As soon as the weather hits double digits (Celsius), you’ll find me on my porch with my dog drinking coffee and soaking up that early spring sun. After being cooped up indoors all winter, it’s an experience that I look forward to every year. I always find the first hint of spring to be restorative. It’s a time where I can get excited about all of the events and projects that come with a new season.
Spring is relatively short in this part of the world but even so, it doesn’t take long for my porch to become a hubbub of activity. Already some of my plants are showing new growth and some of my neighbours are following my example and joining me for coffee when the weather is right (six feet apart, of course). It gets even busier during the summertime. My dog and I will spend many an afternoon gardening, sunbathing, writing, reading or merely relaxing. A whole day can go by without me leaving the porch; it usually starts with my morning coffee and ends with a glass of wine with friends.
This will be my eighth spring in this apartment and so far I’ve never been bored. (In fact, I love my porch so much I’ve written about my dreams and plans for it several years in a row: here, here and here.) I’m already anticipating the fun I will have this summer working on and enjoying my little green space in the city.
If you have a porch, balcony or other outdoor space I encourage you to take advantage of it as much as you can this spring and summer. It can be an opportunity to change your routine or environment (even if it means stepping outside for just a couple of minutes). For those of you who don’t have an outdoor space, even just taking a few plants and making your own green sanctuary indoors can do wonders for your well-being and mental health.
Whatever you decide to do this spring and summer, wherever you end up spending it, I hope you make the most of the season!
What are your plans for your outdoor space this year? Comment below or drop me a line at keepingbusyb@gmail.com and tell me all of your hopes and dreams for your outdoor space. Looking for inspiration? I’ve got tons of ideas over on Pinterest.
How did your green space turn out last year? What did you learn? What are you looking forward to in your garden this season? Comment below or email me at keepingbusyb@gmail.com. And send your pics please!
Aaah, summer! How I love thee. Yet, you and I (like so many other people and things that I love) have a complicated relationship. You arrive very late here in Canada. You’re not always that warm. And somehow every year I get so caught up in your splendor, so overwhelmed by the sun and sand and all of the people along the shore, that by the time I pause to take it all in it’s over, and all of the hopes and dreams that I harbored over the winter months have been dashed before I’ve even had a chance to remember what I wanted to do in the first place.
Every spring there is always, always, always someone who- without fail- will bust out the shorts way too early. In Canada, that’s always a sure sign of spring- our winters are stereotypically long and cold and once the snow melts, we’re craving warm and sunny weather the same way we crave poutine.
The next year I was craving a little bit more privacy, so with a few extra dollars in my budget I decided to add a few more decorative items and plants to make my porch feel like it was just an extension of my apartment. So in 2014 it looked a little something like this:
With my dog, Gemma, keeping watch outside my evenings when the light was still out often looked a little something like this:
I still miss all of those chalk hearts that I drew all over the concrete ground. At the time I was think it was meant to be symbolic of a safe, loving space but looking back on them now, they were still tons of fun. Unfortunately I discovered that chalk art and dogs don’t really mix. I’d often come back inside to find Gemma covered in rainbow stripes.
Friends and neighbors started dropping off unwanted plants, or plants that needed rescuing and I was more than happy to welcome them into my brood. Unfortunately, a lot of these family members were only seasonal so I find myself back at square one for this upcoming spring.