We are blowing away!

Finally a day with some bright sunshine but it's so windy out all the flowers are laying on there sides. So no new pictures yet. Hopefully they can survive these wind gusts. Ridiculous!

No Pain, No Flowers

I finally found a day where I could be outside and tend to my badly overgrown flower beds. I didn't really do much with them last summer (someone else got to them first) and as a result some things like mint and creeping phlox had just gone wild. Not to mention the dandelions and the makings of small maple trees that were in and around and through all the bushes. So I went to Canadian Tire and picked up some lovely flowers to plant, got out the shovel and the watering cans, the dirt and manure, blood and bone meal and dug up the entire thing!

I learned a few things a long the way ... shovelling is back breaking work ... flip flops are not proper gardening attire ... it will rain just when you're a bit of the way through, not enough to make you quit but enough to make you very dirty!

Regardless I got dug what I wanted dug and planted what I wanted planted.

Here it is all freshly dug up ...

I planted some Cherry Red Verbena in two little planters for the porch ...

I also fed my Blue Lobelia hanging plant some plant food to keep it going strong. I really like the look of it on this iron post that has hung empty for a while. It used to hold a wooden sign that my Dad had made for my grandparents.

And so the planting began, first where the mint had once roamed free ...

I planted some white ...

And some deep rose Harmony ...

I also planted Impatiens. I think they're the perfect flower, because I am Impatient! Ha! There are light pink and dark pink intermingled. They don't all have flowers yet so you can't quite get the full effect.

And then over to the next section ...

I planted my favourite flower ever ... Gerbera Daisies!

I will have to get out and take some more photos once the sun reappears. I have a few pea plants poking out through the ground and my lilies returned despite the fact I was sure I killed them!

Now to let my muscles recover from all that hard labour! Oh wait ... I have to house clean ...

Can't believe I'm back again after all these years away

That's a line from my favourite Trisha Yearwood song "Georgia Rain". While she's talking about returning home it feels like it fits when I notice my last post was two years ago! Wow it's been a long time. Life has been busy and that hasn't left much time to blog.

Spring has begun again and I am ready for the refreshing that brings upon my soul. As new life springs from the ground all around me I feel God renewing my soul. Oh how I love when the Lord and my soul are in sync.

This year the flower beds will need an overhaul to reset the balance that was disturbed last summer. I am looking forward to planning out the places for the bulbs to come next spring once fall has started.

That's a ways off yet, though and right now I am looking forward to the peas I planted and rejoicing in the resiliency of the lilies I planted last summer that I thought for sure I had killed! Despite my lack of skill in their care they reared there green heads and are strongly growing. What a treat! I will have to post some photos of them once this rain stops!

My lavender plants are also growing strong and I hope to make use of the fragrant blossoms this year. For what I'm not yet sure.

Just call me Mary?

I know, I know it's been awhile since I posted.  I've been too busy enjoying the beautiful sunshine and watching all my plants grow to be in here posting about them!  Here is an update with some progress shots!  

Flowers...

          

Tulips! They are all done now, but they looked beautiful the reds and purples together!  Now that they are finished I am going to dig up the bulbs and save them to go back in come fall.  We are going to plant geraniums there for the summer.

     

Hyacinths!  I loved the contrast of the deep purple and the snow white against the bright green.  These were lovely to look at.  Unfortunately the ones I planted at the other end of the flower bed barely broke through the ground.  I'm going to dig up those bulbs and try replanting them in the fall.

    

Lavender!  I wasn't sure how this would fair...especially with some of the wickedly windy days we've had.  Sometimes wind gusts have been over 80 km/h and this plant doesn't receive any protection from the house.  Lo and behold though I am seeing these lovely dark purple sprouts from all over the plant.  A quick run of your fingers over the top and a lovely scent fills the air!

Food...

     

Strawberries!!! I was very concerned that these were not going to grow.  As you can see in the first photo it did not look too promising.  Now the pot is overflowing with green from almost every plant and I am looking forward to the time when the flowers and then the fruit will appear.  These are ever-bearing strawberries so I'm supposed to get several yields from them over the summer.

      

Peas and carrots!!! It's been awesome to watch how these have sprung up over the past week or so.  My mouth is watering just thinking of the sweet veggies I can eat fresh from my own garden.  I have also now been able to plant my beans, squash and zucchini.  Nothing to see yet but here is a full view of my vegetable garden!

                            

Wind...

We finally had a non-rainy day on Monday and I got a jump start on my laundry to get all of my sheets and comforters washed and out on the line to dry.  It seemed like the perfect day for it!  There was even a good breeze to speed up the drying process......or so I thought.  It turned out that the good breeze was soon gale force gusts of wind at some 60 km/h give or take.  The snapping of the sheets as the wind blew harder was like a clap of 

thunder (albeit quiet thunder).  I was soon spending my time trying to unwind everything so it could fully dry, replacing snapped

 clothes pins to keep everything spread out, getting whipped by my laundry in the process!  

I soon discovered this was a lost cause as the clothespins were no match for the gusting wind and the weight of the sheets.  I began having to pick items up off the ground about every few minutes.  So I finally gave up and took them in.  They were mostly dry by this time anyway and thankfully no grass stains!  I love hanging laundry on the line to dry.  It saves electricity and therefore the environment by not running the dryer...but is it really that helpful if you might have to wash it again, using water AND electricity, because it landed on the dirty ground?  Or are you just supposed to sleep with ground in your sheets? 

The wind also put a beating on my newly planted Lavender.  Here's hoping the heartiness of this plant was not exaggerated and it survives.  A few of the more

 fragrant stems got broke off in the wind, but the rest of it is still firmly in the ground so I am hopeful!

There always seems to be something new for me to see each morning in the garden!  The Daffodils are making a glorious appearance with

 their sunny brightness.  And my hyacinths are beginning to show signs of glorious colour.  They are

 still quite short though and I am hoping they will sprout a little higher yet.

All of this growth shows me each day how good God is!  I am not a gardener and my green thumb just might be spray painted!  But God has created all of these plants to grow and thrive and I see his hand in all of it.

Blooms and grooms...

First bulbs in full bloom

Give courage to plant more!

My crocus' are all bright and beautiful in my flower bed.  Check one for the green thumb column!  

As a result, and thanks to our herb garden planting night I decided to get a little more ambitious!

I have added some lavender plants and their heavenly smell, a pink baby's breath and some flowering moss to my flower beds.  I really hope they do well, especially the lavender as I love the scent and look forward to drying the lavender.  

I also decided to grow some veggies!  

                                                       

I dug out this bed along the sunny side of the house and planted peas and carrots and will plant beans, zucchini and squash.  Yum!  

Then I got the great idea for Strawberries!  So I planted a strawberry pot!

I've never heard of doing this before but I was assured that it will work, so fingers crossed for some lovely red berries in June!

I really enjoyed being outside and doing all of this, especially with the lovely weather we are having!  I didn't even mind the dirt under my nails or the hard work, or even the manure!  (At least the sheep manure I bought didn't really smell...)

                                                        

After all of the planting was done I sat and relaxed on my front porch enjoying the beautiful sunshine and peaceful surroundings.  I even let Lily join me for a little, although she didn't seem to think it was the best idea...and Daisy wanted to come too!

      

9 months...

Wide open spaces are outside my window.  I have always secretly wanted to live in the country; out where you can actually see the stars without a telescope and where quiet is the only sound at night.  I've almost made it.  I can definitely see those stars, but there is still the occasional semi making noise through town at night.  I guess that comes from living on a highway.  

By and large I have managed to do away with the hustle and bustle of living in the city, something I have done for the past 27 years of my life and I think I am better for it.  Although there is another element of hustle and bustle out here as well.  I do take pleasure in the simple joys of living where I do...hanging wash on the line to dry in the sunshine and the breeze, although I refrain from following the example of some of my neighbours and hanging it out even in the dead of winter.  I am now enjoying the first fruits of my planting labour with the spring blooms in the flower beds and as such contemplating a small plot of a vegetable garden.

Most of all I enjoy being able to just go outside and sit and hear myself think, of having a backyard and a place to put a chair to sit or even lay on a blanket in the sun!  

Of course there are challenges that being a city girl all my life, I am unprepared for.  Top of the list are winter road conditions and slow moving farm equipment.  But I am learning to take my foot off the accelerator and appreciate the snow covered fields glistening in the sun and the ones who grow my food passing on to the next field.

And this is just a place to think some thoughts out loud, to laugh at myself and learn from my mistakes.