Fruitful Garden

Blessing for today is the fact that God has touched our garden and it has been producing LOTS of lettuce, spinach and kale, so much so that we have to share, Hubby and I cannot eat it all! It looks like we'll have a good crop of beets and peas and carrots. The broccoli however doesn't look too healthy and we're afraid the tomatoes won't mature before we get our first frost. Still, for our first attempt at gardening, we are pleased and grateful.

The Unexpected Gift!

The Unexpected Gift

Nov 2, '11 5:32 PM for Julie's contacts

What is it about the unexpected surprise or gift that makes it just that much more special?? We have come to expect cards and gifts on our birthdays and at Christmas and they are usually wonderful and appreciated, but what is it about a gift that comes that is totally unexpected, and not even on our "wish list"?

That happened to me today and I'm deeply touched beyond words right now! This afternoon a package arrived via UPS that was addressed to my son. Often our kids continue to send their packages here since their current living conditions can't really be trusted for such things, so I sent him a text letting him know whatever he had ordered had arrived. He said it was for Hubby and me so I assumed he was getting his Christmas shopping done early. He said no, that he wanted me to open it. I unwrapped this lovely little book called the Gardener's Organizer.

The description at Amazon is as follows:

This beautiful retro-style journal is somewhere to plan, develop and record your garden, and chart your growing successes. In My Garden, record and sketch your plot as it is now, and ponder what your ideal garden would contain. Next, in Planning & Inspiration, draw up designs for beds, features and planting schemes (on special graph-paper pages), make plant lists, and paste in pictures and photos that you love. A section called The Garden Year provides space for you to note down tasks for every season, while four themed chapters (The Kitchen Garden, The Flower Garden, Trees, Shrubs and Climbers and a chapter for other plant groups such as ferns and aquatic plants) help you note what you planted and when, record pruning and growth development, and what the year's crop or blooms were like. Finally, a useful Resources chapter gives you an address book, space to document gardens you have visited and somewhere to list useful books.

It's certainly nothing I would have thought to search for, much less buy for myself, but at the same time it is something that is right in keeping with me and my personality. Hubby is just now preparing the ground for our first garden and I plan to make good use of this journal/planner. I love the retro look of the pictures inside - they are so pretty and calming - certainly indicative of a more simple time.

Best of all I think, is the fact that it isn't something I asked for, not something I was wanting or something I expected, but it is a gift from my son's heart, for no reason other than he thought of us when he saw it. It's something he thought we would appreciate and something that he knew was in keeping with my taste and style. He knows me...he understands me...and in that alone I find comfort.

He was thinking of me...and that perhaps, is the very best gift of all!!

Collective

Dirty Hands and Distractions

Dirty Hands and Distractions

Jun 27, '11 5:54 PM for Julie's contacts

This became a difficult week for me when life suddenly took a frightening turn on Tuesday evening. I won't go into all the details, but suffice it to say a Drs. appointment was immediately made and tests at the hospital began today. My Dr. should have some idea of what's going on tomorrow but until then I am trying desperately to keep my nerves in check - unsuccessfully I might add.
Being desperate for a distraction on Sunday, I decided to get my hands dirty and began re-potting some of my flowers and adding some more that I had picked up the day before. I spent money I shouldn't have - especially now - but I needed some form of therapy. I'm sharing some shots of the flowers with you, but please forgive the blurry ones - I am a very novice photographer and this week I've been unable to stop shaking.
I always try to buy some pansies because they were my mother's favorite and seeing them always makes her feel near somehow. Right now I wish I had her reassuring voice calming my fears and her hug to let me know she'd be by my side through whatever may be ahead.

Gerbera Daises; favorites of both my daughters. We have bright pink ones too but the blossoms have died and I'm hoping for new color.


 
Columbine! These were here when we bought the house. Hubby has mowed them down a time or two, so I put them in a large pot with some pansies and hope they multiply. Being from CO, having the state flower already growing in my new yard was like someone was trying to tell me "welcome home".


Meet the Black Prince Rose. He is a gift from my mother-in-law handed down several generations now! Hubby said he remembers seeing it bloom once in his lifetime! We transplanted it from her yard last summer and feared we had killed it, but it appears to be making a come back. I would love to see it bloom! Hubby gave him some rose food this weekend and now we're hoping for the best.


These are our new blueberries that we transplanted. No berries yet, but we are hopeful!

And here we have the bird feeder station offering the very best in song bird seed for the discriminating pallet of our feathered friends and even luscious red syrup to satisfy those with a sweet tooth. Suki, my constant little companion enjoyed the day in the yard as well but was being a bit of a drama queen about getting her picture taken. Normally she poses right away, but not that day LOL!



Finally looking at the camera!

The braided hibiscus is still doing well this year even though it has blown over three times! I did find another pot for it that will hopefully be more stable; the old one was given to the Columbine.

We are expecting thunderstorms tonight - so far we've only had a few sprinkles but since I didn't get to them today I'm hoping God will water my flowers tonight. And as if on cue, there goes the thunder! I might need to shut down my computer.