I opened it, I dipped my watery paint brush into each of the colour pans and watched them come alive with colourful happiness. I played for awhile with the colours in my journal, and imagined all the things that I will paint in my someday soons. And just thinking about all of those things is for sure a very good thing! |
AuthorIt is here that I share my daily early morning musings about the simple life here at Maggies Inn. Archives
March 2022
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