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Cynthia Brian
- 4 min
Prune, Plan, Peruse
“A man travels the world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it.” ~ George Moore Like most of us who have been sheltering at home for the past eleven months, traveling to foreign lands has not been part of my normal activities. At first, I was immensely disappointed to cancel my 2020 exotic trips, especially the one that would have reunited me with my European pen pal with whom I’ve been corresponding regularly since I was nine years old. That’s a long ti
Cynthia Brian
- 4 min
Renewal by Nature
“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever” – Mahatma Gandhi I popped the crunchy pods of my just-picked sugar snap peas into my mouth as I uttered a prayer of gratitude for the food I grow to nourish my family and the gardens I cultivate to nourish my soul. The past few weeks have brought the fragility of life into focus amidst the mounting death toll from the pandemic and the anxiety aroused by the political rampages. We need to return to our
Cynthia Brian
- 4 min
Garden Trends for 2021
Digging Deep with Goddess Gardener, Cynthia Brian By Cynthia Brian “Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right!” Oprah Winfrey HELLOOOOOOO 2021! We have been holding our collective breaths for the past ten months desperately anticipating a new beginning with a new year. Are you feeling a renewed enthusiasm for living? Are you ready to dig in? Every year the Garden Media Group releases information on what trends are formulating for the next season of hortic
Cynthia Brian
- 4 min
Home (and Garden) for the Holidays!
“I will honor Christmas in my heart and try to keep it all year!” Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol One sentiment was universal this season in the holiday cards and emails…hope for a safe, healthy, prosperous future. 2020 has been a year of enormous challenges, chaos, and crisis amid a frightening pandemic that rendered many people feeling hopeless and helpless. Even with shelter-in-place mandates and Zooming taking the place of “being there”, resilience will rule the roost
Cynthia Brian
- 5 min
Young Sprouts
“The lesson I have thoroughly learnt, and wish to pass on to others, is to know the enduring happiness that the love of a garden gives. I rejoice when I see anyone, and especially children, inquiring about flowers, and wanting gardens of their own, and carefully working in them. For love of gardening is a seed that once sown never dies, but always grows and grows to an enduring and ever-increasing source of happiness.” Gertrude Jekyll Watching the wide-eyed wonder of children
Cynthia Brian
- 4 min
Fall Fireworks
“Let the beauty we love be what we do.” ~Rumi Sitting on my balcony, watching the ginger orb of the sun shoot sparkles and glitter throughout the dusky sky, I am besotted with the fireworks of fall foliage on the horizon. The colors and intensities change daily as I attempt to capture the essence of their beauty in my camera lens. A red-branched Japanese maple is glimmering gold one day. Four days later it is pumpkin spice orange. My liquid amber tree leaves are progressing f
Cynthia Brian
- 5 min
As the Leaves Turn
Blog: https://blog.voiceamerica.com/2020/11/13/as-the-leaves-turn/ Digging Deep with Goddess Gardener, Cynthia Brian As the Leaves Turn By Cynthia Brian “A friend may well be reckoned the masterpiece of nature.” Ralph Waldo Emerson It’s only five in the evening and the darkness of night has arrived. I’ve been out in the garden prepping the soil as the sun sets and the moon rises. Normally by this time of the year, I would have had all my spring bulbs and perennials planted an
Cynthia Brian
- 9 min
A Natural Spooky Halloween
“Listen to them–the children of the night. What music they make!” Bram Stoker During this season, life is about the kids. This is a time of magic, wonder, and things that go bump in the night. Halloween has always been a favorite holiday for most children in the United States but this year, Halloween, the way it has been celebrated for decades, is canceled. No random trick or treating, no gatherings, no haunted parties. Since school has been online, kids yearn to get together
Cynthia Brian
- 5 min
Sheltering with Mother Nature
“Too blessed to be stressed!” Bumper sticker By Cynthia Brian Are you feeling more in touch with Mother Earth as we near the beginning of eight months of stay-at-home mandates because of Covid-19? Or are you feeling antsy, stressed, and out-of-sorts? Retreating to our landscapes was initially a salve to the pain of the corona virus, social unrest, and political nastiness as we encountered improved air quality, quieter skies, and increased bird activity. Then the California fi
Cynthia Brian
- 4 min
Hannah’s War, Smoke Taint & Spaghetti Sauce, Flu & Safely Re-Beginning
https://www.voiceamerica.com/episode/125685/hannahs-war-smoke-taint-and-spaghetti-sauce-flu-and-safely-re-beginning SAG/AFTRA member Cynthia Brian continues Wednesdays with Writers and Performers on StarStyle® giving authors, actors, artists, and entertainers who have had their live performances and events canceled due to Covid-19 a platform to shine. Meet global shining stars sharing their brilliance from home right here on StarStyle®-Be the Star You Are!® Join our party LIV
Cynthia Brian
- 4 min
Risky Business
https://www.lamorindaweekly.com/archive/issue1416/Digging-Deep-with-Goddess-Gardener-Cynthia-Brian-Risky-business.html Risky Business By Cynthia Brian “Farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil, and you’re a thousand miles from a cornfield.” Dwight D. Eisenhower When you bite into a crunchy apple, eat a bunch of juicy grapes, or slather butter on roasted sweet corn, unless you’ve grown these crops in your personal garden, do you ever wonder about the life of the fa
Cynthia Brian
- 4 min
Dreaming the Marsh, Travel Insurance during Covid-19, Planting for Fall
SAG/AFTRA member Cynthia Brian continues Wednesdays with Writers and Performers on StarStyle® giving authors, actors, artists, and entertainers who have had their live performances and events canceled due to Covid-19 a platform to shine. Find out how brilliant our world talent is right here on StarStyle®-Be the Star You Are!® Dreaming the Marsh is an environmental fable that is uniquely Floridian by Elizabeth McCulloch. Mother Nature has had enough and a day of reckoning is c
Cynthia Brian
- 4 min
Sweet, Savory Summer
https://www.lamorindaweekly.com/archive/issue1411/Digging-Deep-with-Goddess-Gardener-Cynthia-Brian-Sweet-savory-summer.html Digging Deep with Goddess Gardener, Cynthia Brian Sweet, Savory Summer By Cynthia Brian “Steep thyself in a bowl of summer.” --Virgil Summer! Just saying the word puts a smile on my face. Since I was a little girl, the months of July and August were times of great joy, working as a laborer picking or cutting apricots, peaches, and pears in neighbors’ orc
Cynthia Brian
- 5 min
Guardians of the Garden Galaxy
“Nature teaches beasts to know their friends.” William Shakespeare The gray turtle dove darted from the mulberry tree to the wooden nest box and back again. Thinking there must be eggs, I grabbed my camera and discovered a baby dove nestled in a hollowed nest with the mother bird proudly standing guard. The sounds of gentle cooing surrounded this bucolic scene. I felt blessed that these birds chose my garden to settle. If you want a healthy, glorious summer garden, beneficial
Cynthia Brian
- 5 min
Planting a Victory Garden
Digging Deep with Goddess Gardener, Cynthia Brian Victory Gardens 3.0 By Cynthia Brian "In every adversity there lies the seed of an equivalent advantage. In every defeat is a lesson showing you how to win the victory next time." Robert Collier, Writer and Publisher In March 2017, a month before the United States entered World War I, Americans across our lands were asked to plant produce to help feed the Allies fighting in Europe. It wasn’t only farmers who were solicited to
Cynthia Brian
- 5 min
Grounded!
https://www.lamorindaweekly.com/archive/issue1407/Digging-Deep-with-Goddess-Gardener-Cynthia-Brian-Grounded.html “I rejoice when I see anyone, and especially children, inquiring about flowers, and wanting gardens of their own, and carefully working in them. For the love of gardening is a seed that once sown never dies, but always grows and grows to an enduring and ever-increasing source of happiness.” Gertrude Jekyll It’s not only the airlines and cruise ships that are ground
Cynthia Brian
- 4 min
Cultivating Artful Gratefulness
"My garden is my most beautiful work of art" – Claude Monet A vase filled with cascading jasmine sits on my nightstand just inches from my bed, its heady scent perfuming the entire room. Not only is it beautiful, but it is my sentinel alerting me when I awake that I still have my sense of smell. Since one of the symptoms of contracting Covid-19 is the loss of taste and smell, I appreciate the fact that I can smell the roses as well as all the marvelous fragrances breezing thr
Cynthia Brian
- 4 min
Wild and Free
https://blog.voiceamerica.com/2020/04/30/wild-and-free/ "I think that I cannot preserve my health and spirits, unless I spend four hours a day at least — and it is commonly more than that — sauntering through the woods and over the hills and fields, absolutely free from all worldly engagements. " Henry David Thoreau Mother Nature has an astounding way of rebounding. The blackened, charred hills behind my house from the October wildfire are now a carpet of emerald green grass
Cynthia Brian
- 4 min
Wine Wednesdays with Heather Brittany- Sauvignon Blanc, Gardening is OPEN
We may be mandated to stay at home but gardening is not canceled. If you have a pot or a plot, Cynthia Brian has tips to help keep you sane and safe while you enjoy blossoms, blooms, and bouquets AT HOME. We do have it in our power to begin the world anew. Listen to and abide by the mandates of the experts. We may not be able to predict the course of the virus, but we do have agency over our actions and reactions. The Goddess Gardener’s April Gardening Guide provides a pletho
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