Tag Archives: flowers

Spring Time Things

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Wow, it’s been 40 and rainy, then sunny and 75, then sunny, but 50 this week already. Spring is definitely here in Virginia!

My camellia doesn't seem to be growing very fast, but it's blooming it's little heart out!

We have 13 lambs now (and only 2 girls!) all healthy and happy. Unfortunately we had one stillborn from a set of twins just the other day. We weren’t there immediately, so I’m not sure exactly what happened. The smaller one (a little girl!) survived though, and is leading her momma on quite the little merry-go-round to keep up with her out there!

Female goldfinch, I believe. The rain brought the little birds a'worming like crazy the other day!

The flowers are budding and blooming…the grass is poking up…and even old Hokie was galloping around the other day like a colt (for about 5 minutes, anyway).  The kids have been itching to get out and get dirty and it’s about that time of year when I just give up on the mopping. A mudroom is great for saving our living room (most of the time) but our kitchen-dining room get hit pretty hard regardless.

The nursery pen is in full stride every minute of the day right now!

This weekend we’ll be adding new layers to the barns, weeding the flower beds (oh my poor, poor neglected flower beds!), and cleaning up a cabinet from the garage that’s headed for the upstairs bathroom.

Do you have big plans for the weekend?

 

Friends and Flowers…Thankful on a Thursday 07/14/2011

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My Cowboy brought me flowers this morning.

Dandelions.

They’re beautiful. I’m allergic. (But don’t ever tell my kids that!)

The Cowboy and Penny took watermelon to the chickens this morning.

I’m thankful for 3 healthy, bright-eyed kids. I’m thankful for their busy, rambunctious energy. (How many parents are watching their children lay in a hospital bed right this minute, wishing they could run and shout and play and get in trouble like normal kids?) I’m thankful for their strong bodies and clear, alert minds.

Penny's really getting the hang of being a farm dog. She's a little nippy, still, but she's only 12 weeks old and we're working on it.

I’m thankful for Penny. She makes me smile and laugh. She keeps me company when the kids are upstairs playing. She comes along when I feed up in the evenings. She lays on my feet at the a/c duct in the kitchen by the stove when I’m cooking dinner. She’s good company.  And I’m thankful for crate-training. I can’t imagine raising a puppy without it!

{Just an aside here…People think kids and puppies go together like magic. They don’t. Puppies chase. Puppies nip. Puppies chew your favorite Spiderman slippers if you leave them out. Puppies knock you down and scratch you up while trying to eat your hair. These are not endearing qualities to kids. Puppies and kids are only magic together with constant supervision!}

The Cowboy and the Ladybug are doing a good job learning how to redirect her to acceptable toys--meaning not the flowers!

I’m thankful for our extended family. For my sister and brother-in-law and my niece and nephew. We’re going to visit for their birthdays this month and then they’re coming to visit for the Ladybug’s birthday next month and our kids are just bouncing off the walls excited about it. I’m so thankful for their close relationships even though we pretty far apart!

It's too lovely to be considered a weed!

And I’m thankful for our church family. Our children are surrounded by Christian families that encourage and love them. They have friends that we feel are good influences on them. I should say we have friends that are good influences on us! I’m thankful for the great Christian school they provide for our children and the solid biblical worldview that permeates every program and event they provide.

What are you thankful for this week?

Thankful on a Thursday 04/28/2011

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I’ve already shared this week about feeling pretty down and missing my parents. I didn’t even bother posting on Tuesday because I didn’t have much to say. I’ve been crying and praying and moping and taking sinus medicine for a migraine all week.

And I returned over and over to my old friend–my much underlined and corner folded book of Psalms. If you’re new to the Bible, might I suggest the Psalms? I have found so much comfort there over the last several years. Not only in the praise and thanksgiving, but also in the distress. In the fear. In the feelings of desertion–I’m not the only one!  Even David, a man who had a true heart for God, had bad days. Dark days. Days of fear, anxiety, and depression.

“In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried unto my God…” (Psalms 18:6a)

But he stood firm in his faith and if you read for more than a few lines, you see that God is always faithful to his people. Deliverance always follows distress. Blessings always follow righteousness. Answers always come.

“… He heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears.” (Psalms 18:6b)

My life is no different. This week I’ve struggled with anger, with injustice, with depression and apathy…with “why me?” and “why more?” and “don’t I deserve a break?!”

And His answer?

My God sent me flowers.

Posting these pictures brings tears to my eyes. My gardens have just burst into spring bloom this week. Each day something new. Something bright, something delicate, something bold…something to say “See, your life is not in vain–together we bring beauty to the world!”

I am thankful for roses. For irises. For clematis and spiderwort and azaleas. I am thankful for sunshine and rain. For dirt and compost and worms. For loved ones sharing clippings and plant slips and gifts of green with us. With me. I am thankful for seeing the first hummingbird of the season (no picture though–I was more concerned with coffee at that moment then the camera!)

I’m thankful for fresh asparagus and warm-from-the-nest brown eggs and veggie omlets for dinner …it’s like grocery shopping in our own backyard!

I’m thankful for the first blossoms on our lone peach tree–maybe we’ll finally get some fruit from our “orchard.”

And I am thankful for my early morning bloom-hunters to share it all with!

What are you thankful for this week?

 

“Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer. From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy. I will abide in thy tabernacle forever: I will trust in the covert of thy wings. Selah.” (Psalms 61:1-4)


Fresh Thoughts

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The other half of my weekend (not described yesterday) was spent cleaning house and trying to get some of our gardens into shape.  I was so excited to find this on the counter from Mr. Fix-It…

First head of lettuce for 2010.

I’m not much of a gardener, but it’s starting to come together.  This lovely is from a brand new plant this year.  The 10 days of rain recently has really helped it along.

New Clemantis bloom, 2010.

Eventually I’m hoping beautiful, deep violet Clematis completely cover that boring, unattractive, unimaginative, but functional wire fencing.  (I do love having a yard for our dogs much more than I dislike that fence.  I actually sort of pestered the heck out of Mr. Fix-It until we got that fence installed.)  My vines from last year are doing pretty well.

Trellis of Clematis, 2010.

I’ve also got high hopes for all the lavender I’ve been planting around the yard.  (Mr. Fix-It isn’t so sure…) This year’s brand new plants are not exactly awe-inspiring…

1st yr Lavender, not much to be excited about. 2010.

But last year’s plants are doing a little better, thankfully…

2nd yr Lavender, looks hopefully. 2010.

There’s a few little purple blooms in there if you look close.  But here’s the best part of gardening–hope springs new each year.  I’ve been a little sad to watch my gorgeous purple and white Irises fade.  But who could be sad for long?  Meet my 3rd year lavender…

3rd yr Lavender. Lovely! 2010.

It was so worth the wait!  The bees and butterflies think so too.

And as a gardener who loves flowers but is not much of a green thumb, I was tickled to see all the daylillies starting to bud.  These flowers are both gorgeous and indestructible–I couldn’t ask for more in a plant.  My gardens would be hopeless without them.

Daylilly buds. May 2010.

I can’t wait to see them burst out!

I wish I was a better photographer, but, well, I’m not.  I subscribe to the “zoom and crop” philosophy of picture taking, right now.  Zoom as close as the camera can handle and crop out all the weeds in the background.  Hang in there with me, I’m sure time for taking up another hobby is right around the corner…

Meanwhile, I promise to zoom, crop, and post these daylillies just as soon as they unfurl…I don’t even remember what variety they are so we’ll all get to be surprised when they open!

My Corner of the World

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We haven’t turned the air conditioning on in our house yet.  Big deal, you say.  It’s only May, you say.  It’s barely May, at that.  Ha!  This weekend it was 96 degrees plus humidity.  But I’m ok with that.  Why?  I mean, sure, it seems a little silly for it to be cooler outside than inside.  To go outside to escape the summer heat.  But the idea of saving $100′s this summer on a/c bills if we can just hold out until July is awfully appealing too, and I’ve found the sweet spot. 

Welcome to our front porch…

My spot

 See how bright and sunny it is out there in the driveway?  See how shady it is in this little corner of my world?  The front porch is shaded until about 2 pm.  Then the jasmine kicks in as a lovely screen for this corner for the rest of the afternoon (even though the rest of the porch is too hot for bare feet). 

My chair

I’ve got a rustic, paint-peeling, don’t-rock-too-hard-or-you’ll-fall-thru-the-back chair to rest in, complete with a cheap outdoor cushion covered in cat hair.  Remember my bio?  We like old stuff.  This porch furniture was bought by Mr. Fix-It’s grandfather from a door-to-door salesman back before either of us were even born. 

I’ve got two wide open windows to hear everything in the house at naptime (you would assume that was quiet time…if you didn’t have kids) and straight thru to the backyard if necessary.  I’ve got an old chicken crate to rest my sweet tea on and  almost 200 square feet of play space right in front of me for anyone on probation from the backyard.  This is the sweet spot.

And what a view…

The yard, the garden, the road...all in view

I’ve got pink azalea’s behind me, purple irises peeking out in front of me, a summer garden in the yard full of red bee balm, yellow tickseed, and a bloom-crazy butterfly bush, and my favorite…

Wild climbing roses

Piles and piles of roses.  When the breeze blows, you can smell the sweet scent of sun-warmed roses all the way from one end to the other.  Another few weeks and it will be hundreds and hundreds of tiny, white Jasmine and thick, pale lavender buzzing with bees.  The porch fans just swirl it round and round, across your skin and in your nose. 

 And the best part?  You can’t really see it from the road.  Or the yard.  Or the driveway.  If naptime actually is quiet time…if Mr. Fix-It is out fixing something (which he usually is!)…if the neighbors are on their own porches and not working in their yard or having band practice…if the water buckets are scrubbed, the chicken house is clean, the gardens are weeded, and dinner is thawing…That’s Mama’s version of just about perfect.

“Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”  Matthew 11:28