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Five Minutes in the Garden

Yesterday was busy from stem to stern: carpooling, walking, working and the usual day-to-day activities. It was also unseasonably warm, a day begging to be spent outdoors.

I took the spare minutes that I had and sat on the back steps.

Wishing I had my camera, I spotted five hummingbirds sunning themselves on the bare branches of the fruit cocktail tree. Delightful. Then a pair of mourning doves swooped down, foraging in the earth under the tree.

Now I *had* to grab my camera.

Once back outside, the birds had moved on but a squirrel took their place.

squirrel under fruit tree

Easy-going squirrel

Lindy followed me outside and settled into a sun-warmed layer of leaves beneath the Acer. Mouse followed and had a long drink from the garden fountain.

lindy at rest

Lindy enjoying the warmth under the Acer tree

I prowled the garden, making mental notes:

  • Remember to grab some twine and attach the Abutilon to the fence
  • Call the arborist and get a quote for pruning the fruit tree
  • Check the weather forecast for rain as things are looking dry
  • Staple the wooden slat back to the fence
  • Bring in one of the oranges as an offering to the indoor rat, missing in action
orange side one

Orange: side one

orange side two

Orange: side two

Five minutes probably turned into ten. The garden absorbs me and I lose all sense of time. The camera grew heavier in my hands. Reluctantly, I headed back inside.

What would you do with an extra five minutes today?

36 thoughts on “Five Minutes in the Garden”

  1. That’s nice to sit outside and just watch the wildlife. I think if time stood still for a few minutes I would do just that. Today I briefly spotted a kestrel sitting in a tree at the end of the garden while I was passing a window. Now if I hadn’t been in the middle of doing whatever it was that I was doing, I would have picked up the binoculars for a closer look!

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    • Ours was a present for our son the year he turned 10. He really wanted that tree.

      Ors grows pitted fruit: plums, peaches, apricots and nectarines. One of the grafts died early on, but last year we had our biggest harvest to date of both plums and apricots. They were so good.

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  3. Lovely post, reminding us to take time to ‘smell the roses’. I always take advantage when Siddy and I visit the dog park and there is no-one else around. There are places to sit beneath aged oaks – my favourites there, they are so big and beautifully encompassing – and a maple and some less impressive natives. At home spare minutes are given over to catching up with blog posts and working on my paintings. Alas, both activities turn minutes into hours and I am only brought back to myself when a toy is unceremoniously dropped into my lap for a game of fetch, or when the puppy who dropped the toy into my lap some time earlier begins to cry because he has been at ‘wait’ for an hour! [It’s true, it happened yesterday! I felt terrible!!]

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    • Oh dear. Poor Siddy.

      Actually, I see that he’s quite spoiled, so the waiting game is hopefully just an exercise in patience. There, there little fur ball, mama will be right with you.

      Your days sound wonderful to me: walks, time painting and creating, the love of two launched daughters and the adoration of Siddy and Orlando (well as much as any cat will admit to anyway).

      To blog is truly a commitment of time, isn’t it? I never dreamed it would be such a large part of each day, commenting, replying to comments, visiting and reading and of course writing and taking photos. It’s a pleasure, but I do feel uncomfortable when I’ve fallen behind on both reading and commenting.

      I hope someone will wander by and take a photo of you sitting under a mighty oak. That would be lovely.

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      • I’ve just hit ‘publish’ on a post that ends by writing on the very subject of falling behind with the reading of posts! It is a commitment and I am uncomfortable with falling behind – but there are several blogs now where I am reading and leaving no comments. I’m just out of time! I’m obviously spending far too much time out socialising in this lovely summer heat!

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  4. Five minutes in the garden does wonders for the soul, and the body. However these days my five minutes seem to go on tidying up my photo files. 😦 Just for a change, though, I have spent the past 5 minutes looking at the garden and wondering if I have room for a fruit cocktail tree. 😀

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  5. It’d be really great to be able to get outside, even for a walk. Our weather is to warm up by Sunday, so I’ll look forward to that. Lindy looks all comfy with her paws tucked under her fur skirt. So nice to see your squirrel friend. She’s adorable. I think our squirrels are hibernating someplace warm, I haven’t seen one for weeks. They’re smart. I was at work for a couple of days and managed ok, but this darn cold is full on tonight. I don’t have to work again till Tuesday, so good timing. By then, I should be good as gold.
    In five minutes, I would be able to call Ethan Allen about my night table delivery, I got a message they’re in! Or, I could sit down with my new ukulele and see if it’s still tuned from last Friday. Or, I’d look through a few magazines I’m really wanting to read. Or I’d brush Blossum, she’s shedding so much and I think brushing everyday might help. No wonder the day goes by so fast, LOL. xo K

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    • Oh, I hope you’re weather did warm up. I checked your report over the weekend and seems did seem warmer. We’re expecting crazy warm weather over the weekend, They think we’ll break some sort of record. As for the rain: haven’t seen any since mid-December. Sigh.

      So, did you use your five minutes to play your ukulele? Thumbing through magazines is great fun, too. Beijing *loved* to be brushed. She’s the only cat we’ve had in recent years that enjoyed it so much. I’ve recently introduced it to Slinky. She’s unsure. I just brush a couple of times after letting her smell the brush. So far, so good. She too shed’s like Blossum.

      Darn these colds. We seem to be chatting about them all over the web! Ha. xoxox

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      • Oh how our weather warmed up. We’ve been above 0 c for over a week now. I cleaned the Christmas decor off the porch in flip-flops and no jacket. Today +8 C and in Lethbridge (Southern Alberta near the US boarder) it’s forecasted to be +22 C (That’s almost 72 F) It’s very weird. They’re already worried about the lack of moisture down south. So far in January it’s been -32 C and then +10…weird!

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  8. I love to be outside! Always something interesting to see our to just simply enjoy the warmth of the sun or a cool breeze. Ahhhhhhh. We woke up to rain in Southern California today! Surprise.

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      • Although I do love the rain I could never live in a place that rains all the time! We’ve had some beautiful sun for the last couple of days and expect to continue through the weekend. Rain next week. It will be a blessing when it arrives. Hope you will get a little bit of rain at some point this winter.

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  10. Five minutes is just enough time to plan what you want to do with the next five or ten minutes! I love your post, Alys. It is wonderful to be able to catch those little, fleeting moments that make up the day. The simple observations. I know your squirrels are a pest, but I can’t help but see them as cute little things! Our equivalent would be possums.

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    • Thank you, Anne. I heard an interesting program on the radio today about trying to unplug for a period of time. They also talked about the importance of boredom and how it often leads people into creativity. I can’t imagine not having quite moments in a day to be alone with my thoughts. I think it’s energizing.

      Oh, we have possums too, and most recently a racoon came by for a long drink at the fountain. I’m fond of all creatures, even the ones that challenge my nerves. I feel we’ve encroached on their world for so long that they have fewer and fewer places to go.

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  13. I love how you sprinkle a little thoughtful wisdom into your posts, Alys. Five minutes can be painfully long, or wistfully too quick depending upon one’s activity. Sitting outside and mulling over the to dos sounds like a mixture of rest and preparation. Not quite idle, not quite active. Mostly just perfect.
    What would I do? Maybe make a fire in the fireplace (Virginia’s still got some arctic argument happening). That way, one chunk of five minutes spreads hours of happiness.
    It’s that or brush my hair. I’ve not tackled that mess in donkey’s years.
    😛

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    • LOL on the hair brushing. I burst out laughing.

      I love the idea of you building a fire in five minutes so you can reap the rewards for hours to follow. I can tell you’re a planner. You’re a woman after my own heart.

      Mostly just perfect. Yes indeed.

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      • I heard about all the rain you’d had last year. I’ll do a little rain dance for you. Or I could send some of the snow we’re forecast this weekend, melted of course 🙂

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