Tampa Ag Blog

I can’t believe a squirrel took over the bluebird nest! Just crawled up there and won’t get out. Yesterday I was watching from my office window as about 6 bluebirds, don’t know where they all came from, were letting that squirrel have it. Heck there was even a Goldfinch on that fence. Each taking a turn flying up to the hole and who knows what they were saying but I’ll bet it wasn’t very nice. Alas, it didn’t do any good. Now what? I don’t see them today. The baby bluebird is flying and is apparently big enough to go elsewhere but it was sad knowing they were homeless all of a sudden. Such is nature! It’s so wonderfully diverse. As in our lives, we have our good days and then our bad ones too. You can count on it.

I have discovered a new saying; actually it came from a Wayne Dyer lecture I was listening to. “When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” I love that saying and it is so true. Apparently it is a proven fact, physiologically speaking. For those of you who like to stick to the facts!

I have realized it to be very true and I practice it daily. Especially when I am not happy about something. You know, it truly is up to us to think differently when we are dealing with something we don’t like. It’s a powerful tool and works instantly. It’s not as difficult as you think either. Just change the way you look at your situation. We all have the power and capability to change our thoughts.

Another way to deal with life is to think from the end. Yesterday I had an appointment downtown and had not left in time to take a leisurely trip. I was beating myself up pretty badly especially since it had started raining and I ended up in a traffic jam. The entire trip I kept telling myself that I would be there on time, albeit just in time since anything else was truly impossible, that I would find the perfect parking spot, not likely downtown, and that I wouldn’t get all wet, ummmh, it WAS raining. But I held to those thoughts even as I had my doubts. So what happened you ask? I had 2 minutes to spare, found a parking spot RIGHT in front of the building and it was only slightly raining. So thinking and seeing from the end works!!

I want to see a manicured lawn and weed free flowerbeds! I suppose you really have to work for some things, it doesn’t always happen as miraculously as my trip downtown did.

I promise I will get to the pesticides and answers to problems in the garden. I have just not had the time to devote to it. Please give me your comments and let me know what you would like for me to address. Ants, Chinch bugs, Fleas, fungus in your lawns, you let me know.

Oh, my, the Bluebirds are all back. Apparently they haven’t given up yet! Who knows, they might just get their nest back.

It’s Saturday and I have looked forward to this day all week. Yes, those boxes are still piled up all over the house but today I will not deal with those. I will work in the yard all day, if my back will let me. It seems like it’s been a long time since I was able to dedicate an entire day and from the looks of it you can bet it really shows too!

I’m ashamed to call myself a gardener and the only reason I can is because who else but a true gardener looks forward to spending an entire day weeding and mowing! On a weekend too! Most folks are lying around relaxing or doing something fun but you see, I find this a labor of love. It’s not the work itself that is so gratifying; it’s the result I crave. That manicured look makes me feel like I have control over my life. More so outside than inside my home, I guess that is where my true nature lies. If my flowerbeds are weed free (which almost never happens) and my lawn (all 5 acres) is mowed. I feel in control.

I am not crazy about summer gardening though. This time of year my garden looks the least manicured. Some would say that’s putting it lightly. On some level I have accepted this, I’m getting older, the heat is unbearable and even though I love breaking a sweat, Florida heat is just not normal. It saps the life out of you if you’re in it more than a few hours. Sometimes it takes only minutes. So I forgive myself knowing that I cannot stay out there as long as I used to.

I have found an agreeable way to work this out though. I work really hard in the morning, then I go in for lunch and then I take a nice nap. Now, even a year ago this was totally unacceptable to me but as I get older and I like to think, wiser, who cares! It’s the weekend after all! This has become a wonderful way for me have the best of both worlds, a fine balance between hard work and the ultimate break, a nap! Does this still count as an entire day of work you ask? Yes, I think it does because think about it, other then landscapers and lawn maintenance companies who get paid to work out there all day, most of us only garden for a few hours, so when I work all morning and most of the afternoon, it rates as a full day to me.

Okay, I promise to start adding some gardening hints, pest control facts and all the reasons you might actually want to read this blog. Not today. I am going to do the work I love and will get to those details later. I think I’ll feel more like my life is under control!

Oh, and for those of you who are looking for grammatical perfection, it’s not gonna happen here. I know my writing leaves a lot to be desired with all my syntax errors and misplaced punctuation marks. I speak from the heart and if you like what I have to say rather than how I spell, great. I’m sure I’ll improve with practice so bear with me, if not, go out and pull some weeds and hopefully you’ll feel like you have more control. Right now, I’m out the door!

Happy gardening!

Well, I have to start somewhere! I call this first  blog ” a new start” for more than the obvious reason of it being the very first blog.  My entire life seems as if it has changed and I am starting over, once again!

Having just moved from my office and warehouse of 23 years to my home, has not been an easy transition. After spending much thought, energy, plenty of anxiety and lots of hard work on moving out, I realized I had to move in as well!  Just as I thought moving out was the main goal, thus expending all my energy on that, I realized that my home was now turned upside down and inside out.

I have yet to clean out my car filled with stuff from my warehouse and it makes me wonder if I need any of it.  Boxes filled with files sit in my living room, all the rooms have some evidence of this move and yet I have not had the energy or desire to go through it all.  After all I’ve doing that for weeks already just getting here!   

Having to make room for my new work space is taking much more time and energy than I thought it would.  I’m sure many of you have taken on the same feat, whether you were forced to do it or did it voluntarily.

I think some of the confusion comes from changing the daily routine I’ve had for 23 years, commuting to Tampa. The drive took an hour and I never minded this at all. This was a transition time from home to work that was relaxing to me. Liking to drive and listening to talk radio, I never saw it as a disadvantage.   Now the transition time is very short, only a hallway. I say goodbye to the dogs and tell them to have a nice day. Naturally they have already taken it for granted. You would think they would be more appreciative that I am now at their disposal all day but they just lay around like they did when I was gone, I’m sure!

It’s confusing to work from home for me. As I made the descision to close my office, or rather the economy made that descision for me, I imagined a typical day to be integrated, with me working at my computer, working on my websites, taking orders and then going outside to do some yard work, throw in a load of laundry, and all the daily chores that I used to have to do on my supposed time off, the weekend.

 So far this has not happened.  I LOOK outside and I see lots of activity, there is a bluebird nest practically right outside my window and this morning I was rewarded with watching the baby bluebird fly around and mom and dad watching close by. But as far as actually doing any real much needed yard work, nope. 

That is where the confusion comes in as well, look, you’re either at work or you’re not!  My phone rings all day, how will it look to a prospective customer if I’m working in the yard instead of slaving in front of a computer?  Okay, great…they can’t see me but I know I’m not working.  Well, yard work isn’t called that for no reason, but you know what I mean. 

I seem to a bit lost. I’m sure many of you have made this transition very easily but for me the distinction between home and work are now gone. There isn’t enough of a difference for me now.  I know it’s only been a week really, so I try to be kind to myself and just let myself flounder for a while but I know at some point I will have to really get to work!!

Or, is it possible to just relax and let it all flow naturally with a few moments taken to water my potted plants and do a bit of much needed weeding and then coming back to the computer to be more inspired and creative. It is those small daily breaks that give us our energy after all.  I think I wrote about that in a previous newsletter.

I think things will work out. I hope they will for you too if you’ve made this transition.

This blog will be a mixture of daily life events, the hardships and the joys and of course last but not least any advice I can give to those who love to garden and to those who use my products.  Whether it be your roses, your lawns or flower beds, I’ve got direct experience and a long career behind me to help you decide which fertilizer or pesticide to use. Coming to you from my 5 acre homestead, which I will make sound like heaven at times and represent realistically most of the time,  I have the same problems you have.  Ants, Chinch Bugs, weeds, ,making descisions on what to plant, landscaping new beds, planting trees or just renovating, all of it! I’m sure I can learn from you and I hope I can be of benefit as well.

I have to go take out the trash now so if you call me, just pretend I am in my office hard at work.  Just know that you, my customer, are very important to me and all kidding aside I always take the time necessary to expedite your order or help you any way I can , no matter where I am!

 Monique

Welcome to the world of gardening.  This is the Tampa Ag Blog of Monique Swann, owner of Tampa Agricultural Products.