At the same sort of age caring for the flowers ...
Completely at home sat in the garden with my sandwiches... nothing has changed really even 40 odd years on...
It is interesting looking back and wondering what part parents play in the path you take in life, but some of life's passions and interests clearly start early on... perhaps it's an in-built thing but perhaps it's the patient hours parents spend showing you the pleasures of growing your own fruit and veg are actually very rewarding and a lot of fun... I can certainly remember the rewards of sneaking off behind the raspberry canes for a quick snack! Mind you, I can also remember the many afternoons in late summer going blackberry picking with my family and after the novelty quickly wore off finding it rather boring .... something I've picked up again now and love!
My Mum especially spent many hours "splaining" things to me following my endless questions of "why this or how's that?", whilst the enjoyment in what I'm sure were painstaking hours that my Dad spent in the greenhouse and on his veg patch has certainly rubbed off - whatever it was, it makes life worth it as does being able to share it and encourage others with the same!
My apologies for a gap since my last posting... work is keeping me pretty occupied at the moment but will try and add some more before the week is out! Hope you all have a great week...
18 comments:
Dear Miranda, The pictures of yourself as a child 'working' in the garden are charming. I think that you are right, and that our parents do have a great influence on us, perhaps more than we realise. As children we do accept the world as it is presented; it is only when we are older that we start to question.
I am pleased that you are busy with work although you have been missed.
Hi there Miranda… what a lovely posting. Really enjoyed seeing your early garden moments and the young Miranda! It made me think too :-D
I have no idea at all where my garden interest came from. We just had a ‘yard’ area until I was 8. No grass, no shrubs, no perennials, no trees. I guess my Mum had pots with bedding in the summer.
Believe it or not, my first memories of the next house which had a good sized garden was finding a bird’s nest near the outside tap on the day we moved in. I also trimmed the grass for my Dad. At 10, my first ‘real’ garden moments came when I asked my Dad if I could relocate a rockery he had. I moved all rocks and plants myself too! I have absolutely no idea why I started but still to this day I love working with stone and planting of course. LOL… I’m still moving rocks and plants around my garden too!!!
We are always happy to wait for your postings. Wishing you a good week too :-D
These are such sweet photos! Wonderful post!
What a generous little soul, sharing your ice cream with the daffs! Those pics are precious and make it easy to trace your gardening passion, no?
Christine in Alaska
Hi Miranda - its wonderful to see you as a little Miranda - and where you gained your inspiration from. It was from being at my grandparents house every week that I gained my greenfingers. It wasn't until we started doing our family tree on the other side of the family that I discovered that I came from a line of estate gardeners. Lovely photos from your mum - they must have brought back some lovely memories - especially since like me you live far away from the family home.
Thank you for this post; I had forgotten Mothers' Day. I've sent a belated card; now all I need is an excuse!
Lovely memories, Miranda - you look angelic! I was only allowed to "help" at Dad's allotment, as my mother wouldn't allow anyone to do anything in "her" garden. I can remember putting beans in jars lined with blotting paper and with water in the bottom when I was at school, to show us how fast the roots and shoots grew and growing mustard seeds on wet blotting paper too. O - the joys of youth!
Thanks so much Edith - for your kind comments, your encouragement and glad to hear I'm missed... I miss the contact with everyone and find it hard to keep up the continuity once work gets really busy... will pop over to your blog soon - take care Miranda x
Thank you Shirl - I'm sorry I've not visited your own blog for a little while oh for a few hours to myself!! I see on the forecast we have some rain coming - maybe a quiet moment will allow... I'm sure you'll have birds starting to show interest in your boxes... they've been very busy here - no nest building yet but they are going in and out of the boxes! Take care and will visit your blog v. soon Mirandax
Thanks Kimberly - so glad you liked the pictures... they did make me smile as I'd not seen these in a very long time - will visit your blog again v. soon Miranda x
Christine - it was lovely to have you visit my blog again - glad you enjoyed the posting - it did kind of encourage me in seeing little me enjoying the same things as now - it was always a dream of mine to live in a farmhouse in the countryside - hope your garden is coming on well.. have a good week Miranda x
Thank you Leaves and Bloom - must admit I loved getting these pictures and seeing where the gardening passion started - amazing you came from a family of estate gardeners too... think it must be in the blood so to speak! Have a good week - Miranda x
That was very honest Idiot Gardener - did you think of a good excuse?! At least being in France it could always be the post - sure your Mum will understand - at least you didn't completely forget :-) Enjoy the rest of your week Miranda
Hi Sandra - thanks so much for visiting my blog again - not much time for blogging at the moment - so please forgive me - currently nursing a sore shoulder from all the digging! Believe you me, I wasn't that Angelic... a little monkey as I understand :-)
Sorry you weren't allowed to do so much but at least now you can make up for lost time with all the space you have where you are. Enjoy the rest of the week Miranda x
You were an adorable child and those photos of you 'gardening' are precious! You should post them as part of your sidebar material (only if you want to, of course, I'm just sayin'...)! You looked so cute, with the little watering can. I remember my childhood garden and my mom was just as fascinated by it as yours, it seems. I am sure I got some of my 'garden love' from her, as well as my dad's mother who also was a gardener. Funny thing is, my mom's mom was NOT a gardener, but my mom certainly was. Hopefully one of my children will enjoy the garden in the future, because at the moment, it seems that neither of them are very interested! You just never know...;-)
What a delightful post, Miranda :)
I do think our parents are the ones we use as role-models for much of what we do in later life...especially in the realm of gardening :)
My first memories are of me following my Dad in the garden talking non-stop about the worms and grubs which appeared as he turned over the soil :)
Who would have thought that his hobby would take up most of my 'spare' time? ...like father, like daughter... :)
Hi, Miranda. I think it may be an inborn thing. My brother and I both ended up with a love for gardening, though we were not exposed to it as children. There are a lot of gardeners in our ancestry, however. My brother's name is "George," an old family name which interestingly means "farmer." I love the cute pics of you as a child! Happy Spring!
Miranda, Your photos are absolutely adorable~Treasures, really. My mom disliked the outdoors, but my dad loved vegetable gardening. We weren't raised with him, but i am pretty sure my sisters and i got the gardening gene! However I came by it...I am glad I found gardening. gail
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