A GARDEN ILLUSION...

 

To put it bluntly and mildly...
It..Is..Too..Damn..Hot! 
and the sight of red is making me see red,
 and all the color needs to be put away 

along with the holiday it stood for!   
I walk from the sitting room to the kitchen 

with blinders on.
  Even the sight of the red walls in the dining room,
 which I normally love, 
is a bit too much these days.

The only much needed reprieve 

from it all is in the evening 

when we go out onto the front porch, 

and while we watch and rock by the light of the moon, 

the old school phlox, 

with their lacy white blooms and soft scent,

 send us into a different frame of mind. 

 It is then that a light bulb moment

 occurs over our heads

 and we start a plan 

to "fool the eye and the mind" 

by bringing the garden inside the Cottage.

We start with the sitting room. 

 We spend the majority of our waking hours in this room,

 so it seems the logical place to begin this experiment.  Beginning with the green wreath. 

 I am not the biggest fan 

of the color green for inside decor

 but in the garden it is key 

and this wreath reminds me of a cool spot

 beside a creek bank where ferns thrive

 and the sunlight is dappled. 

 A printed canvas with garden related subjects,

 a few springs of ivy, a little tin cottage

 and an architectural element

 bring the idea onto the mantel shelf.

I've gathered together some blue pillows for the sofa

 and a green faux boxwood sphere

 rests on an urn, on the wagon, along side a candle 

that hints of sweet and summery scents.

Here, on the game table, 

sits a tall branch from a bush in the garden. 

 Of course, the thought of adding

 a few faux stems came to mind

 but that would defeat the simplicity we are going for. 

 All nothing significant, for sure,

 just the basic start to any garden.

  All of the beauty and color that would come next 

will be left out, for now,

 in this fantasy garden. 

I have had this print for a very long time. 

 It has always reminded me of 

my sister and myself, down at our grandparent's ranch.

  Everything about it is reminiscent 

of a place that we played at 

or a strawberry patch we picked at

 or the chickens we fed and gathered eggs from. 

 I would like to think 

that I looked that special 

in my sun hat and summer dress but, in reality,

 I think overalls were the dress of the day.

  I remember my sister, though, 

looking just like the little girl in the painting.  

That was what our summers were like. 

 We were always outside,

 the sun was shining and we played bare foot

 in the creek and the dirt. 

We turned brown as berries, as Grandma used to say, 

 and never complained 

that we were too hot! 

 Truly, those were the good old days 

and where would we be now

 without all the memories?

Thank you for coming inside to the garden 

and hope you are finding your own ways 

of keeping cool this summer. 

 This "fool the eye and the mind" plan of mine

 is a good thought,

 but I can assure you that

 all the faux in the world

 will not change reality!

...Judy...

Right now,

 this looks like the "good old days".

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Love Your Creativity at Life and Linda