This was in my daily devotion book yesterday:
" The word amateur has been re-defined over the years and has lost the luster of its original meaning. The English word comes from the Latin word amore, which means "to love." An amateur is someone who does something simply for the love of it."
(Julie Ackerman Link)
I am definitely an amateur!
Are We Amateurs?
Great find, Sue. I'm with you, lifelong amateur.
I have always called myself an amateur gardener....I was right!!!
Thanks for sharing Sue!
Oh yes, Amateur gardener, wonderful definition.
I am in any sense of the word
:)
I'm an immature gardener too!
Dave, you're just plain immature! LOL!
And now you know what immature looks like!
Gee . . . I would have said "youthful" Dave47!
you guys crack me up
Complete amateur here. But today I feel burnt out. Does anyone else ever get that way? Normally I am outside every moment possible and love every minute of it. My goal is to landscape every inch of my yard and I'm probably about half done. But today all I see is all the unfinished stuff and despair that I will ever be able to keep up. I was glad for the rain because it gave me an excuse to quit. The rain has stopped now, but I have no desire to get back to work. Anyone else ever get this way? Hopefully it's just for the day, not the rest of the summer!!
Many many times, thank goodnees it will pass!
All the time. I will go out and do something and go look again and say WHAT????? I went to the veggie garden and looked after the hail, I threw my hands up and walked off. Went back and looked again and threw my hands up and walked off again and again and again. There must be a magnet as I am getting pulled back.
Went to Home Depot yesterday. There was a sign - marked red 1/2 off. There was either an X or a sprayed red circle on some. They were 1/2 off. So there I stand looking at the whole price JM's. 140 or 60 for a tiny one. I am scratching my head. I want to talk to the manager.
When does the trees go on sale? answer Last September but I don't know exactly when, I just get a notice. She also said that the sale goes until all the plants go down to 75% off late in September but she feels it is too late to plant then. Hummmm
Why are the trees marked red 1/2 price? answer I am the only one that has the option to mark them 1/2 price when they look stressed. She went over and looked at the JMs and 3 were stressed and she said these will be 1/2 price, look at them. They looked stressed to me.
I think this manager at HD is going to be on my best friend list ! You know keep your friends close and your enemies closer!
LOL Sherrie! So did you buy the JM's??
When you lose the wonder, the aware, the moments of surprise, you become complacent and disinterested.
Thats the beauty of gardening, everything is alway changing and new. It easy to maintain the amateur status.
In my case, being fairly simple minded, meny thing cause delight and wonder.....
.....like every morning in the bathroom I say to myself, WOW running water. What will they think of next?
Chuck
The heat & humidity help me want a break from the garden.
I don't know if I was overwhelmed with the planting or if the heat got me yesterday, but I ended up with an awful head ache early in the afternoon. I lied down for an hour or so. That is so NOT me.
Christina, I'm the same way with my yard. On these hot, humid days I want to give up and "wait until Fall". Sometimes I do and sometimes, like today, I went out at 7:30 and put in an edging around a bed and then cut down the daisies before it got too hot.
Chin up! If you're an "amateur" like the rest of us, it will pass!
I fit that description!
Hey Jen, how goes the planting?
Okay - anything over 72 degrees is a heat wave as far as I am concerned. So, I must get up at 5 am for a serious gardening day! Everything has to be done by 9 am - then I can come in, have coffee and breakfast.
I don't know how anyone else can garden in the heat.
Ever feel like giving up? At least once a day when I see the mess I have created! Way too many plants that are way too small to do anything with (thank-god for the RU and decent sized plants). By September I will have oodles of larger perennials to plant out but now they are cluttering the pathway and preventing me from planting out the shade garden . . . sigh.
Meanwhile, the terrace looks better than my own yard!
I planted the mint so far, I'll be getting out there a little later. Yesterday with all the storms I had no opportunity to do any.
I wish it would rain here - so far a lot of ominous threatening we can't eat outside tonight type clouds, 76 raindrops, then it's over. Not even enough to get away without watering!
I am definitely an immature amateur.
I am a rookie . . . don't qualify yet to be an amateur.
Glad to know I'm not alone. I'm still feeling burnt out today. I took DH up on his offer for a dinner date tonight instead of going home and playing in the garden. Normally the poor man doesn't get to eat until 9pm when it gets to dark to work outside. Then I am too tired for a proper dinner so it's often an omelette or PB&J. He's such a good sport - but he does occasionally remind me of the days I used to make 'gourmet dinners' every night (I think his memory is failing, but I digress...)
Come on, Michaela, you are one of the most passionate gardeners I know (along with the rest of us clowns). You may be a rookie, but you love to play in the dirt.
True - I do love playing in the dirt!
Neat thread! I'm an amateur, but I worry about my passion when those tired days come. I grew up believing I was going to be an artist and there was no way around it. Now, at 39, I hardly draw anymore at all. I stopped painting when I got pregnant 12 years ago... I mourn the loss. I worry gardening will fade away like that.
I, too , was much more creative years ago. I did a lot of sketch drawing and even created a character that I used in a greeting card series(not professionally). It's so easy to allow 'life' to come between you and your true inner self. There's only so much time in a day and our brains are in constant motion. There will come a time when you don't have to worry about other things in your life and you will be able to get back to the things you love. The true still inner you.
In the mean time, and forever on end, gardening is a constant. No matter where I have lived, I have always surrounded myself with plants. I have built a garden where ever I could. It hasn't always been outside. Gardening is personal time. Healing time. Expressive time. It changes as we grow and change. That's the wonder and awe of gardening.
AMEN brother
Err, I mean sister.
Well said Nance!
Reading this thread I started to think a bit about what Nanegoat said about growth and change.
I thought I would jot down some thoughts also. Please forgive verse form, I get carried away sometimes. Sorry.
Chuck
EACH IN ITS WAY
The sun creeps above the shadowed hill,
As darkness begins it recess into the deep forest.
Nature’s night shift makes its way toward their waiting lairs,
And the earliest of the morning rise to greet the coming day.
The morning dew is sweet and fresh upon each surface,
It washes off the night’s cloak that covered each and all.
I also find myself in midst of lightening glen,
With the hope of promise for the coming day.
Quiet is the ruling master at this time of morn,
But is broken by the scurry of paw as it journeys forth.
All living things begin life again left at end of day,
The growing plants seem to sense it first.
They raise and seek the coming warmth,
Leaning, turning, and reaching, all toward the approaching sun.
I stand in the same place I did the day before,
Familiar yet different from what I remember last.
Each day, each changed, each in its way,
Never tiring from this presentation do I find myself.
In fact I become a student and nature teaches,
That in each day we can become as them.
To grow and reach to higher goals,
Knowing the beauty that lives within.
And joining with natures song,
Each in its own way.
This message was edited Jul 1, 2008 9:36 AM
This message was edited Jul 1, 2008 9:43 AM
Applause! Applause! Applause!
Chuck................well go ahead and get carried away. Few of us could meld words with the wisdom and skill of your pen. Very nice indeed.
Chuck, no need to apologize! You're DEFINITELY an "amateur" a la Sue.
This message was edited Jul 1, 2008 11:40 AM
Very nice...the mood and feeling behind the words resonates deep within me. This is why I love gardening - and just nature in general.
Wow Chuck, how wonderful!
Beautiful Chuck! You may get carried away at anytime if it comes out like that!!!!