Winterpast is my home. I must admit, never did I have any interest in naming a home before I moved here. As a brand new widow, the name “Winterpast” embodied the life that I hoped would come to me. I had to hold onto faith that at some point, grief would become bearable while my winter would slowly pass. Widowhood is more bleak and barren than the most miserable winter on record without any change of seasons for awhile. Just barren winter. VST and I went from the Autumn of our lives to the winter of mine in very few days.
The name “Winterpast” can be found in a little book by Jan Karon called “At Home in Mitford”. Such a sweet read, it was one that caught my attention in my second month of Widowhood all alone in my new little town. Covid lockdowns were still in place. The inspiration comes from the Song of Solomon, Chapter 2: “The winter is past; the rains are over and gone. Flowers appear on the earth. The season of singing has come. The cooing of doves is heard in our land.”
My own Bible has a misprint in which the singing of turtles can be heard throughout the land. Personally, I love the singing turtle idea. I think the printer forgot the word “doves” after, which is also nice. (But not as nice as singing turtles, in my humble opinion.)
Yes. It’s true. My winter, both figuratively and literally, has passed for now. Spring is here and the gardens of Winterpast need to sparkle at night.
I was surprised to find our little Grocery Outlet was a well stocked with affordable solar garden lighting.
These little discs are now inserted into planters to shine on some smaller plants. They would also be great along a path way, The spike in the back holds them in place.
These little solar lights are the size of an old fashioned light bulb. Caution — The solar doesn’t work well when one little dog manages to find a way to chew through the wires. Whatever am I to do with this little brat? At any rate, these are hanging in the trees here at Winterpast. The control boxes are now zip-tied to the branches. Oh Oliver, when will you ever grow up???
These were the most expensive of my lighting project ($6.99 – 19.00 each), but they also create the most drama. The apricot tree is sporting a soft glow after dark these days. I used three lights on her. The rest of the big trees are also lit.
Twinkle stakes — $11.99 each.
Every yard needs a little twinkle. The LED lights are woven with copper wire so you can arrange them any way you like. Again, they are solar powered.
These lights are controlled by Alexa. They are dimmable, and turned on with a simple request. “Alexa, turn on back lights.” Voila! They turn on. Ask her and she’ll turn them off before bed. An Alexa friendly outdoor plug is required, which can be found for purchase on Amazon or at any hardware store.
As the summer goes on, I plan to add more soft lighting to the gardens. It hasn’t gone without notice by the neighbors. Ninja Neighbor sent a text right away to let me know the gardens look magical. Yes. Winterpast does. Just like something from a romantic movie.
The credit for starting this little project goes to my Mysterious Marine. Without his thoughtful gift, I might not have ever gotten around to hanging garden lights. Now, it’s my job to fill in with all sorts of cool lighting.
Whatever you do today, think about lighting and how it affects your moods. The garden lighting has added a new dimension to the back yard. Go out back and think on it awhile.
More tomorrow.