My life changed after my parents moved near me in 2016 due to their failing health. My father passed away in 2018 from Alzheimer’s. I believe I tried to write a few posts after he passed, but I never could get them up and going. I could not maintain a schedule, and I am not a disciplined writer. Well, I am not a writer by nature. I am a gardener and want to grow food, foster nature, and build community! My garden is my art, my writing a blog was to share with others and find others doing the same thing. Find Like-minded people who share my love for digging in the soil!

I was also helping one of my kids with a grandchild. Both his parents worked long hours, and my husband and I helped them with that because I remembered raising kids and never having any family nearby to help us out. I knew ( from my own experiences!) that trying to establish and maintain a career while raising kids is daunting.

Then my mother’s health started to decline, and I needed to find a place for her to live her next season of life. I could have started a blog on finding a place for mom! She sold her condo and moved to a brand-new not-for-profit facility that offered her community. A place for her to make friends and finish out the last season of her life. What an adventure! She turned 91 this year. I admire anyone who reaches that age. Not an easy task!

Once she moved into her facility, I joined a native plant not-for-profit group, Wild Ones International, which was the blog post I attempted to write back in 2022. I joined our local Chapter. If you love Native Plants, make sure you check out this organization; they have chapters across the United States. I met many people who loved bringing nature into their backyards. Some became good friends. Plant people are great people. I then joined the board and got involved in building community, which is the focus of this blog. That took up a lot of my time, and I sure learned a lot about Robert’s Rules of Order as a board president. I am no longer on their local board, but I enjoy all the local activities our Chapter offers to members.

I again found my blog sitting idle for many days, months, years! I kept it posted up because I always wanted to return. I missed my blogging community and the friends I made through blogging. Doing the same thing, nurturing nature, health, and community each day.

Well, we all know COVID happened, and many of us drifted off into isolation and tried to deal with all the mess that it brought to all of our daily lives. I’m older, wiser, and still digging in the dirt. I’ve met many people in my community over the years as I’ve transitioned through various seasons of my life. My mother is still trucking along with her walker at 91 and living in independent living. She is 91, and as you know, I am older now, too. I started blogging back in 2010. That was around the time I became an empty nester. My youngest went off to college, and the garden on my property exploded! It went from a few plants here and there with a large lawn. Now that the lawn is pretty much not visible. It has SHRUNK! Finally, my husband stopped asking where the lawn went. This year, I purchased a push mower, and it is a blast! That will be another post for another day.

I’m still growing food and eating most of the time healthily (I do have my cheat days!) and trying to build a garden for nature to flourish, as well as helping get the word out about how important it is to grow food, nature, and community!

As you can see, I’m still eating Kale! I believe Kale is what keeps me healthy, even though most of my friends and family aren’t big fans.

I’m BACK!!! I am excited to visit some of you who may still be blogging all over the world, whom I’ve missed and whose blogs I’ve been reading. I have a schedule, a new office space I created to write my blog and share my new season with Palm Rae Potager, the name of my garden. It has changed since 2009, trees have died, new trees have been planted, and the landscape of my garden has changed as my life has, too. ‘Tis a new season to welcome a new garden!