Spin me across the marigolds

For a very short time late this afternoon, the oppressive humidity lifted just long enough for Irish Jig and I to walk our flower gardens. In years past, I would dream of a bursting cutting garden and would excitedly plan the beds. I'd buy the seeds, carefully read the planting directions and follow them exactly. I'm an engineer, after all, and I thrive on order amidst chaos. (Hence my joy in four noisy children!)

Each year, the flower garden results would be blah, with scattered flowers and none really worthy of cutting.

Then in early May, I happened to read Cocoa's post about planting their wild flower garden. I was intrigued by the awesome results she reported and pictured. I was, however, skeptical about that whole "just dump all the seeds in a bag and shake to mix" part. Could I really be such a rebel???

Knowing my girls could certainly tap into their inner rebels, I tasked Jazz and Irish Jig with mixing all the seeds together and then incorporating them into a wheelbarrow of potting soil.  They had a great time mixing the potting soil with their hands and making "mud pies".  We spread the soil over the beds, watered when it wasn't raining for us, and waited.

The locals seem to like the results

So far, we have lots of zinnas.  We're waiting to see what else will bloom for us.

Just across the path, these flowers seem to be a good week or so behind their friends.

Mr. Neoclassic just finished the cedar trellis for the blackberries.

The vines are heavy with red berries and my belly is so excited!

As I was taking photos of the flowers, I heard a little voice,

"Mama, take a picture of me over here!"

She was all posed and ready, which both amused and worried me.

Are we looking at the next contestant on Toddlers & Tiaras???***

This worked so well and it's the only way we'll be planting our cutting gardens in the future.  Now I'm wondering just where else I need to break free of directions and guidelines!  I bet my children have a few ideas....

***I feel compelled to mention that I've not actually seen Toddlers & Tiaras.  The concept scares me.

Today's post title from Sarah Hart's Into My Garden

Ask the beauty of the Earth

As we welcome the slow-to-join-us-this-year Spring weather, we are finding ourselves outside as much as possible to plant new shrubs, tend the burgeoning gardens, and finish a few projects.  St. Francis' venue got a little face lift with the addition of a glider and shrubbery.  Classic Rock and Zydeco finished a fence under the supervision of Mr. Neoclassic.  Jazz and I headed up the weeding brigade by attacking the various little butterfly and flower gardens we've created over the years.

In the beginning, she would weed furiously for ten minutes, then head off to a lovely little shade garden she designated as this year's Fairy Garden.  I had great plans to download ideas and pictures for her, but true to her nature, she charged in and used whatever was handy to form little houses and mini gardens for the fairies.  

During a longer stretch of weeding in a daylily bed, Jazz became frustrated and a bit whiny.  She asked why we can't just leave the weeds and Bermuda grass runners in the garden beds.  I thought about that for a moment then reminded her that, just as in our faith, we really need to take out the yucky, choking weeds so that the beauty of the flowers/ shrubs will be truly visible.  I reminded her about the story in Matthew where John the Baptist reminds the people that Jesus will need the wheat, not the chaff, to succeed in His mission.  She listened and thought about it for a while, then said, "so, it's like looking at the things you've done or said and deciding what was good and what was bad.  If it's bad and not nice, then you try to change it next time.  That's what Jesus wants from us, right?"

That's it exactly it, my sweet freckled girl.  I wish I could always remember to make it that simple.

She lasted with the weeding only only few minutes before running back to the Fairy Garden.  I bet He went with her, too, and rejoiced in her beauty.

Today's post title from Sarah Hart's Restless

In an octopus' garden in the shade

Just thought I'd continue with The Beatles post titles since we listened to the 1 album on the way up there.

Following lunch, we headed to the Botanical Gardens at the request of both Jazz and Mr. Neoclassic. The outdoor gardens are beautifully arranged and include plant labels for every species. We snapped a few camera phone pictures of the labels for reference when planning new gardens at home.

The Conservatory is awesome! As we entered, a docent offered Jazz a children's field guide journal. Styled to resemble an old fashioned field book, this little journal held plant facts and a scavenger hunt for each planted zone area. While wandering through World Desserts, for example, she was to find and identify a certain cactus....

We might have been tacky enough to mention this little plant resembles certain grandfathers.

I enjoyed playing with my macro setting. I, admittedly, have no idea what I'm doing with it, but it was fun.

I think they'd look cool printed as greeting cards

Zydeco was excited to find the following for me and I know Cocoa would enjoy it, too!

Unfortunately, they wouldn't let us stick around for harvest time

I thought the mix of greenery in the main jungle made for an interesting backdrop. I think we forget sometimes that we don't need blooms for beauty.

I'd love to return when the outside gardens are transitioning into fall. The colors would be spectacular. I also think a week's visit of just touring different museums and landmarks would be fabulous for us all. We'll have to make that happen when Irish Jig is older and ready to handle long days of walking.

Rain Rain Go Away

I totally get that we live in Southeastern Virginia and it's the Spring rainy season. But we're going on day five of torrential rains. And, yeah, they haven't been five in a row, but still, lots of rain and rainy car pool pickups and grocery shopping and errand running. I wish I'd been the genius who invented Crocs. A waterproof shoe with traction - awesome!

Fighting a two year old for control of the umbrella while navigating a parking lot is one of those parenting experiences no one prepares you for. I'd rather spend an hour playing pretend than do the umbrella dance again- and those that know me well understand the power of that statement.

We all know that rain is great for the plants and the lawn. The boys will testify to the hyped-up mowing schedule. This is Zydeco's inaugural mowing season and he's hilarious to watch. He mows designs into the lawn to entertain himself while working...then leaves grass Mohawks.
 
I was downloading pictures from my camera and found no less than 40 shots of thriving plants. Mr. Neoclassic, who normally runs in fear of camera use, strolled his gardens during a brief sunny period and recorded the growth thus far. While growing up, we called the strolling of the gardens the "Survey of the Estate" because every so often my dad would have a bad day at work and would just wander his yards checking his growies (his term). So, without further ado, images from Mr. Neoclassic's Survey of the Estate....

 Newly graveled pathway through the alley

 

  Loving the look of all those blooms

 Squeal! Actual zucchini! Usually they suffer squash bores by now. 

 Cone Flowers and Black Eyed Susans form a "wall" between garden and play area

First year asparagus going wild

Blueberries!  I can already taste them on yogurt, in muffins, in granola....

Mr. Neoclassic made sure we could support suburban wildlife (i.e. lots of birds and squirrels)

What's growing and thriving in your gardens and/ or green houses?

 

For the beauty of the Earth

I was sitting in the yard while Irish Jig played with a sweet little friend.  On Mondays, this little boy gets to spend a few hours with us while his mama teaches her class at the local university.  They played together wonderfully while I worked on a crochet project.  Then I noticed the dancing shadows and newly blooming irises.

The breeze was creating dancing shadows and the children were chasing them.

 

You might have noticed from my header that I really like irises :)

Several more on the stalk are ready to bloom!

You say it's your birthday - It's my birthday too, yeah

Yesterday was Mr. Neoclassic's birthday.  We'd previously presented him with a fabulous birthday gift and followed it up by deserting him!  The boys left early Friday morning for a weekend camping/ sailing trip with their Boy Scout troop and Jazz and I left early (way too early) Saturday morning for a Girl Scout day camp event.  Mr. Neoclassic spent his birthday with a sweet, curly headed admirer who spent the day convinced it was really HER birthday.

They started their day at a favorite Farmer's Market where he bought the coming week's veggies as well as a variety of kitschy foods like herbed goat cheese and lamb sausage.  Irish Jig lived up to her nickname by dancing happily in front of the live folk group.  Her cuteness earned her free samples at every market stall.  Mr. Neoclassic stopped at my favorite booth and bought me a gift - since it was his birthday.  I love this guy!

My booth of choice isn't veggies or even the fabulous bakery.  It's the Wild Heaven Farm goat soap lady.  I discovered her wonderful soaps several years ago at a local fair and I have been a loyal customer ever since then.  Her simple castille-style soap is my go to baby soap.  It's all I've used on Irish Jig.  After Zydeco's encounter with eczema several years ago, I switched my youngest children to goat soap.  The moisturizing properties of this soap are beyond words.   I like to gift a small bar of it, along with a crocheted wash cloth, to new babies.


The washcloths were knit for us by my sister-in-law.

See that sweet frog soap?  That's the Peaceful Patchouli scent with a fun [peace] frog shape.  That is my absolute favorite scent and it's what I use to wash my face and start my day.

Mr. Neoclassic's birthday celebration continued with a trip to his favorite plant nursery for soil, vermiculite, plants (of course!) and house plants for me.  Another gift for the non-birthday person.  He and Irish Jig spent the next few hours potting tomatoes and puttering around the yard.


That's my sweet hollyhock blooming at the back of all the newly potted tomatoes.


Dirt pie anyone?



He ended the evening at our neighbor's eating baklava and laughing over a glass of wine.  I met up with him there, where I indulged in a glass of wine after my day herding twelve little girls around acres of day camp.  Actually, there might have been two glasses and an extra piece of baklava.  I did hike all those miles.

I love that he thought his birthday was wonderful.  I love that I got presents out of it!

Prosper the work of our hands

It's Holy Week and Spring Break for us.  That means the children are home with me all week as we prepare for the Triduum celebration this coming weekend.  We've discussed sacrifice and service during Lent and have challenged ourselves to offer more to others and be more present with each other.

We've also been thinking lately of Mr. Neoclassic.  His birthday falls right around Easter every year and working his celebration into the mix is always fun.  When the children began discussing gift ideas for their father, I mentioned that we might give him our service this year.  I reminded them that a few years ago, Mr. Neoclassic moved his vegetable gardens (his hobby and passion) to a new area of the yard.  He built square foot garden beds and landscaped the border between football/ soccer/ bocci/ kid area and garden.  But he didn't ever get to add the gravel walkways into the garden area.  For the past few years, he's battled the grass and weeds that grow into and around the beds, vowing to add gravel "one day".  You know, after the roof repairs and the braces, etc.



Well, I asked the children if they'd help me gravel the area in the garden.  About 7 tons of gravel help, to be exact.  They were willing and so we moved forward with weed flaming the ground, leveling a few areas, and ordering stone to be delivered.  It's obviously not a surprise since Mr. Neoclassic was asked to pick the stone, but it was a surprise to get it completed this season.

Monday morning we watched the truck back up our driveway and dump the stone.  Why are large trucks so exciting to small (and big) people?  Zydeco manned the shoveling of stone into the wheelbarrow.  Classic Rock hauled the wheel barrow around to the rear, and Jazz helped me spread and level.  Irish Jig followed the process around, generally getting under our feet and into the way.  That's what two year old's do.



We're not done, but we made a great start.  During a break, Classic Rock entertained all with rides.  He's hysterical with his sisters.





Meanwhile, the seeds have been started and continue to flourish under grow lights in our living room.  By the end of February each year, the folding tables appear in the living room centered in front of the large picture window.  Awesome afternoon sun and grow lights nourish the seedlings until they are ready for the garden beds.  I often wonder, though, what someone standing in our front yard thinks we're growing in here?



Service was the perfect gift this year!

Healing water, renew me

Or, in this case, renew my home.  It's been a weekend of sickness, with three of four children succumbing to a stomach bug.  And why does this always happen during the o'dark hours?  With very little sleep and hands cracked from multiple buckets of ammonia water, it's proving to be a long day of laundry.

In an effort to relieve the house of that "smell" (which I truly think is trapped in my nose), I walked into the garden to clip some rosemary.  I found this:

Rosemary blooms in my very favorite color - Purple!  It was a sweet discovery on an otherwise bleary day.  Not the weather is bleary, just the family outlook.  It's hard to keep whining, hungry children content when their tummies won't tolerate food.
 

An infusion of rosemary and suddenly this house is home again.  That wonderful place of refuge, despite the mounding sickbed laundry.  Despite a two year old's constant begging for food she doesn't understand that she can't have today.  Despite a few nights of very little continuous sleep.  Despite the knowledge that it's probably not over.

I wish good health to your households.  And I send a prayer of thanksgiving for my high efficiency washer!