Mint in a pot & miscellaneous.

(This is Uh-Mayzing in homemade lemonade, y'all. I'll share the recipe with you.)

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Observation: with all of the so-called Advances of our Technical Age, it interests me that no-one, no-one, has yet discovered a means of creating an un-cloggable shower drain for families in which all the ladies have Long Hair. If you who dare to dream happen to be reading this, I would buy one, just so you know.

Verily I say unto you ... that would be Progress, my friends.

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Caught a butterfly checking out the geraniums! So pretty, yes?

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And in other news, my father likes to hang his work gloves on the side of the house for safekeeping.

Is this normal?

 Just wondering.

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The Tree House Garden|Part 3

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This was how it looked earlier in the spring after I planted delphinium in the right corner, and my first round of impatiens .... which have been and gone, alas. Dead as doornails. Walmart flowers. Hmph.

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And now:

Tada!

 

  I barked the path and planted a couple huge impatiens (from Lowe's this time) along the way.

The lovely yellow flowering plant to the left is an echibeckia, a perennial which is supposedly a cross between an echinacea and rudbeckia and attracts butterflies. Loooove this thing! 

Found one more stone to finish the path off!

Strawberry blossoms ...

 A summer blooming delphinium, which I planted near my spring blooming one. These re-seed themselves so eventually this area at the front of the garden will have lots of them, I hope!

Back of the delphinium are dahlias my piano teacher gave me forever ago, and I'm excited to finally have them transplanted down here! This is another flower that will multiply well and fill empty space.

Columbine. I love this flower ... old-fashioned and sweet.

 

The primroses have gone to town ...

I'm very happy. :) Can't wait to see what it looks like next year when the perennials are more established!

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The Manly Man

I was leaving for work the other morning and look at this sunrise! I was so glad I had my camera with me as I trotted out to my car. This - this is one of the best things about early work hours. :)

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 From The Best Loved Poems of the American People (a jewel of a book my mom found thrifting the other day - I'm loving reading through it).

The world has room for the manly man, with the spirit of manly cheer;
The world delights in the man who smiles when his eyes keep back the tear;
It loves the man who, when things are wrong, can take his place and stand
With his face to the fight and his eyes to the light, and toil with a willing hand;
The manly man is the country's need, the moment's need, forsooth,
With a heart that beats to the pulsing troop of the lilied leagues of truth;
The world is his and it waits for him, and it leaps to hear the ring
Of the blow he strikes and the wheels he turns and hammers he dares to swing;
It likes the forward look on his face, the poise of his noble head,
And the onward lunge of his tireless will and the sweep of his dauntless tread!
Hurrah for the manly man who comes with sunlight on his face,
And the strength to do and the will to dare and the courage to find his place!
The world delights in the manly man, and the weak and evil flee
When the manly man goes forth to hold his own on land or sea!

Unknown

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 ~ This afternoon:

- A lemonade party with my sis! Delightful, except somehow we never can seem to stay serious with this stuff. Maybe that's what makes it so delightful, however. ;) Aliases like unto Mrs. Chitty-Chitty and Mrs. Bang-Bang probably don't help.


- A nap. I have never liked naps until recently, and I can only conclude it is because I am almost 25. Serious business, growing old ...

- The Andy Griffith Show and Alone Yet Not Alone. I'm only part of the way through this movie but so far it's a great independently made film with excellent values. I'm becoming increasingly impressed by many of the independent film makers today who are focused on putting out wholesome family fare! (** Edit: Watched ALL the way through and Mom couldn't get over the make-up. "PINK LIPS! What are they doing?! ... Mascara? ... Her hair's Too Blonde."

Next movie I watch will be By My Self. *grin*

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Have a joy-filled week!!

Summer Project #1

It's been quiet around here! :) Want to see what I've been up to? Here's one of the projects -- I've got some before + after proof!

The last couple years we've built up/expanded the flower garden in front of the house & last summer we put a load of dirt down. But it's really needed mulch to finish off & keep moisture in the soil, which we finally accomplished a couple weeks ago!

Before ...

Add a gigantic load of bark ....

 And after a few hours ... viola!!

 I love before & after pictures. Thanks to mom for encouraging me to snap some when I really didn't feel like it! ;o)

Back deck area beforehand ...

 Aaaand aftah!

Amazing what a little (read: A Lot Of) bark and weeding does ... huh. ;o) I love these kinds of projects! They are immensely satisfying.

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Happy Independence Day! (o:

On the Personal Nature of Burdens

Fresh flowers ... one of the loveliest parts of summer!

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It is certainly true that each person "knows his own burden and his own grief." (2 Chron. 6:29) To live in this world is to know the pain of struggle and sorrow -- there is no way around it. So we can take it for granted that every person we encounter is struggling. We may not know the particulars, but it's a safe bet that every person we meet is hurting. Each of us has is own burden, his own grief.

And our burdens and griefs really are unique. Unlike happiness, which is often very similar from person to person, sorrow tends to be a more individual thing. Yes, we know that others have suffered  in similar ways (many have suffered more than we), but there is still a distinct and undeniable loneliness that comes with our burdens and our griefs ... and the longer we live, the more we realize that the unique burden we have to bear is intended for us.

::Excerpt from Reaching Forward, June 26::

Gary Henry

The Tree House Garden|Part Two

And this is the current situation:

 Mom had been saving some iron rings from an old wine barrel planter that fell apart, and she had the brilliant idea to surround the irises at the bottom of the path with one of them. I love this! I dug up a bunch of them and replanted to consolidate them into a more concentrated mass, and now they fit really well.

My primroses have multiplied majorly the past few years, so I divided and replanted them spaced apart ... this area between the path and the tree is shady and perfect for them. I was

 excited to see how many I have now.

I edged the front side of the path with salmon and white impatiens:

And planted pink-and-white multicolor ones at the bottom of the garden.

Next up, I'm planting lillies of the valley and delphinium!

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The Tree House Garden|Part One

Not long ago, my Tree House Garden (although whatever existed of a treehouse in that old maple no longer abides among the living) looked like this.

This, this is what happens when you go to college, and then get a job. It is not all it's cracked up to be.

Please, ignore the big blue water trough in the background that serves as our swimming pool in summer. I had not the motivation to move it.

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Then, it looked like this:

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And then, I transplanted the lemon verbena, and it looked like this.

Please note that at this stage the watering tank is picking up and accentuating the blue of the forget-me-nots which are in liberal supply. Therefore it can now be considered an artistic addition.

And then I planted Impatiens ....

More pictures after I get out to water my plants in the morning and have a moment to take them!

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