This year I started my rose journey. I went to a nursery in early May with a friend and fell in love with two David Austin climbing roses and now I’m hooked. It’s October, they’re still giving me flowers, and now they are starting to climb the trellis on my greenhouse.
When I started thinking about the things I’ve invested in at home, that rose was one of the first that came to mind. Along with my sourdough starter, a stack of magazines, and a little label maker. Some of these investments cost money, while others took only my time and patience. What they have in common is how much they’ve added to my everyday life.
The garden keeps giving.
The roses have been extraordinary, but so have the cutting flowers that filled the house through spring and summer. My Cut and Come Again zinnias certainly lived up to their name. I’m now up to 11 Hydrangeas and 3 more arrive this week for fall planting.
Then there are the herbs for cooking. I love being able to grow something that becomes part of a meal. Pumpkins and gourds will be harvested this week to decorate…garlic gets planted as soon as my shipment arrives. My Greenstalk is prepped in the greenhouse for some cold hardy transplants and I made sure the frost cover is clean and ready.
My sourdough journey.
I haven’t bought bread in a year.
Even writing that makes me smile. What started as something to learn has become part of how I feed our home. There’s a particular satisfaction in being able to make something you once automatically put on a shopping list.
The starter was only the beginning of that investment. The time spent learning was part of it, too. A year later, I’m very glad I gave it that time.
More pages. Less scrolling.
Magazines have earned their place in this little collection.
They give me hours of inspiration, and I appreciate having something beautiful to read that doesn’t come with the temptation to check six other things on various apps. I can spend time with a photograph, a garden, an idea for the house.
I still find plenty of inspiration online. But I’ve been enjoying making more room for the kind I can hold in my hands, without having to swipe.
A little printer, a beautiful design and time wandering with my actual camera.
I realize a label maker might seem like a small thing to include here, but stick with me.
Mahale Studio designed my labels. I used to get a chuckle (and swoon) when I’d see some of the Tiktoks and IG posts of peoples pantry organization, but then I realized why not do it? Something practical can also be beautiful and I get some much satisfaction every time I open up my pantry. Not to mention I know where everything is.
A shout out to Alana of Mahale Studio, who also designed the branding for The Indie Edit and nudged me to take out my real camera and start taking more photographs. I’m so grateful for this friendship that we’ve developed. The photographs accompanying this piece are mine, and that encouragement belongs in this story, too. It’s waking up creative areas of my past that I packed away to focus on growing the business. I honestly want to invest in a class to learn how to take better photos for this site.
And, of course, time together.
Time with our grown children has never felt more rewarding. Most days. When your kids leave for college you don’t really think about what happens after (other than worrying). Both kids have come back home and it’s been really REALLY special. Sure, there are days, usually when they leave things in the sink overnight, but I wouldn’t trade this chapter with them for anything. The conversations on the back patio, the family cooking together in our kitchen or just watching Landman together, well let’s just say I’m emotional writing it and so grateful for this time.
Xx,
Indie
Photographs by me, with AI-assisted editing and typography.
Indie! You have your own label maker? Amaaaaazing. I've been wanting to get on the sourdough game but I have celiac disease but, I heard that perhaps sourdough might be tolerable? I need to look more into it. I want to join the club.
Need to look into this label maker!!