By Davan 
I don’t know if this could inspire anybody or not, but my friend and I were talking about how I wanted to build a greenhouse and she walked me to hers to show me and y’all. 
I never in a million years would have thought of using an old cast iron stove to heat it but she said on the really cold nights,
I do not want to be remembered as a woman who was always exhausted. I do not want to be remembered as a woman who was always stressed, always busy, always rushing, always holding herself together and pushing through. I would like to be remembered as a relaxed woman, a compassionate woman, a curious, joyful, pleasure-loving woman. A woman who works hard and rests deeply, who loves fiercely and lives peacefully. A woman who knows her worth and her power, who accepts her imperfections and her vulnerabilities, who embraces her limitations and her possibilities. A woman who laughs and cries and aches and loves and is enchanted by the mess and magic and mundaneness of this beautiful, shimmering life.
My daughter sent me this picture she took of me this morning in my garden. At first I hated it, I’m a sweaty mess, no make up, grubby clothes, hair greasy and up. I said to her, oh babe that’s a horrible picture of me. She says..oh mom you look so happy and real !! You look beautiful. I instantly love it now. She’s right!!! All I see is the joy on my face. The world is full of to much “fake” and not enough “real” Thanks for the reminder from my 14 year old! Honestly I’d kill for a picture of my granny when she was young in her garden. So ladies and gents…make sure you get a hot mess picture for the next generation!!
5 years ago I went through a divorce and moved back into the home I bought 20 years ago. The tenant was a nice man who paid rent on time but he was a hoarder. The inside of the house was worse than this sadly. 3 years ago I was finally able to start working in the yard, then I got breast cancer. It’s been a slow process but here’s a before and after pic of my backyard progress. I started with one raised bed for veggies and it has now grown to 3. The bed along the fence has sweet corn, sunflowers and Zinna seeds starting to sprout. I have tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, cucumbers, lettuce, bunching onions and Swiss chard going. Along the shed I planted coneflowers, hostas, bleeding heart, Columbine and dianthus. It’s really hard because I’m surrounded by the neighbors trees so only random areas receive enough sun peaking through for certain things. Plus my soil is sandy and doesn’t hold moisture. Growing grass was a struggle too because the ground was so compact from all the .
My front garden getting a little break from the heat at 5 AM and a much needed drink.  
Edit First off we are in Minnesota zone 4 For those of you asking here is what’s in the garden. It’s a kidney shaped roughly 50‘ x 70’ There’s Two different color salvia, 8 different colored peonies black eyed Susan’s, purple coneflowers, sedums, different varieties of hostas, Stella Day lilies,Bearded tongues, prim rose, ajuga,alliums, Annabelle hydrangeas, summer crush hydrangeas, coreopsis, Karl Forrester grasses. 3 Miss Kim Lilacs, Three Wygelias. Coral bells. The tree in front is Burgundy leaf Crabtree of some kind and one in the back is a little leaf linden.  And everything is in groups throughout the garden in threes or fives. And in the front 10 flats of pink petunias.
