Monday, July 18, 2016

A Garden Journal

We are on Day 20 of Summer... I think. I am starting to lose track! The sun is shining again so hopefully it will feel like summer today. It is already starting to get warm.

The kids are still away at my parents'. We have gone on several dates and even left the country once!

Last night I got caught up on my Garden Journal. Here are a few pictures.


Love this Cicero quote - I found it when I was working on a scrapbook for the school Librarian who retired this year. All the classes made pages and I put them together in a book. She is an avid gardener as well as an amazing Librarian.


This is our garden map. Over Spring Break we made 4 garden boxes and the kids helped make 1X1 foot squares so we could keep track of what was planted where. We will make some changes next year. Ideally, I would be able to get more things growing in the sunshine, but that is not how our yard is set up.


A sweet garden gnome that I got from Scott for my birthday. And here is a picture of our cat, Pepper. This summer she has been allowed to go outside during the day. It has worked well, so far, and she has always returned at night... although, she has broken her curfew on occasion!



My dad gave us some cauliflower and broccoli plants that he had been growing in his greenhouse. They are doing great in our garden.


These photos loaded out of sequence, but this page is closer to the front of the book. We laid down cardboard before adding the soil and it worked like a charm for weed control. That was a job that the kids absolutely LOVED!


Proud of my gladiolas. I always remember my aunts having these gorgeous glads to enter into the Westlock Fair each year. They are the fanciest flower and I was super thrilled that these bulbs decided to grow into some magnificent gladiolas of my own!



Very efficient garden helpers!


We moved to our house 10 years ago, right before Elise was born. This was going to be our 5-year plan and there was no intention of staying for 10 years. A whole DECADE! It still kind of shocks me that we have been here this long because I have never lived in a house for this long. Elise is going to be 10 tomorrow and she has never lived anywhere else. By the time I was 10 we had already lived in 3 different houses (plus a camper!).

At our last place we had a great big walnut tree. From that we got 2 small new trees which we brought with us in pots. They stayed at my parents' for a few years and then we got them back and tried to figure out what to do with them. Finally, we decided to plant them! Right here on our "Tiny Farm". After I took this photo they really started filling in and we even have 4 walnuts on one tree!




Probably the most successful thing in the garden is the carrots. I think we will do an entire bed of carrots next year.


The tomatoes are coming along now, too. We have regular tomatoes and cherry tomatoes. If the sun shines for more than a day then things should start to explode again!


Tuesday, July 5, 2016

61 Days of Summer... Day #7

Inclemency.

That is the word of the day. Where did the sunny days of Summer go? I know they will come back.

The weather today makes me think of a great all-girl band from the 1990s and into 2000. Farmer's Daughter. Back in the day I saw them in concert a couple times and they were so amazing. Word on the street is that they have split up to pursue their own careers. Maybe I'll look into that one day. Their sound as a trio is very moving. If I had had Facebook back then I would have been able to drag up a picture with them at the Saanichton Fair in about 1997.

Take a listen to this song that fits today's mood!

Inclemency by Farmer's Daughter from the album Makin' Hay



Monday, July 4, 2016

61 Days of Summer... Day #6

Happy 4th of July to my American friends!

Finished Genesis... The life of Joseph is one of my favourite stories in the Bible. He went through so much in  his life and yet God never left his side. As well, Joseph's faith and trust in God never waivered.

Sunday, July 3, 2016

61 Days of Summer... Day #5

Arrived home after one night at my parents.  We put the seats in the van all down and filled up the van with plants and buckets of dirt. Got home around 12 noon and planted out the veggies.

So, this is day #5 of summer, but day #1 of being kidless! Wihoooo!!!

I'll post some new garden pics over the next few days, but right now is ice cream time. I've earned it with all the garden dirt under my fingernails.

Gen. 30-38

Saturday, July 2, 2016

61 Days of Summer... Day #4

Took the kids to my parents... they will be gone for three weeks! I'm lovin' it!

Friday, July 1, 2016

61 Days of Summer... Day #3

Happy Canada Day!!




Oh to be a cat! This is the life... just lounging on the back deck. Not too sunny today, but still warm.


I saw this on Facebook yesterday, and I just  love it...


Today I read/listened to Genesis 18-30. It is so interesting to read the Old Testament. Some of it seems down right weird. But, in it all, God uses totally imperfect people. Abraham was the one that God chose to grow his people through. His descendants were to be as many as the stars in the sky, and yet he TWICE tried to pass his wife off as his sister to save his own skin. Thank God that He was taking care of Sarah. And then Lot? Wow, what a messed up guy that was. But, God doesn't say we have to be perfect to be used by him. God saved Lot and his family, even though Lot tried to give his daughters over to some of the people in Sodom so that he could save his visitors.  Seriously? And he was the most righteous man in the whole city.

A promise in Genesis 22:14 -  So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, "On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided."