Gardens are Organic

Sue Ellis • December 19, 2008

Gardens are organic. I don't necessarily mean that to define chemicals or no chemicals, but I mean organic in its constant evolving nature. Every garden has a story that is developing because of the people who touch it. It is like the quantum physics concept that everything that has been touched by a vibrating wave of energy will be forever changed by it.

My garden is like that. I have walked its length and breadth since 1986 and the past present and future are tied into every rustling leaf, every bird that lands, every cat that walks through it and is evident in every raccoon dug-hole. It is as if the story teller never ceases spinning yarns.

I like that. Even in the winter I still can view my garden from my office window. I enlarged the window and placed my computer at an angle towards it. I just have to let my eyes turn to the left, hardly moving my head and the whole story is evident.

Being a bit of an eccentric gardener I like colourful objects to decorate the flower beds in summer and the lawn in winter. When the snow falls I look out of my window and measure it by how far up the bicycle wheels it comes.

In spring time the visitors arrive undisturbed as I look out on their space. My dreams and plans turn into reality as I implement the changes I have planned for the garden.

The garden's ever evolving nature is a reflection of course of my ever evolving self. The garden has many stories to tell about me; the first veggie patch; the year of the new patio and the year I started putting bicycle in my dahlia bed.

The time I decided that lawns were to be replaced by stones, rocks and pebbles.

The three years it tool to finally remove all the grass from the front garden. Then there was the year we built the inukshuk. Then the years of preparation and creating the biggest of all projects - building a pondless waterfall.

I shall stay in this house with its garden for as long as it is realistic for me to do so. The garden will always be a reflection of who I am any given year. What gratitude I have in the knowledge that through a garden I can express the essence of me without words. How grateful I am that gardens are forgiving and there is always next year if one makes a mistake. Ah there are no mistakes, only lessons to learn. And so the story is told.

Health care videos give more tools to stressed caregivers!

By Sue Ellis • March 19, 2018
The stress of care giving is not diminishing.

Long Before The Dementia Diagnosis Is Made

By Sue Ellis • May 30, 2016
Reaching a diagnosis for many diseases takes a long time. Symptoms appear and there are tests. Symptoms are often denied by the individual or at first minimized by the professional. Symptoms may make past activity and work impossible causing great strain on family resources. In some situation changes in behaviour or memory are insidiously destroying relationships before they can be identified as symptoms of something being wrong.

Always Bad Timing?

By Sue Ellis • May 30, 2016
When the diagnosis comes and roles have to change, a caregiver is needed and is assigned. When it is a parent who gets sick it is usually the daughter or daughter in law who must take up the responsibility. A spouse is expected to care for a spouse. With the changed role comes a changed life. The goals and dreams, the expectation of what was to come next, get dashed. When taking on the caregiver role, what were your plans for life? Were you looking to get promoted in your job, further your education, retire and start traveling, focus on bringing up the teenage children?

5 Ways To Harness The Magic Of Spring

By Sue Ellis • May 9, 2016
Here we are, in the beginning of yet another beautiful spring. Something is rumbling beneath the soil, a thing of beauty waiting to burst from its cocoon, a promise made long ago that is about to be kept. This is a ripe time of year to reshuffle the deck, shed skins of the past, and give yourself a fresh start.

There Can Be Consciousness In Business

By Sue Ellis • May 9, 2016
“We Are One with humanity and all of life. Business and all institutions of the human community are integral parts of a single reality — interrelated, interconnected and interdependent.” from the Conscious Business Declaration

Bearing Witness in Care Giving

By Sue Ellis • May 9, 2016
In recent years attitudes towards care giving have changed. One sees more media coverage of the subject and a growing industry for those offering fee for service. There is a great deal of “taking care of,” but not so much “providing support for” the emotional strains of care giving.

What Comes After Care Giving?

By Sue Ellis • May 6, 2016
When the care giving role has finished, the individual usually experiences a loss of identity. Here are ten ways of transitioning successfully from being a caregiver to creating a new life

Peace Begins at Home

By Sue Ellis • May 6, 2016
Just back from almost 2 weeks in my favourite part of the country, kind of my spiritual home away from home – Canada’s east coast and PEI in particular. When I spend any time along our Atlantic seaboard (Nova Scotia in particular), I invariably find myself asking “How can I live and work here”? And I feel I am getting closer to having an answer to that question.

How Can I Take Better Care of My Loved Ones Experiencing Incontinence

By Sue Ellis • May 6, 2016
How Can I Take Better Care of My Loved Ones Experiencing Incontinence Written by: Jenn Weesies Each February everyone puts a lot of effort into demonstrating their feelings towards their loved ones. They make or buy gifts, plan special excursions and recommit their lives to each other.

25 Bad Habits 

By Sue Ellis • May 6, 2016
A habit is a constant, often unconscious inclination to perform some act, acquired through its frequent repetition. If the habit is objectionable, we call it a “bad habit”.
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