I mistakenly titled yesterdays’s post as Day Eighty-Four and then realized mid-afternoon that it was Day Eighty-Three  so I edited the title. Just in case you’re confused. I guess the seemingly endless number of days in lockdown is taking its toll!

I took this photo this morning. It’s rainy and humid and we’re getting thunderstorms later on. I want to share this, my favorite time in the Secret Garden. The wildflowers (Dame’s Rocket) are blooming, and the wild roses have just emerged (the scent is heavenly.) This week or two when all is in bloom is just gorgeous.

We did next to nothing with this area for about ten of the almost-fifteen years we’ve lived here. Then, during a time Don was away, I gathered a bunch of old cinderblocks that were up in the woods and dragged them, one at a time, to make that little wall between the wild area and the grass. I did it because I was worried that the ‘wild’ might get closer and closer to the house. The next year, I bought those vintage pots from an antique dealer and came up with a choice of shade loving plants; coleus, vines, and little white flowers. This is the third year (I think) that we’ve had the pots. Then, later that summer, I bought the vintage furniture from the same antique dealer. I had already cleared a path to the crabapple tree that blooms in early Spring. This year, Don really expanded that path and cut back a lot more of the brambles and weeds. He put down some stepping stones and some bark, and that’s where we are today.

It’s one of my favorite places on the property. Don has been busy creating other paths and little clearings up in the woods. Eventually, we’d love to find old benches to put in each of the clearings and at the base of the crabapple tree in the Secret Garden. But that will have to wait until we have the freedom to shop and the money to spend.

I worked outside yesterday for about 3 hours; transplanting some ferns that were crowding other plants (fingers crossed that it works,) weeding the big garden bed, weed whacking, edging the big garden bed with large stones that Don found up in the woods, and then I mowed the lilac side of the front lawn. A lot of work, but it felt good – until I came in and sat down and crashed. But isn’t that always the way?

And I finished this. It’s so lovely, this intricate and beautiful piece of art by Mucha. Lush in the way that only Art Nouveau can be. If you don’t know French, these are the seasons: Summer, Spring, Autumn, and Winter.

I’ll leave it up until this afternoon when I’ll break it down and start another puzzle.

I’ve also got three Inspector Maigrets on deck.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.