Category: Garden

The End Of A Season

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Day 7 in the chemo cycle: Chase is well enough to have moments of great energy, but fragile enough to need rest and protection.  He couldn’t go to church with the  siblings, so, still in his pajamas, bundled in a brother’s fleece (because it reminds him of Shaun the Sheep) and an aunt’s hat, we walked a few minutes in the cool, crisp morning.

As the leaves crunched under our feet and dew glistened on the leaves, I saw again the beauty in this end of a season…

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Sovereign in my greatest joy, sovereign in my deepest cry…

With me in the dark, with me at the dawn…

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In Your everlasting arms, all the pieces of my life from beginning to the end…

I can trust you.

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In your never failing love, You work everything for good…

God, whatever comes my way, I will trust you.*

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Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.    Joshua 1:9

The End of a Season
The End of a Season

Lyrics: Chris Tomlin, “Sovereign”

 

Skinned Knees, Runny Noses, and Pots

I’m happy to report that we survived the start of our pot* garden on Friday!

*just to be clear, I’m talking legal pot, or potS rather … as in the terra cotta kind.  Or really, fake terra cotta because I’m cheap.

It was not without it’s small bumps (literally and figuratively), but now, after one trip to the plant store (virtually disaster free …ha!), ever so many snack crackers used to bribe the children, 4 skinned knees, 15 nose wipes, one disciplinary action (we SHARE the toy car, we do not extricate our little brothers and/or pull the car over on top of him), three showers, two small sun burns, and one missed nap (and possibly a partridge in a pear tree?) …

TaDa!

[Hey, you can also see my gorgeous Mother’s Day rose in the background … an idea my hubby got from the Pioneer Woman …well, don’t look too closely actually, it had a pretty hacked-up pruning experience yesterday, poor thing]

Darcy picked two veggies: yellow pepper and cucumber, Aidan picked his nose, and Chase tried to pick something sticky off the cart (ew).

I picked some herbs.  I’m so excited about growing herbs!  Have I mentioned this?  I plan on spending some time this summer reading exactly how to utilize the plants beyond “Wow, they smell great!” and “I feel so cool for growing herbs!”. Know of any good info?  Pass it along, please. 

I’m especially excited about the Lavender.  I love Lavender.  I have a little crush on it and utilize it as much as I possibly can.  (Think: healing/relaxing, household cleaners, air freshening, etc, etc … more on that later)

So this is our start … off hand I’m thinking of adding tomato, peas, and lettuce.  (Be impressed with my impressive planning ahead skills)  Wishing I had enough room for some things like squash and pumpkins!

Have some suggestions for us?  Please … I’m always in need of suggestions … share away!  Have a favorite veggie?  Share that too!

Cliches, Bribes, and Gardens

Today is the day …

I’m pulling myself up by my bootstraps, I’m putting my nose to the grindstone, I’m … well, I’m having a cliche party at the moment, but today is the day I’m finally going to attack my gardening dilemma.

Living in a condo makes this aspect of life a little more challenging for us.  We’ve explored the possibility of community garden plots, but sadly, our community auctioned off a majority of it’s plots for the high school LaCrosse fields and so that option is out.  We have also discussed a porch garden in pots, but our home faces due North and we only get early morning and late afternoon sun … ah, a moment of silence for all the things I wish I’d considered before we bought this place … although!  I will say, I do save on my cooling bills in the summer because we almost never get direct sunlight in here.  (it’s like a cave)

Moving on …

So, at this moment, I’m leaning towards putting a couple shade-loving plants in pots on our porch.  Because we NEED (NEED!!) green things around here!  And then begging my parents (who live across town) and possibly also promising to wash their dishes or take out their trash all summer in exchange for putting some pots of veggies in their yard — which gets crazy sun all the time.    [Mom and Dad, if you’re reading this, I never promised to wash your dishes and take out your trash.  You never saw this post.  Repeat after me …]

Sound like a garden plan?

Wish me luck!  Maybe not so much on the “gardening aspect” as in the “getting three kids through the gardening store without spectacular disaster” aspect.

Stay tuned …

[Disclaimer: my garden will look nothing like this garden.  I’m just saying … consider yourself warned …]

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