Pretty Things

I slipped on my boots this morning to wander out to my garden. Once I've planted seeds, it's hard to stay away because I want to check on them each day to see if they're sprouting. ;) With my hands curled tight inside my warm pockets and my hood sheltering me from the drizzle, (and our neighbor's cat hot on my heels), I got distracted by the beautiful new blooms along our driveway. With little rain drops clinging to the petal's edges, each flower looked so fresh and pretty.

The weather was in stark contrast to the bright blue-skies week we had just had, but it felt so cozy to walk in the dewy grass and see the fog resting on the mountain just above us.

I opened the garden gate and was so happy to see our snap peas peeking just above the soil... I am already imagining my kids eating them fresh off the vine this June. I'm sure they'll be smiling and saying super nice things to each other as they compliment how delicious they are. ;) Ha! Just kidding. But maybe it will happen? :) I did have our kids plant a second bed of peas and lettuce, though, so that they'd have ownership and excitement over them when they come up.

I also planted lavender in the small square boxes that are between my raised beds. I thought they'd add a splash of color this summer as well as attract pollinators. 

The thing I've been most excited about planting is raspberries. I failed at growing them years ago due to poor planning on my part. But this time around I researched it well, and I also bought two year old canes with good roots that are guaranteed to bloom, so I feel much more confident that we'll have fresh berries this summer. We chose two varieties (red and yellow raspberries) and put them in two raised beds.

Flowers are blooming all around us!

Uncle Caleb (Josh's brother), and cousins Hans & Orion came to visit on Saturday and brought along a game called Om, Nom, Nom that was really fun to play. It's great for kids and adults.

While they were here we burned a couple of piles of brush that we cleared from the backyard over the week. The kids requested to roast marshmallows, and we kind of had to laugh about how hot it was just being near the remaining coals. Good thing we had long roasting sticks!

After taking a break from gardening last year, due to working on our fixer house and moving, it has felt really good to be back into the rhythms of nature! The kids and I just finished a book about George W. Carver, the brilliant botanist who chose to teach at a University in the South in order to help them remedy their exhausted soil after the years of growing cotton depleted their soil. He taught them how to rotate crops and to grow new crops of peanuts & sweet potatoes that will add nutrients and nitrogen to their tired soil. His message was basically that if you will take care of your soil, it will take care of you. 

God's creation fascinates me! There is so much brilliance in His design that I can't help but want to learn more and more. I see so many incredible repeating patterns, and awe-inspiring systems of order, within creation that it's impossible not to be amazed.

For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made. - Romans 1:20