Please permit me to digress (again) from a direct focus on PMR/GCA - but ultimately this is about the 'health' of us all I think ....
Recently I posted a link to Bealtaine Cottage garden with a video - one of many made by the 'Goddess Permaculture' practitioner Colette O'Neill from the West of Ireland as she has very successfully 'restored' woodland to depleted and denuded farmland. For those who have watched one or more of these I'm sure they will not be disappointed - despite having gardening inclinations or not many enjoy her films and commentary for diverse reasons - not least of them for their 'health'. She is contacted often by people with chronic health conditions - many very painful -and praised for the respite she has given in times of great stress and despair. As well as short - usually about 30 min films - all available on YouTube - Colette also takes marvellous photographs and writes fascinating blogs and books which are not about the cliched notion of 'sustainability but about 'regeneration' of 'Mother Earth'. I would suggest these terms could apply equally well to what most of us would 'ideally' like for our personal health.
Most of us would recognise that too much engagement in the digital world is not very 'healthy' and we all need to do something 'real' (if we are able) which is more tangible and for me gardening is the most rewarding thing. But also I must acknowledge how invaluable the Net can be for making contact with people who offer great insights no matter what the distance - this forum is also a great example of that. Here I have attached a link to one of Colette's photographic blogs as she pays a tribute to all the Americans she has 'met' over the years and their kindness and generosity - interestingly descriptors SO at odds with the typical portrayals and depictions of Americans on contemporary TV and film. A great reminder of the 'real' world ... and the 'goodness' of many people.
I did indulge in a little cottage therapy after your last post and I would highly recommend others to take look too, whether you like gardening or not, they really are uplifting, especially if you love the outdoors and can't get outside at the moment because of health issues.
Part of my "job" as an artist involved volunteering to help people to get outdoors and teaching them how to get an appreciation of how nature's gifts could be used to create artistic things.
I particularly liked teaching people with physical or mental health disabilities, many of which had never had contact with nature before , or, had no chance to use their creative skills. They were always amazed by what they could achieve .
Little was I to know , just a few years ago , that I would eventually spend some time experiencing the same form of mobility issues and the isolation that comes with it first hand. Films like Colette's have helped me keep some of the contact with Nature I have always found so inspiring and calming throughout my life, and I am so glad when people share pictures of their Art, their gardens or links to others work on this site.
They may not be related to medical issues, but their impact on improving my mental health and strength have more impact on my symptoms than a trip to the GP.
I itch to be back in the wild creating my work and helping others again to feel that joy, and I cannot wait to get my condition in check so I can do it again soon.
The one upside of this low point I keep in mind is that in my future endeavours my experience will help me to understand the feelings of the people I work with more than before , and find new ways to help them overcome the issues they endure.
I am not an American but just like you Rimmy, I would like to give thanks to all the people I have met on the Net that help me through this difficult time, including those that make inspiring films ,like Collette , who bring us closer to the great outdoors when we cannot get outside.
And, I would also love to give thanks to all the people that care for us at home , or work for charities and groups that help us take part in activities that improve our lives , and help us to be the people we want to be.
I cannot wait to get back to doing something 'real' again and this experience has made me even more grateful for the years I got to spend in the great outdoors. I know I will never take Nature or getting to experience activity outdoors for granted again.
Take care Rimmy , and all that read this post , and thank you for being my friends. BEe xx
Dear Blearyeyed - thank YOU for such a thoughtful response - I am so pleased you have been partaking of 'cottage therapy' and enjoying the multiple benefits - which you are obviously very well aware of in the description of some of your life story. I initially watched Colette's films to learn more about her garden - especially the permaculture aspects of things - but have come to realise this is a really holistic experience - or it inevitably for me has become so. It has been getting close to 4 years now since my partner and I bought an acre or two which only had dry weeds and a few old fruit trees - but it is now starting to thrive after planting many diverse trees and small plants and reviving the orchard. Some days when exhausted I have thought this was 'madness' as we live 50 kms from the land we call 'Stonygrad' and have a quarter acre of our home garden as well to maintain - but it has been SO 'worth' the the effort as we are now beginning to see the results of all our work and watch 'Mother Nature' starting to 'smile' upon us with lots of birds, insects, lizards, frogs and other critters now also living in our garden. The main thing however is the sheer joy of just 'being' there and doing a million and one things which feel so creative - like working on a HUGE 'canvas'. I know as an artist you will appreciate the aesthetics of a thriving garden - as well as everything else - what can be 'lovelier' !? They say in times of 'destruction' become 'creative' and where else better than a garden - large or small !!
Thanks also for your friendship Blearyeyed - it is wonderful to share our thoughts and feelings with people who understand what we are blithering on about (LOL) !!
Your garden or any patch of earth we work on and add beauty to is a ," living canvas".
As predominately , a Nature Artist and Designer, my canvas is often the great outdoors, adding art pieces or planting and building living pieces creatively in existing woodlands, gardens and lost canvases in hidden nooks in the Mountains or by the Sea.
Where are you based?
When I am healthy I would love to visit your plot of land and create something on site for you in keeping with your canvas and your vision of the place you cherish.
Now you have whetted our appetites with the story of your patch of joy perhaps you could make little films about your work too, like Colette, to inspire and uplift us all with
what can be achieved as you get PMR/GCA under management.
well you certainly sound like a fascinating artist of/with 'Nature'- what a wonderful thing to do and be !! We live in the lower SW of Western Australia next to King George Sound in Albany and our bigger garden is on the edge of a very small nearby rural town called Mount Barker. Needless to say even with just 50kms distance between the two they are very different gardens with their own ecologies and often quite unique 'demands'.
We have thought of making some films but always put the actual gardening ahead of such pursuits especially in this still relatively 'early' phase of its creation. Luckily our home garden is well established after 10 years and much easier to manage. Both need a lot of attention in Summer however - watering being vital in our climate and the orchard produces so much fruit which we have to preserve, freeze,give away and even sell some of it - all time consuming.
We would love you to visit some time when you are well and maybe in our part of the world and thank you so very much for your generous idea - there are always things to be 'created' anywhere we are and gardens are as you know 'never-ending' 'projects' ...
Sounds like you and I have been on a similar path over the years. I have followed permaculture for many years now, trying my best to live the life.
Some years back my parents needed help, so my husband and I moved in with them. One of the biggest stresses at the time was their lack of understanding of my beliefs, not in the religious sense! Mum didn't want 'weeds' in her garden she wanted me to use weedkiller. I physically couldn't.
Thinking about it, this inability to live by my own rules was one of the major stresses just before PMR.
You might have disagreed on things and had some stress but I am sure that even if she would be ashamed of the weeds , she was always proud of you and grateful for what you did for her , even if she didn't always show it.
From your note to Rimmy sounds like you are both really busy and doing the sort of natural gardening that people like me really appreciate.
( If not only because one whiff of weedkiller and garden centre lawn fertiliser makes my face and hands blow up like a balloon!!)
Looks like that's another garden to visit when I recover to add a little nature art too!
Do you also use nettle as well as comfrey in your homemade liquid food?
Had to be nettles this year as the comfrey bed had to be moved, smells just as bad! At least I'm a bit nearer than Australia when you're ready to visit
'Sunny' south coast, and it's not so warm here today.
Sounds like there's a lot I could learn from you, moss paint is new to me but it's not surprising, amazing what plants can do for us, practically and emotionally.
Sorry you're in pain, the cold is no friend to us. PMR is quite wellbehaved at the moment but my hip replacement is making itself felt.
That would be very difficult for you as not everyone understands what 'permaculture' is about. While we try to use the major principles ourselves it can be challenging and it is necessary to take the 'long view' and not expect 'instant' solutions as you'd know. In today's world it is even more challenging as many people complain they have 'no time' and try to do almost everything as fast as possible. A great example is weed eradication I'm sure you'd agree - if you decide to avoid toxic weedkillers you can still only pull and compost so many while waiting for trees to grow which will (one day) if deciduous drop leaves which will smother weeds etc etc ...
Perhaps if they watch some Bealtaine cottage films - Colette uses NO chemicals - only compost and 'compoost' (human waste on non-edibles) which have worked wonders in her garden - but some could never contemplate that I know !
Mum died last year, the garden is now mine to do as I wish ( or as PMR allows ) The front is mainly trees with shrubs being added as I can and the back is dedicated to fruit and veg. Not a straight row of bright red flowers to be seen. Oh and there are pleanty of 'weeds' some of which are comfrey to help feed the others. She especially hated my ugly compost bin, there are three now.
She had worked hard for years to get the garden how she wanted it, I had to make changes slowly and sensitively usually in areas she could not get to.
Rimmy thank you so much for posting the blog of this lovely ladies beautiful garden,l really am missing my garden now that the weather has become so cold and dull.The wonderful pictures are so uplifting and very inspiring,l would love to paint some of them in watercolour .l love tree’s and the colours are truly beautiful .l can hardly wait for spring !Colette is a real earth mother bless her and l love her cottage interior,the whole blog feels like a holiday,it has certainly made my day today .Best wishes Rimmy and thanks again xx.
I am happy you enjoyed the post and her blog Grants148 - Colette has a marvellous very soothing voice as well and I always feel much more relaxed after joining her for a stroll through her garden listening to her on one of her many videos. You are right 'like a holiday' from the 'everyday'.
You are most welcome ALeCount - I am pleased you enjoyed Colette's blog from Bealtaine Cottage - she is a really marvellous photographer, film maker, 'philosopher', gardener and writer !!
An uplifting way to start the day, thank you. I am sending the link to a dear friend, as Collette's garden reminds me of the one she created in France, although they have now returned to England to much smaller space, it has been turned into a haven.
Instead of Christmas cards, of which I send very few, I am sending Bee Packs from Friends of the Earth, included are seeds for bee loving flowers. SAVE THE BEES, the need all the help we can give them, trying to survive in a world of Monsato and concrete.
I have so enjoyed all the posts, from you lovely people.
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Cambridge University rheumatology survey, particularly keen to hear from people with PMR
A truly important request for support~
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Adrenal Insufficiency treatment?
