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A Storybook Dream Come True
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Title:
A Storybook Dream Come True
A Storybook Dream Come True
Author:
Barbara Stanley
Barbara Stanley
Description:
As a young girl I was a voracious reader. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett was one of my very favorite books and I have read it many times through the years. I didn't do much gardening growing up in Florida other than the assigned chore of pulling weeds in the heat in our yard. I fantasized about living in an area with four seasons, enjoying brilliant autumn leaves and crisp snowy landscapes, and especially springs and summers riotous with the kinds of flowers that grew in the English country gardens of my favorite books. Fast forward to my early 20's. My new husband had grown up spending his summers in a family-owned 250 acre forested cove in the mountains of NC and when our first baby was 2 weeks old we moved there. The time constraints of working full-time and raising a family limited my gardening but I planted the foxgloves, roses and peonies that I had always wanted and reveled in the watercolor sketches of mountain springs, the vibrant oil-painted hues of autumns and amazing lightning bug and butterfly summers. Our sons grew up and 11 years ago we retired. Now I work and play in my mountain garden with our young grandchildren. After retirement and having the luxury of time I became a Master Gardener volunteer with our local extension service and started keeping honeybees. I have a potting shed that is my playhouse and work space, and I have been privileged to have photos of it appear in magazines and even a book. I let the grandchildren play in it with me if they are really good! Gardening has helped me stay fit and agile, helped me connect with friends that enjoy gardening and beekeeping as much as I do and given me much joy with the beautiful flowers that I could only read about as a child . "If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need." said Cicero, and I am blessed now to have the garden that I first found in a library.
As a young girl I was a voracious reader. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett was one of my very favorite books and I have read it many times through the years. I didn't do much gardening growing up in Florida other than the assigned chore of pulling weeds in the heat in our yard. I fantasized about living in an area with four seasons, enjoying brilliant autumn leaves and crisp snowy landscapes, and especially springs and summers riotous with the kinds of flowers that grew in the English country gardens of my favorite books. Fast forward to my early 20's. My new husband had grown up spending his summers in a family-owned 250 acre forested cove in the mountains of NC and when our first baby was 2 weeks old we moved there. The time constraints of working full-time and raising a family limited my gardening but I planted the foxgloves, roses and peonies that I had always wanted and reveled in the watercolor sketches of mountain springs, the vibrant oil-painted hues of autumns and amazing lightning bug and butterfly summers. Our sons grew up and 11 years ago we retired. Now I work and play in my mountain garden with our young grandchildren. After retirement and having the luxury of time I became a Master Gardener volunteer with our local extension service and started keeping honeybees. I have a potting shed that is my playhouse and work space, and I have been privileged to have photos of it appear in magazines and even a book. I let the grandchildren play in it with me if they are really good! Gardening has helped me stay fit and agile, helped me connect with friends that enjoy gardening and beekeeping as much as I do and given me much joy with the beautiful flowers that I could only read about as a child . "If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need." said Cicero, and I am blessed now to have the garden that I first found in a library.
Description:
As a young girl I was a voracious reader. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett was one of my very favorite books and I have read it many times through the years. I didn't do much gardening growing up in Florida other than the assigned chore of pulling weeds in the heat in our yard. I fantasized about living in an area with four seasons, enjoying brilliant autumn leaves and crisp snowy landscapes, and especially springs and summers riotous with the kinds of flowers that grew in the English country gardens of my favorite books. Fast forward to my early 20's. My new husband had grown up spending his summers in a family-owned 250 acre forested cove in the mountains of NC and when our first baby was 2 weeks old we moved there. The time constraints of working full-time and raising a family limited my gardening but I planted the foxgloves, roses and peonies that I had always wanted and reveled in the watercolor sketches of mountain springs, the vibrant oil-painted hues of autumns and amazing lightning bug and butterfly summers. Our sons grew up and 11 years ago we retired. Now I work and play in my mountain garden with our young grandchildren. After retirement and having the luxury of time I became a Master Gardener volunteer with our local extension service and started keeping honeybees. I have a potting shed that is my playhouse and work space, and I have been privileged to have photos of it appear in magazines and even a book. I let the grandchildren play in it with me if they are really good! Gardening has helped me stay fit and agile, helped me connect with friends that enjoy gardening and beekeeping as much as I do and given me much joy with the beautiful flowers that I could only read about as a child . "If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need." said Cicero, and I am blessed now to have the garden that I first found in a library.
As a young girl I was a voracious reader. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett was one of my very favorite books and I have read it many times through the years. I didn't do much gardening growing up in Florida other than the assigned chore of pulling weeds in the heat in our yard. I fantasized about living in an area with four seasons, enjoying brilliant autumn leaves and crisp snowy landscapes, and especially springs and summers riotous with the kinds of flowers that grew in the English country gardens of my favorite books. Fast forward to my early 20's. My new husband had grown up spending his summers in a family-owned 250 acre forested cove in the mountains of NC and when our first baby was 2 weeks old we moved there. The time constraints of working full-time and raising a family limited my gardening but I planted the foxgloves, roses and peonies that I had always wanted and reveled in the watercolor sketches of mountain springs, the vibrant oil-painted hues of autumns and amazing lightning bug and butterfly summers. Our sons grew up and 11 years ago we retired. Now I work and play in my mountain garden with our young grandchildren. After retirement and having the luxury of time I became a Master Gardener volunteer with our local extension service and started keeping honeybees. I have a potting shed that is my playhouse and work space, and I have been privileged to have photos of it appear in magazines and even a book. I let the grandchildren play in it with me if they are really good! Gardening has helped me stay fit and agile, helped me connect with friends that enjoy gardening and beekeeping as much as I do and given me much joy with the beautiful flowers that I could only read about as a child . "If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need." said Cicero, and I am blessed now to have the garden that I first found in a library.