A sense of accomplishment...
...comes when we engage into the things we do with all our hearts, connected to our existences to the fullest, still the mind being at ease....
Sunday turned out to be a "home day", as when the sun is shining and the temperatures are warm, one of our favorite places to be is....home!
No, there isn't a lovely garden, like the really big one (1200sm) I grew up in Greece...oh my!...those were The days...!
No, there isn't a huge veranda or many verandas, like most apartments situated by the sea in the Athenian southern suburbs have....
Just for the record, allow me a little parenthesis, so that the amount of change that I had to adjust to is somehow better understood:
-> the home I grew up into had 60sm of verandas and an overall size of 140sm.
-> the last apartment, I rented and lived alone in with one of my dogs - Grace, had 30sm of verandas and an overall size of 73sm.
-> and finally the current home my parents bought and helped them with the complete renovation, measures 33sm of verandas and an interior floor plan of 80sm.
Outdoor life has been part of my daily life since the day I was born!....so, one of the main reasons this small 65sm Penthouse was chosen as our first common residence, since I relocated here in Germany in order to live together with my German partner, is the fact that it does have a veranda, with a most privileged orientation to the sun!
Just having an outdoor space doesn't do much, unless it is exposed to the sun for as long as possible, at least in my case. Well, the sun rising on the left of the apartment, it bathes the whole place with light and occasional sun and warmth ( this is Germany!) until almost late evening.
So, eventhough it measures around 5(!)sm and despite its obvious mini size, it makes all the difference! I couldn't have imagined what happiness can be found in such a small place!
Yet, life never seizes to surprise us!
It's a wonderful aspect to come to the point of enjoying life for whatever it offers us, being able to live well with more, being able to live well with less...
I read these following words this morning, visiting shortly my flickr account and taking a look at some of the profiles of people who add me as their contact ( thank you to all 788 of them!) There couldn't have been a better way to put this into words:
" I think one of the best ways of measuring a person's success is by measuring their accumulations of happiness within their heart ", writes Mr Tom Miller
Thank you Tom for adding me as your contact and therefore giving me the chance to read this wonderfull wise words!
Now, it's about time I returned to this sense of accomplishment mentioned in this post's title....
Well, it has to do with gardening!....no need to laugh at me when talking about gardening in a tiny veranda with only two (!) plants at the moment....sometimes really less is more!
But, if you want to enjoy a really beautiful garden, part of a lovely home in Austria and real gardening adventures, then please do visit Kathrin from flickr's Lillian day.
So, this is what got planted by my bare hands this Sunday:
Yes, bare hands....as much as I find gardening gloves to be the cutest very often ( flowered or dotted for example) and do sometimes use them, this time I wanted to feel the earth with my hands, let them get dirty and dig in to the whole experience with the pure enthusiasm of a child who plays with earth!
Wearing loose tracksuit bottoms and the top of one my bikinis, I was getting sunkissed while replacing the sadly dried out olive trees, with new plants that have come to live with us.
There were found at Ikea and each one of us chose his/her plant....one for you...and one for me....I think, hope and wish that they will do well, as they are more suitable for German weather.
The symbolism also fits better to a home inhabitted by two people. The olive trees were lovely, but they were both my companions since my first own apartment back in 2003 and were both chosen only by me.
It feels much better that the new plants are commonly chosen. As much as women tend more often to deal with interiors and home decoration, I find it to be important that all the members who inhabit a living space, contribute actively to its decoration, it being a means of expressing equally its inhabitants.
So, happy as we both were, for our new veranda companions, we enjoyed a freshly baked chocolate cake and tea...seated on the floor, which gets as warm as it should be thanx to its new floor tiles (built with the technique of the "swimming floor" )....and which was freshly double broomed and moped after the planting processes ( what a mess despite the newspapers placed underneath!) were completed!
As you can see, some were reading the Time magazine, seated on the Alseda stool...and others were making pictures...teheeee....darling...could you please take your...."tiny" foot out of the picture?....merci : )
In the upcoming days, the veranda will be completed step by step...
-> the authentic, Greek "Kafeneio" table and two folding chairs will be brought from the cellar
-> A new umbrella will replace the current one, only that it cannot be such a lovely one
again, like the white one with thick bamboo stick from Habitat that we had
-> and the bench will eventually get repaired and freshly oiled as it is naturally, unpainted wooden.
The gardening process mentioned before included also taking care of the indoor plants, which were not only watered, but also took a nice shower in the bathtab, after their dried leaves were cleaned out and enjoyed some fresh air and late afternoon sun before coming again inside in their...pot residences!
* 1. woolen flokati from Habitat, currently in the sofa area
2. off white pure wool rugs from Ikea, in the reading corner and dining area
3. striped woolen/ cotton rug in the kitchen,from Habitat
I guess a good week starts from having spent a nice weekend and wish that all of you did so, each one in your own special and personal ways....but let me repeat the ending of the previous post, should it not have been one that brought you happiness, it's ok...there's always time and chances to feel better.....and now is where you/we can start....Happy Monday to all!...next one will find us already in May!
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