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Grieving leaving my garden, but oh my, the excitements of anticipating the new garden. I'm in a new relationship. House, garden, me, well trod territory, and favorite. Slow down, did you notice the trinity? Is this trinity, house-garden-you, yours?
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Ignore this trinity at your peril. It is not in the least selfish, instead the opposite, giving.
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Counterintuitive.
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It's the airplane cliche, put the air mask on yourself before helping others.
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Once house & garden are leveraged fully, they are your ally in times of need, a spiritual base and retreat. Beauty, ease, activity. Another cliche, the more you go inward the more you outwardly connect.
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This isn't where I'm going with you, another day.
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Not in my new house/garden yet, I cannot design the garden. How could I? Don't know how I will live inside the house.
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I do know I'm designing for my 80 year old self, deer, drought, unskilled labor, and my own needs for beauty, simplicity, grace, The property has no barn, garage, conservatory, chicken coop. They are for me to choose, not a bad bargain.
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Built 1900, 4.5 acres, wooded/open, pond, American farmhouse architecture, 1 story, deep front porch across entire front, and a dogtrot 9' wide x 50 feet long. A dairy farm next door, with beautiful views of meadow, lake, rolling hills, Piedmont forest, and cows. Thorns in the roses, but those are another day too.
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Exterior colors? White on white is the classic for 1900, below. Along with basic gray porch flooring and blue beadboard ceilings.
Pic from here.
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Close to the street, I immediately thought of low fencing, friendly, with 'X' pattern, below. Alas, my 2 chimneys, after inspectors report, had to be removed. Repairing/replacing them not an option at this layer. Asked the current owner if I could have the bricks, realtor texted after chimneys were down, the bricks are stacked and waiting for me.
Pic via here.
30 years in my home/garden, a garden cat always in attendance. Will take this, below, and style for my own architecture.
Pic via here.
For my dogtrot, below. Door, table, door, the perfect enfilade.
Pic via here.
Exterior lights, above, are long gone, replacements chosen without regard to the home's age/architecture. Finally, will get to purchase lighting from the man I refer to all my clients.
Pic via here.
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There is no library, above, in my new home, this cannot be. Great joy in anticipating where it will be built.
Pic via here.
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Terra cotta, above, and galvanized metal will predominate with my pots at the new house.
Pic via here.
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Ceilings are 11' tall, above, and I've spent too much time researching how high to put curtain rods.
Pic via here.
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Will slipcover, above, some of my furniture, some in big check, the rest plain.
Pic via here.
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The master bedroom is shaded and needs a bright Nancy Lancaster yellow, above.
Pic via here.
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Dishes, above, will go on the walls. Which dishes and which walls, too fun, the anticipation.
Pic via here.
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Cloth on table, above, again, where, more than one?
Pic via here.
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Have done variations on this garden entry, above, for decades. The joy of knowing they will be designed, but not knowing where, for now.
Pic via here.
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My new home can lend itself formal, but I won't go there, wanting a blue striped rug, above, somewhere.
Pic via here.
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Have chosen the best room, very Enchanted April, for my office, above. A fun day when I can set the stack of 5 books I've written in their new resting place. Better days coming soon when I start writing my new books. 3 in the pipeline. Which to choose 1st? Adore these sorts of 'problems' !
Pic via here.
No conservatory, I'm considering this type, above, placed backside a small barn in the orchard. Neither barn/orchard existing anywhere but in my head. Already, they are on perfect axis with each other, house, and garden views.
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Amazing how little I know what to do in my new garden. In the macro, yes. Fine tuning exact placements, flow & scale, no. Life is good. My next job is to get moved in, and live. Choose interior colors, place furniture, art, lamps, library. And litter box.
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This ride has already begun.
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Blessedly my new home is not Victorian, it is Edwardian. A favorite era. A little later and it would have been Depression era Poverty Cycle. It will be included for history, and necessity, yet the elegancies from the Edwardian will each be a joy.
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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
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Getting my homes ready to sell has about done-me-in. Fourteen trips to thrift store with stuff, packing boxes, and staging, all at the same time. Gardens included, and alas both garages. Made the choice to use a realtor because of my day job. 30 years in my home, only 3 years with office/guest cottage. Have written about staging a friend's hard to sell vacation cabin, 6 years on the market with 3 realtors, I sold it on Zillow for-sale-by-owner, renting it on AirBnB while for sale.
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Staging works. Both of my homes have a signed contract, last week, with the first person who looked, then made an offer less than 24 hours later. No, homes were not priced too cheap. They were priced dictated by nearby comparables. Quite a week, last week, still not believing the speed life is happening.
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Grieving leaving is intense. The outreach I'm receiving is helping immensely. Humbled, and giving thanks, at this unexpected chapter of grace.
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None of the above is 'afforded'. I must write about the financial devastation of being married to an alcoholic, college sweetheart, for 3 decades, and losing every dime to my name. Repairing the financial damage as a Garden Designer, on my own. Alcoholic did not aim his misery at me, I was merely collateral damage. Was a victim for 15 wasted minutes. Was fortunate to pass thru survivor stage in fewer minutes, thankfully, to years of thriver.
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At lectures, local/national, and in my open gardens I've had many opportunities with other women, hugging them, tears down their faces, smiles too. Why are they crying? They had the epiphany, If she can do it, I can too.
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