Pajama Gardener contest!

I thought I was doing something gardening in my p.j.s until last year when I heard about World Naked Gardening Day, which this year is being celebrated today.

In honor of this holiday, I'm reopening a contest I launched last year. Email me (carleen at carleenbrice dot com) a jpeg of you gardening in your jammies and I'll send you a free, signed copy of Orange Mint and Honey! This contest is open to the first 7 people who email me. The contest was originally for the first 10 people and we had 3 winners last year:

Virginia in Australia

Lois in Denver

Lisa in Centennial

I was going to offer 2 books to anybody who sent me a naked gardening picture, but, no offense, I don't really think I want to know y'all that well!

Yikes!

The Denver Post is coming to take a picture of me working in my home office. It's for an article on home offices. Yes, folks, I will be working in jammies (though I have to confess much nicer jammies than usual). Speaking of jammies, take the new Pajama Gardener poll over by the links.
Since my office usually looks like this, this article has sparked quite the cleaning frenzy, though there are still piles and stacks because...how could I survive without them? As I was cleaning, I unearthed the article on Cool Cat Billy, and it was like having a conversation with him. A takeaway:

"If people could get along and blend together in harmony like these musicians do, oh, man, would this be a great world to live in."

Papa, you're still the coolest cat I've ever known.

Whee hee #3!

Lucky winner #3, Lisa says:

"I hesitate to call what I do gardening, but I do have a bunch of perennials I planted when we moved in last July and was astounded to see that they really did return. This is me this morning, definitely in my pajamas, surveying a pot of annuals that seem to be past their prime. I'm in Centennial, CO and since I work from home, I feel gardening, checking the mail, working, doing housework and most other day to day activities are all best performed while in pajamas."

The world is a funny place sometimes. Here Lisa and I are in the same metro area, both going to Lighthouse workshops and such, and how did we "meet"? Through Olufunke's blog.

Thanks Lisa! 7 more brave souls to go....

Whoo hoo Pajama Gardener #2!

Here's Lois in her nightie in her Denver garden. (Is it me, or are pajamas getting nicer?) Lois says:

"bent over weeding is the more usual pose, but not sure if you see much except a## in the air in that case..."

Thanks Lois! You too win a free, signed copy of Orange Mint and Honey. 8 more winners are out there. Don't be bashful, but don't be like this guy.

Our first winner!

Our first brave pajama gardener! This is Virginia in her garden in Australia. Virginia says:

"This is a garden near our house which we are growing herbs in so we can just pop outside and pick them when we need them for cooking. There are also some bulbs and violets and some other flowering companion plants to confuse the pests and entice the bees -it's Winter here so not much is growing, we don't get snow, but we get a lot of frosts."

The dog is Bronson, who "loves to howl like a Dingo." Don't you love it? Virginia, you will receive a free, autographed copy of Orange Mint and Honey. Thanks for being such a good sport! Okay, folks, 9 more free books to go....

Win a FREE copy of Orange Mint and Honey!

Virginia in Australia emailed me today. She was planting rhubarb this morning in her pajamas and got to wondering who else works in their garden that way. She did some Googling and found me!

And, in the process, she gave me a great idea. Orange Mint and Honey isn't out until the end of February. In my neck of the woods, at least, there won't be a whole lot of gardening going on at that time of year. Therefore, I'm going to launch my first OMAH contest right now. Yep, in the words of Tina McElroy Ansa, right now.

So, the first 10 brave folks who email me a jpeg of themselves gardening in their jammies (along with permission for me to post their photo on the blog) will receive a FREE signed copy of Orange Mint and Honey next March.

Sound good? Click here to email me or send your picture to carleen(at)carleenbrice(dot)com. Also include permission that I can post your pic on this blog and your snail mail address so I can send you the book when it comes out next year.

(This is me in pajama pants and t-shirt. For the purposes of this contest, I'll honor whatever you consider pajamas.)

Back in my jammies again

With apologies to Gene Autry, sung to the tune of Back in the Saddle Again,

I'm back in my jammies again
Home where a good book is my friend
Where the two fat kitties feed
And my neighbor's son smokes weed
I'm back in my jammies again

Workin' at home once more
Just till Oprah's on at four
Where you sleep till 8 each day
Write what you want for pay
Back in my jammies again

Whoopi-ty-aye-oh
Typin’ to and fro
Back in my jammies again
Whoopi-ty-aye-yay
I blog away
Back in my jammies again

What a spectacular day!

Weeded and mulched.

Ate and drank.

Lounged in the hammock.

The weather is fabulous. I've got a wonderful husband and wonderful friends.

My life is full. My heart is full.

Thanks everybody for a great birthday!

The Pajama Gardener in print

Months ago I submitted a very brief essay to Garden Ideas & Outdoor Living (a publication of Better Homes & Gardens). Today, I received a copy of their Spring 2007 issue. They printed an excerpt from my essay as part of "Stories to Share: Readers relate garden experiences, both recent and long-remembered." Two other writers and I made the cut.

It's a lovely magazine, so I encourage you to check it out. But for those who may be interested, here's my entire essay (sort of how the Pajama Gardener was born):

The Pajama Gardener

You would know our front yard by two things: the giant Colorado rose boulders that plow like ships through oceans of flowers and me, the lady gardening in her pajamas.

A few years ago my husband and I xeriscaped, replacing lawn with drought-tolerant trees, shrubs, flowers, grasses and groundcovers. Our idea was to plant low-maintenance plants. But I discovered I enjoyed weeding, dead-heading, pruning and keeping company with flowers. I ended up not just creating a garden, but becoming a gardener.

Usually I’m so eager to get outside I don’t even change out of my nightclothes. At first I’d only go out in my p.j.s early in the morning when I could safely expect to go unnoticed. I’d go inside and dress when I saw the first dog-walker. But over time I grew more concerned about the garden’s appearance than my own. Now you can find me outside in my pajamas as late as noon. What do the neighbors think? Are drivers slowing down to wonder at the California poppies or at me? I don’t care.

Add me to the list of the other characters in my urban Denver neighborhood: Big Voice Charles, the adult son of the couple across the street who you can hear coming a block away. The Faller, the heavy kid who regularly falls off his bike. Teeny and Tiny, the large, elderly black woman and the small, ancient Chinese woman who stroll by together every morning. And the Pajama Gardener: the woman so drawn to her yard she can’t be bothered to get dressed first.

Getting to work

My friend Jan tried to convince me that I should put up a photo of The Pajama Gardener at work in my p.j.s So I took this photo yesterday. Now Tayari Jones has a post up asking writers to send in photos of what they wear at work, so I decided to go ahead and post it.

This is my desk, and this is me in my navy pajama pants (purchased for hubby for Xmas, but he didn't want them) and a page of the Orange Mint manuscript.

Edits are due to my editor March 1, and my goal is to read the whole thing out loud by then. Friday was my first real day at work on this in a looong time. It was pretty painful. Today was better, though I did find some doozies--like my character referring to the wrong city! Youch.

Ranting gardeners

So I’ve been reading Sign of the Shovel and Garden Rant. I like these women! Yes, yes, yes: “each garden is different” so expert advice is really just a starting place. My brother-in-law is a landscape architect in Seattle. I know he’s very smart and very good at what he does, but his advice just DOES NOT apply to Denver. We’re a mile closer to the sun (which shines 300 days a year here) and it’s dry as a bone. Even so-called “sun-lovers” whither here in July.

And they have a manifesto! What a great word. The Pajama Gardener needs a manifesto. Maybe down with clothes and up with jammies?