Cherish is my favorite word, and I cherish the ability of turning the routine into a beautiful moment.
Nature creates in me, a spiritual and meditative time to bring peace, harmony and balance, into an otherwise ordinary day~
Mary Howell Cromer







Saturday, April 14, 2012

A Place Fondly Called Tingsgrove...Home For 31 Years~



Every Spring, I refuse to mow the grass on our second acre, until after the wildflowers, the Trillium, Phlox, Butterweed, Philadelphia Fleabane, Bluebells, Bleeding Hearts and others have been spent from their lovely blooms.  Some of these shares, these flowers, the shrubbery shall last all season, but not the wildflowers, they are here for less than a month, one beautiful spring month, that I cherish~

Of our 2 acres this is the acreage that forever changed things for me.  

For newcomers to my blog, I shall take a few moments to explain.  

Many moons ago, 31 years ago this June, we built our home on one acre of land and a few years later, were able to purchase the acre next to us.  One day, a feral cat that I had named Tom, went missing and I could not find him.  I looked all over the land and then when I got ready to return home...home is a 3 story contemporary cedar wood structure, painted wharf green, you cannot miss it...and yet, I could not figure out how to get out of that one acre.  In fact,  I could not even see our home.  It was so overgrown, with mother Poison Ivy plants...I call them that, because the vines were as big as my arm around and from those, came many others...17 garbage cans full of those vines

I am not a Martha Stewart type of gardener, or for that fact a homemaker either.  My place is a little bit too shabby chic, more on the shabby, than she would prefer;). I tackle things my own way, and approached it with an old hatchet that probably belonged to a relative and a roll of large extra heavy duty leaf bags and my mother's old squeaky limb loppers.

  It was not my intention to make it glorious, it is far from it, but if I owned it, I at least wanted to be able to walk upon  it.  It took me 5 years to tame back a bit, and afterwards, my husby said that we needed to give it a name.  My childhood nickname had been Ting and my nieces and nephews called me Aunt Ting.  That is how the word, this place called Tingsgrove happened.  

From that we have had my Tingsgrove Studio greeting cards, and of course, my blog title...not to mention the fact, that my husby used to write me letters when he traveled and instead of using our town's name, he used...Tingsgrove, Ky and with the zip code, it always arrived, right where it was supposed to be.

Here is the way it has looked for the past week.  The grass is getting taller, we have seen our first snake of the season, but soon enough the blooms shall fall away on the wildflowers and I shall get out my trusty old John Deere push mower and do the work of mowing.  I could go out and purchase a rider today, but then, I would not be able to walk the land, gather in my thoughts, see the tiny moments that pass me by, stop and pick up a turtle hiding from the lawnmower blades.  I would miss more of nature than I desire for now...tomorrow is another day. I may in time change my mind, yet for now, I am content using what I have to work with.  It takes me 4 to 5 hours to mow both acres, but I get the task done and enjoy every moment out on the land that we borrow for a time and for now fondly know, as my beloved Tingsgrove...come along, can you see the beauty, that is mine for the sharing~
 
 
 


 A neighbor was going to get rid of this tired old bench and so I carried it over on the grove...isn't a grove supposed to grow something special...well mine does not grow apples, peaches, or oranges, it grows a sweetness in time.  
The hollow logs I piled up, so that the chippys have a place to hide from the predators about~

 
 
 
 
 
 
 


 We have a few of the old fashioned wild Dogwoods trees, as well as the newer pink and red varieties~


 The old picnic table and rickety walk bridge have seen better days, but I would not part with that table, for too many fond memories with our 3 daughters and now our grandsons.  A new bridge across the creek, make that 4 replacement bridges, now that would be totally agreeable with me!
 
 
 
 
 
 

Now see, I didn't over tame it, I just smoothed my journey there a bit~




The above Mosaic was done by Mary at the Little Red House.
To view more like these...I am linking up with

 Mosaic Monday

entries with Mary
at

Little Red House

 

27 comments:

  1. Beautiful flowers ! It was very nice to watch.

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  2. Well, that's why it's called Tingsgrove, thanks Mary. The pictures are beautiful, I'd love to be been there.

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  3. absolutely heavenly. beautiful, natural, gorgeous. :)

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  4. That is a wonderful story. You've given such a sense of "place" and sound so happy to be surrounded by all of that beauty at Tingsgrove.
    -Karen

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  5. Happy Spring and what a delightful show nature is putting on for you with all those pretty flowers.

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  6. I for one am jealous! Your place is gorgeous and you have every right to be proud! Beautiful photos!

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  7. Mary, I just LOVE your piece of paradise! Would you like to come over and start in on our poison ivy?

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  8. Oh Mary I love that story. For some reason I did not feel you had lived thee long. Guess that is what blogging does lets you discover your neighbors near and far. I love your place and you must be a hard worker. We lived in the county like that for about 9 years when our children were growing up. It was the perfect place for them. We live in a rural subdivision with horses all around. Not too bad without all that work. LOL
    QMM

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  9. So much natural beauty. Enjoy!!!

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  10. What a wonderful post and story! I am especially in love with your bluebells.

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  11. Lovely story and beautiful flowers. Your images are all gorgeous. You do live in a beautiful place, thanks for sharing.

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  12. You did a fantastic job with helping the overgrown land become a thing of beauty.
    I'm glad you told your story for new visitors like me.

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  13. I love wildflowers and I'm always so sad when I see the mowers come out! Good for you!!!! Go wildflowers! Loved this post. Have a delightful week.

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  14. Oh Mary, how beautiful!!! I can tell from your words how close is the bond you share with your bit of earth. And your photos are so wonderful. Thanks for sharing your talent and your heart at MM. :) xoxo

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  15. Absolutely lovely! I adore wildflowers, and to see them dancing in a meadow is wonderful. ::Jill

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  16. Your wildflower photos are delightful, Mary! I agree that mowing can wait until the flowers are finished blooming. I enjoyed learning the origin of your home's name.

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  17. I have wondered how the name came about. Thanks for sharing the story. What a beautiful place - full of peace.

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  18. Wow what a beautiful place. I can see why you love it so. The wildflowers and your photos were amazing. V

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  19. Mary, I thoroughly enjoyed reading your story about how Tingsgrove got its name. Your two acre property looks like a magnificent place to reside. I would not cut those stunning wildflowers either. Tingsgove looks like paradise! All of your photographs are especially stunning. Viewing this marvelous post certainly brightened my day.

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  20. So very lovely photos and mosaics. Spring has really sprung in your beautiful place. Have a very nice week.

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  21. Hi Mary,
    Thanks for sharing the story with us, it is nice to know more about your life and your home, and even more wonderful to look at your pictures now ;-) They are wonderful by the way ;-)

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  22. Hi Mary

    What a glorious piece of heaven you've created. I love the old bench and table - it doesn't even matter if you can't sit on them - they are there for a reason. Gorgeous.

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  23. These wildflowers are so very beautiful ! Your Tingsgrove is a beauty, how you must be fond of this land ! I loved the story of your husband mailing letters at Tingsgrove !
    I also love those torn branches, it's beautiful.
    Your photography is lovely, have a nice day !

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