Summer Sun and Wide Open Spaces

Thinking about clutter makes me think about spaces...today I am tired of the indoors and ready to write about the outdoors instead.

I have a large corner lot with lots of space in my backyard. Theoretically I could garden up a storm, but I do live in Texas and have been through multiple “hottest summers on record” in the last six years. I am thoroughly in awe of Texan gardeners who keep up beautiful gardens. We have pests, diseases, freezes, and 100-degree+ days, not to mention the fascist yet necessary watering restrictions. So I have the large yard with some nice old trees, but the ornamental plants are not what I would have in the garden of my dreams. It's not like I haven't tried to personalize the spaces—the afternoon summer sun has killed probably three lavenders, a verbena, an Indian paintbrush, and possibly more. I'm not sure how these same plants survive and blossom in other yards. I call mine a “hot backyard” and for the most part have put my gardening dreams on hold until I move somewhere else.

What do thrive are Turks caps, which are okay, but they seem like a 1970s plant. (They were there when I moved in.) I did put in some survivors--Copper Canyon daisies (very fragrant), Lantana, rosemary, another yellow daisy-type, prickly-pear, and then a plant that said Jerusalem Sage but came out having purple flowers instead of yellow. It's very fragrant and aggressive. Hope it's not an invasive on the no-no list. Despite these few survivors, I have decided it's too much time and heartbreak over dead plants to make over my yard space, at least on my own. I have felt comforted by hearing the folks on Central Texas Gardener say that folks have taken serious hits to their gardens the last few years. While I see others with tidier, livelier gardens, it's difficult to find the plants that survive and thrive in this drought.

Though I sound pretty fatalistic about my yard, I actually love gardening under different conditions. In Colorado we had a 90-day growing season and I obsessed over planting my summer flower garden, sometimes from seed. It was a short show, but I easily had stand-out beautiful beds each year, sometimes featuring a row of tall sunflowers in the back. Texas is a whole other world and I haven't quite adapted or found the energy to fight for a great garden here. Perhaps if my space were smaller and more manageable, I could focus my energy on keeping a limited number of plants alive and well.

I will say that I've never lived in a state with such enthusiastic gardeners. I mean, our local PBS station has a weekly regional gardening show mentioned earlier, Central Texas Gardener. I've never seen that type of local program anywhere else. We also have a master gardeners' program, a garden society, seminars, etc. Here people are serious about their gardens, which is thoroughly impressive given all the problems year-round. I salute you, Texas gardeners. Maybe your backyards have more shade, but clearly you are skilled and working hard to keep things looking so good.

Despite the brutal afternoon sun, I hope to get back to gardening sometime soon. Nature is so healing, and it's all the more fun to be a designer and watch things pop up over a few weeks. When or how I'll get back to it, I don't know, but a garden is a serious must-have in my ideal outdoor space. Because I agree with what my mother says--plants are healing for the soul.

A Day at the Auction...My Hot Tips

This morning I feel like I'll leave the auction-going to the Brits on the BBC show Cash in the Attic. To be fair, it's just the fatigue talking. I didn't get the greatest sleep so it's amplifying my tiredness. Here's what I've gleaned from attending my first auction as a seller of numerous items.

Auction lesson #1: Smartphones and the net change the process.
People do check to see what items are going for online, so as a seller, you should check too. If something is particularly valuable and easy to pack and ship, consider opening your stuff up to a national or worldwide market if your local auction house might not generate the right interest. I have a collectible WWII knife that did not meet the reserve, and I am sure I will have much better luck online. The net also makes the buyers more savvy which can be both good and bad for you when it comes to bids. At any rate, online info is a major reality and your buyers often have a sense of the national market.

Auction lesson #2: You have no idea what's hot and what's not that day with that group.
This truth added to the entertainment factor. The crowd might be in love with that 1940s pocket watch and then totally pass on some interesting Victorian furniture. Some of my stuff got next to no interest while other items really surprised me. An old fishing stringer got $20 or more while a cute aqua pitcher got zero bids. Who's to say? But when you are disappointed with one lot, the next sale might just cheer you up. 

Auction lesson #3: Try to treat the sale as entertainment when possible.
This is difficult if you must get good money for some valuable items, so my non-expert advice is to be careful where you sell your stuff if you can't take the sale lightly. If it's stuff you can more easily part with, you can more breezily let go of the outcome and enjoy the sale. If you seriously need to get a certain price, do your research before and consider your choices of auction houses, consignment stores, and classifieds beforehand. 

Auction lesson #4: Items might not sell and you still have to part with your stuff somehow.
I used a newer auction house outside of Austin. I knew that this meant some larger and more valuable items might not catch the right group of people, and unfortunately that was the case. (I wasn't willing to go ridiculously low.) I now have to make plans to move some furniture to a consignment store or directly to another buyer. 

While lesson #4 is not fun, I'm happy to report that several smaller items did get more than expected, so it was still a worthwhile sale and I had an interesting day. I also enjoyed seeing who bought what and how my inherited clutter is another person's treasure. The lady who danced when she bought my punch bowl was especially awesome.

In the end, the marketplace determines the demand.  Perhaps an auction is the place for a Zen master to practice the art of letting go in more than one sense. I'm not Zen, but Zen-like skills are certainly useful when we face unpredictability, which is what an auction is all about.