Strawberry Patch and Other Things I Have Been Up to

/ moragnoffke

When we bought our house I was delighted to find a ready made strawberry patch. It was summer time and so I enjoyed its fruits immediately. It’s at the bottom of my garden closest to the river which also means I walk down the hill, as my garden is terraced. I am grateful for the hill because it becomes my incidental exercise.

I also harvested potatoes that first summer and every summer since. They come up like weeds but they are very welcome. This year I planted tomatoes and onions, nasturtiums, marigolds and calendula.

I began tentatively in the garden this past spring, planting my herbs and flowers, because we were still building/renovating. Actually I had felt stuck, psychologically, as if the building was literally a huge mound in the way of me getting on with my life, especially in the garden. Once I decided that the garden was far enough away from all the other goings on outside it became my little haven – a safe space to go to.

I find gardening is a wonderful way to get fresh air, sun and exercise.  My garden is not very neat except for the original structure of the terraces. I like leaving patches of grass uncut for the birds.  Also, I am not in a hurry as I believe my garden should evolve over time. For me gardening is a slow process that requires seasons of maturation.

Seasons of maturation happen in us as well. Some of us evolve slowly, others evolve faster. Fortunately it’s not a race. The season I have been in for the past four years has been quite chaotic.

A brief summary is that in preparation for moving to Scotland we started renovating our house in South Africa in 2021, then in 2022 we renovated our garden office into a flat and moved in while renting out the house. We were waiting to move to Scotland in the small flat with half our possessions packed up in boxes. Two months before coming to Scotland I had emergency surgery on my ankle for a tendon repair and a metal plate. Seven months after we moved to Scotland we bought a house and again started renovating.

The Scottish have a phrase ‘in a guddle’ which means in a mess, mixed up, chaos. I have taken to facing the fact that life feels a bit like that for me for the last four years. Besides feeling in a guddle it’s been a time of determination, persistence and sometimes what feels like blind faith. Some people might think we’re crazy to have uprooted ourselves at 59 years old. And it’s quite understandable that some might think ‘well they did it to themselves, they brought the chaos on themselves.’ And it’s true we do choose and create our own futures every day. Ours is an adventure and adventures are not pristine but keep us lively. Life is what you make of it.

If you are wondering where this post is leading to… This is exactly what my life feels like: all meaningful but crazy too. In all the craziness I have been working on a painting for my strawberry patch. It’s just about finished. Once I have varnished it I will put it out in my patch.

Here’s my painting.

Strawberries on a terracotta tile, acrylic paint, by Morag Noffke, 2025

Take care and live life to the fullest.

Morag 🍓🍓🍓🍓🌿

36 thoughts on “Strawberry Patch and Other Things I Have Been Up to”

  2. You two have had a lot going on in your life together. There’s a saying, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” And I’ll add makes you wiser and emotionally and mentally wiser. I like the strawberry painting too.

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  3. I love your cheerful strawberry painting! And I also love that you “also harvested potatoes that first summer and every summer since. They come up like weeds but they are very welcome.” Makes me want to plant some potatoes and see if they become well-established at our place… May you continue to find moments of peace amidst this “guddled” period of your lives!

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    • Thank you for your comment. I appreciate your blessings too. Do try planting potatoes… it’s satisfying. Our soil has a lot of round pebbles in it and I think my potatoes would grow bigger if they were grown in containers with nice welcoming soil; but always if you leave any behind in the soil they will come up the next year. I never grew potatoes in South Africa so I don’t know if it’s always like that.

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  4. I remember the fun and adventure (from a childhood garden) of sifting through the tilled-up earth for potatoes (large and small) in the late summer/fall. I don’t remembber if we were smart enough to leave some behind to grow a new crop the next year…

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  6. Lovely post. I felt I was in your garden with you for a bit….a better respite from the major muddle that we have been in here in the United States(not so united lately… Sadly..) Thank you! And I love your sweet painting!

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  8. I haven’t heard that expression ‘in a guddle’ before. I’ll be trying to use it in a sentence before the week is out!

    I love your painting, the strawberries really stand out and they look so juicy.

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    • 😂 it sounds appealing to use doesn’t it! When I’ve been asked… how are you? ‘oh guddling along’ ‘ my life’s a guddle ‘ . Thank you for the compliment, I enjoyed painting the strawberries. I’m working on a pair of birds now that are a bit more challenging. (A robin and a blue tit.)

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  9. What you’re saying here isn’t just adventure and gardening; it’s a glimpse into a life full of meaning. I hope your hip never causes you any more problems. The strawberry column is incredibly beautiful. 😁👌

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    • Thank you, what a lovely comment. Yes you are right my life is full of meaning. I also hope I have no more problems. I do resistance training with weights and exercises for balance and strength.
      Thank you , I am happy you like the painting 🌿🍓🌿🍓

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  11. I won’t say it’s your struggle, but it’s an adventure that both of you like. Your spirit to shift from one place to another is remarkable, while keeping your interest in gardening and artwork intact. I loved your latest painting. Keep going. All the best 👍💐💗

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    • Thank you, as someone close to us said we’re that ‘nice kind of crazy ‘. Derek has immense energy and practical intelligence and I have a calm balancing attitude with a good amount of emotional intuition which I think has helped with us with the move … Also we did have family here so it wasn’t like we didn’t know anyone and we could ask for help and advice.

      It’s been hard keeping artwork and writing intact yet maybe that’s the part that keeps me sane. Thank you for your encouragement and support. 💐🙏🤗💫

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  12. I love that saying Morag, ‘in a guddle’….it definitely describes my life’s journey and situation at the moment, … moving house and renovating is such a large job, but as you say, take your time, … when we moved into this house, we worked from top to bottom and left the garden, until our neighbours decided our garden was untidy, and bringing down the area, … spreading dandelions, … (I’ve never liked those neighbours, … ) so we turned our attention to the garden, … before we wanted to, it’s had many renovations over the years, … one of them by our dog, sadly missed Bess, she rearranged many plants and killed off the lawn,… but we just accepted the changes, for the love she gave us, reciprocated of course … as you say so well life is a journey! An adventurous journey, and we make the most of it, madcap or not, there’s no script, that’s the adventure/fun part…I do love your strawberry painting, my friend … 💙

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    • Thank you for your lovely message… Yes I wanted to leave the garden for last, just focusing on one thing at a time but it’s taking so long. We bought the house in 2023… Gardening even in a small way is therapy to my soul. Dogs are the best and they tend to rule the garden or at least not obey the rules. They are our best friends.
      Thanks again, painting is also another outlet 💫💜

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  13. Dear Morag, I nearly missed this post and I’m glad to hear that you are happily gardening and creating! I think we all need practical things to do as well as being creative, to keep us in a balanced life. 🤗💐💌

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  14. Such a lovely painting, and I’m jealous about your strawberries! I have a hard time growing them here (I think it’s just too hot), so I stick with blackberries and blueberries.

    Best of luck in your gardening adventures!

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    • Thank you. I didn’t have the same success in South Africa and think the same. It could be the heat but I went to a strawberry farm in Portugal which had delicious big strawberries. But they were grown in massive agricultural tunnels. Blueberries and blueberries are nice too… Anything home grown. Thank you for visiting my post and your wishes.

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  15. Oh, I 100% understand your desire for adventure Morag! Moving to Scotland at 59 is nothing. SO glad you went for it. I’ve been to Scotland twice in the past few years. I just returned for two weeks in July, and hit an absolute heat wave. All the locals say they go away to somewhere nice in July because Scotland can be kinda rainy then, but we got really lucky. Other than a few days in Edinburgh, we were up north in the Inverness area, then spent some quality time in the Cairngorms bagging a few more Munros. There were a lot more stops than that, but it was an amazing trip. I recenlty discovered that I’m 75% Scottish, but probably more (there’s a rogue grandmother we can’t track down her history).

    Anyhoo – hope you had a great summer in Scotland, and enjoyed the fruits of your labour 🙂

    Alisen

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