I have a new project on Instagram with the hashtag: #morningyard. It came about because of my morning ritual.

Each morning after the hustle of getting the kids out the door to their four different schools, I give myself a big deep exhale of a moment on my patio. I make my smoothie (or coffee on weekends) and hop into that lovely rattan rocker and tip my head back. I hear the gentle drone of cars on a nearby street and the birds in the trees. I feel the breeze on my skin. I look up and watch the leaves move. I walk around and check on all of my babies plants, pruning and watering as needed. I get damp grass stuck to my toes. I get dirt under my nails. I fill up my senses, which in turn fills up my energy tank and centers me.

This has become my thinking spot.

I have been improving this space for the last five months. Prior to that, it was neglected and avoided for years. My kids trashed it in their toddler-hoods and I didn’t bother to care. As they grew out of the wrecking phase, all I could see was what was wrong with it. After changing my attitude, this was one of the first things I worked on. Slow and steady, with a small non budget, I first cleaned everything out – adios broken toys from 2004! I hunted for planters and extra seating at garage sales and flea markets. I made do with what we had. I made the decision to go almost strictly with succulents as potted landscape because they are drought tolerant and sturdy, not wussy annuals I would have to change out or water regularly. I knew I wanted to set things up simply, to be sustained easily by me even on my busiest week. These small steps have entirely changed our yard and given us an entirely new room to spend time in. I could have NEVER imagined when I set out to spruce up the patio, what it would come to mean to me.

We have large (expensive) issues that need to be addressed – shoddy sprinkler patterns, leveling/grading, no shade, dying grass, ugly landscaping.

So, I have big plans. We want to lay out an entirely new sprinkler system, build a patio cover, build garden beds, set up our compost bin, and create another seating area where we currently have grass, in order to open the patio up as an outdoor dining room. That way we don’t have to waste water on grass, and we get even MORE living space. All of the ground cover on our slope will get ripped out to make room for a natural California coastal/desert landscape. I also need to figure out what to do with that big empty wall space above the loveseat. I’m thinking vintage California flag? Hanging geranium pots? Feel free to share your ideas with me, that big open wall is driving me crazy.

Which leads me back to #morningyard. Objective: I take a photo every morning of something that inspires me from my yard that morning. The challenge is to keep it fresh and unique in the limited space. And then I Instagram the crap out of it while lounging in the rattan rocker. And then I guzzle my green smoothie, and scroll through my feed, and love, just utterly LOVE connecting and being inspired by my friends in that way.

May mornings are dewy and cold and overcast…I know it is time to go inside when the sun starts burning through the clouds.

-Tara

PS: (You can follow me on Instagram under: tarawhitney.) (If you aren’t able to, you can also see them uploaded on i don’t want to forget a thing.)