Logs… A log beam above me, more as I turn my head to the left, light streaming through a window on my right. Took me a while till it registered, this is not my room in Madeira. I am home. My other home. Felt strange. Heard noise from down below, Mish was already up and watching Cartoon Network. Nothing ever changes. Where is our home? In a magical place, in the middle of a forest. Not too many neighbors, just a few, even those are further away. It’s pure heaven most of the time, especially in the scorching summer heat. While in the city people are just trying to survive the 35-38 degrees in shade – lucky ones with air condition in cars and homes, less fortunate ones with wet towels around their necks -we just go about our business, blissfully unaware. One of the advantages of living in the woods. The shade provided by the oak trees keep the temperature way below 30. Also very quiet, except on weekends and in high season, when groups of tourists, families, hiking, biking enthusiasts flood the area. Later on, in the foggy, autumn and winter months sometimes we don’t see outsiders for days, except the postman( woman) -nice lady – or the occasional delivery truck, weather permitting. Half an acre of woodland being in the process of turning it into my dream garden. December I had a huge set back , tens of trees were gone in an instant, uprooted, branches breaking . Around us for days the trees were falling like dominoes, nobody dared to leave, we couldn’t have anyway, since a huge tree fell across our driveway as well. What happened? We had an unusually rainy autumn, then as the temperatures dropped, we started to have frost. Now that’s magical, it looks like an enchanted forest, the trees with thick frosty “fur” on their branches. I’ve always loved it. That’s when I fell in love. But nobody expected what came after that. Down in the city it started to rain… Up here it instantly turned into ice on the trees, the layer of ice was thin at first, then as the temperature remained below zero, it got thicker and thicker….the trees could take the extra weight only for so long, and one by one they started to fall. The electricity lines were torn instantly, isolation began. Now others might not have taken it so seriously – though they said that every 50-70 years this happens – but I was alone there with my son. No phone, no electricity… Sitting in the dark with candle light -thank God I have an obsession with candles and had plenty in storage – listening to the trees giving up their fight against the heavy burden of ice was scary. Seeing the total destruction of my garden, the mountain, the place I call home was horrible. Later on drove home every day with a lump in my throat, swallowing back my tears as I looked around. It was like a war zone. There was a time when I thought ” That’s it, I am leaving, this is not the place I want to be! ” But time heals wounds, and nature is real good at that. It will take long long years for the forests to recover, but it will. The ugly scars are covered with the green foliage, for the time being it is beautiful again. And my garden is recovering as well. Still have uprooted trees around at the bottom of the garden. They will remain there, mainly because it would cost way too much to have them removed, but on the other hand eventually they will become great focal points once I am done with them. Our first project after completing our home was the tree house for Mish. Proper small one with a connecting bridge leading to a deck high above around another tree. My dream. Apparently not my son’s. So I am turning it into my home office. Yet I am sure that the day will come when he will happily boast about it to the opposite sex, though still far away. Next step was to create gravel pathways, not only for getting around, but to define certain areas, create special nooks and crannies. Little did I know that I will have a constant battle protecting the paths from the weeds, getting narrower by the minute. We designed grassy areas surrounding the house. Luckily we found a shade tolerant seed, add to that the December disaster – which was a blessing in disguise, since now I have much more light – voila,we have a lawn. Not perfect, but it’s ours. Though please someone tell me what to do with the mole -or a complete family rather judging by the number of mounts – who thinks our garden is his oyster.

Over the past year we planted hundreds of bushes around the fence, to obtain some sense of privacy, since the tourists are curious by nature , though it will take years to reach that height. Added thousands of plants, flowers, creating gorgeous borders, massive flower beds. Picking mostly plants that grow well here guarantees almost success. Yet I still believe that with tender, loving care and with a bit of luck and magic I can still have some unusual plants. I am always ready for a challenge, it’s a little bit childish I know, but if someone tells me that I cannot do something, then I will almost always do it. That’s what gives me the final push. So here comes the next one! A rose garden and that gorgeous scented plumeria in it. I will do it! Even if I have to share my bedroom all winter with a frangipani. I will!