I need to get my head on straight

[Wifezilla]

I vote for container gardening too. That way when you find a permanent residence, you will not have to leave all your hard work behind.

You might also want to experiment with indoor gardening. Not only will the lights required make your plants grow, they may also give you a good mood boost. Just be sure to get the lumen level high enough.

 

[Dace]

You know what they say, Dace - If you pray for patience, the Lord won't give you patience. He will, however, give you many opportunities to practice patience.

LOL....ok maybe that is the lesson!!

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

Dace, my thoughts and prayers are with you.

I'm sorry you are in a funk, and I wish I could take you right out of it.

We're here for you anytime.

 

[big brown horse]

This weekend I went to a friend's house. It is a rental and even a bit run down..but it has a spectacular view of Puget Sound, so who cares, right? Well he had the most beautiful grouping of container gardens I have ever seen. They were just made out of those basket-type of laundry baskets with the cotton liners still intact. They were not new and were all faded to about the same color. The georgous plants contrasted with those faded baskets in the most beautiful way! They were the talk of the bbq and we just ate from them as he described each plant. (They were mostly edible, like nasturtiams, herbs, lettuces etc.)

I know it is not the same, but it would probably make you feel better to get your hands dirty anyway.

I've been in funks before too, all I can say is to hang in there, don't give up. Remember, the little things do add up.

 

[sylvie]

I think many of us on this site are dealing with frustrations on some level.
You need to find where your successes are and define them.
One thing about this site is that we are forced to be creative in our problem solving because we don't have money to throw at things. You have so much company here.

I got such a kick out of a post someone made about a wall of hanging gutters filled with soil and planted with salad greens. Talk about beating the system! The cool thing about that is as salad greens you don't have to move them with you. Invent something! Paint it pretty.

As far as laundry goes, sometimes I use the dryer because I prioritized my time and it didn't allow for hanging and taking down the laundry. Cut yourself some slack.

I know your posts on here have been helpful to me personally!

 

[2dream]

Kel is right - Never pray for patience. Boy will you get the opportunity to learn to practice it.

I feel for you. I am a very moody person by nature and I get in funks all the time. So I know what that borderline depression/funk/why is my life so bad/to heck with it attitude is all about.

The journal is a great idea - especially coming up with 2 things to be thankful for, 2 blessings and 2 things worked on to improve. I really needed to read that.

And container gardening is much more of a challange sometimes than regular gardening. But what I love most about it is the possibilities. I use my containers for things I have never grown before. It allows me to move them around until I find their ideal location. The more I container garden the less I plant in my regular garden. And finding containers is half the fun. I found a beautiful popcorn tin at a dollar store. The birds got the stale popcorn and I drilled holes in the bottom and filled it with dirt. Planted a green plant for my shade garden. That popcorn tin is full of color. And adds a much needed touch of color to all that shade.
An old ceramic tea pot with a old plate picked up at a flea market. use a masonary bit and drill a hole in the teapot. Plant some mint and use the old plate under the teapot to catch the water.
I think sometimes that I am not as interested in the garden aspect of my container garden as I am in the unusual things I can turn into containers. I always feel good after I create a new container and then I get to have more fun by trying to decide what I am going to plant in it. Before I know it my funk is gone - well gone until the next time.

 

[Dace]

Thank you girls!
I decided I needed some drugs so I turned to my drug of choice.......seed starting
My 6 yr old and I spent the early after noon making newspaper pots, sorting thru my seeds, organizing them and then we planted a tray full of french green beans and a tray full of assorted squash, then individual pots of 7 types of tomatoes, pickling cukes, pumpkins, chiles & watermelon. In about 5 days the high will come and continue making me smile while I check everyone morning for those new green shoots.

I guess I am going to have to get creative to make a garden, but I know at least it will lift my spirits to be growing SOMETHING! I guess I should not be so snobby as to quickly dismiss the idea of container gardening but it is so dry here they always end up a let down for me

 

[Wifezilla]

Then try this....
http://www.instructables.com/id/Hydroponics---at-Home-and-for-Beginners/

 

[Beekissed]

Oh, Dace! I have soooooo been where you are at, so many times! I will tell you what I do when I feel like I'm just biding my time until I get where I really want to be.....

I decided to grow where I am planted. You may be in that rental for longer than you want....or you may move tomorrow. I have lived most of my life in just that way and several times I was unhappy, depressed and just plain out of sorts because I felt God just wasn't supplying my need for expression, to grow things, to be who I am.

Then I started thinking differently. What would I be doing if I owned this place? Using a lot of money to improve it or going slowly to enrich it over time? Saving money and thinking of ways to do it cheaper and make it sustainable? Of course I would.

So what if someone else owns it? Wherever you live that you have a mortgage, the bank owns it. You've already found out how impermanent one's life is and especially the homes we think we own! Start today to improve upon what you have.

When I started to do this at my current place, everyone and their brother was critical of my efforts and felt that I was throwing money down someone else's pocket. Why in the world would I paint, plant, build at a rental and not get to take it off the rent?

You know what? The landlord was impressed and took money off my rent, reimbursed me for half the materials I have bought, all without my asking. And a heck of a lot of potential employers, landlords, etc. were impressed as well. Now people love to drive by and see my little rental thriving and growing, they ask questions about my garden, the animals, the flowers. The next time I move(one never knows how solvent their landlord is!) I bet I will have more choices of rental homes, as word travels fast here. I may even be able to get a place to caretake, who knows?

You may have to live there for awhile. Are you going to let this pause in your dreams keep you down or are you going to bloom where you are planted? Sounds to me like you are going to do just that! Starting seeds is the first step to recovery!

It doesn't take a whole lot of money to make little improvements in your life. If you love growing things, if you love the SS life, if you love knowing you are still moving forward.....just do it. You saw the garden I put in last year with scrounged mulch hay, scrounged free lumber(well, we had to tear down the building but it didn't cost us more than our gas) for raised beds, scrounged manure compost. You can even do bag gardening!

Its not the destination, Dace, but the journey that counts. Keep putting one foot in front of the other, daydream of what you will accomplish, make do and pray for God's will. Always. Don't forget that most important part!

We care for you and admire you! You are a formidable woman in an uncertain world.....smooth out the wrinkles as you go!

 

[Dace]

That would be cool to make...looks like a bit of work, but maybe something my DH would like to fiddle with...he loves that kind of stuff!