The Two Things...

There are two things that make my summer so delightful. Well, there is actually a list about three feet long of the things I love about the Spring and Summer, but there are two things that I specifically love!

Kittens!

I dunno. All I know is they are so much fun! I think it's great for the bitty siblings too, to be able to play with them and nurture them. They are so sweet with them!! I really enjoy having them around, and it will be bittersweet as they go to new homes. It's just so wonderful to walk out to the shed and have all these sweet kitties greet you!

These kittens and the time my siblings and I have spent loving them (and all the time sitting or laying in the grass with each other, playing with the kittens, laughing and enjoying the sunshine, and each other) will be something I'll always hold very dear. It's a simple yet profound part of my life, and it means the world to me.







and another thing (of course!) is the garden. It has got to be the one of the most enjoyable things I have ever done. Not only do I love working in it, but to me, just the sight of all those sweet green plants growing sends a thrill through me. I think the Lord delights in it as well. Don't you? When you take time to help cultivate and tend to His creation, I think He delights in that.
I just really enjoy it altogether, and cannot imagine my life without at least a little bit of tilled dirt! It just plumb makes me happy! :)



















May God bless each one of you this summer, and remember to cherish the little things!!

and so it grows... :)

Gardening is an exercise in optimism. Sometimes,
it is a triumph of hope over experience.
- Marina Schinz

Gardening is a labour full of tranquility and satisfaction; natural
and instructive, and as such contributes to the most serious
contemplation, experience, health and longevity.
- John Evelyn,

Garden: One of a vast number of free outdoor restaurants operated by
charity-minded amateurs in an effort to provide healthful, balanced
meals for insects, birds and animals.
- Henry Beard and Roy McKie, Gardener's Dictionary


It is always exciting to open the door and go out
into the garden for the first time on any day.
- Marion Cran


Gardening is medicine that does not need
a prescription ... And with no limit on dosage.
- Author unknown

It is utterly forbidden to be half-hearted about gardening.
You have got to love your garden, whether you like it or not.
- W.C. Sellar and R.J. Yeatman, Garden Rubbish, 1936


God Almighty first planted a garden; and indeed, it is the
purest of human pleasures. It is the greatest refreshment
to the spirits of man, without which buildings and palaces
are but gross handiworks.
-Frances Bacon, 1625

I have a friend...

who is quite a person. She has loved me from the very beginning, and even before that. There is never a day that passes where I am not aware of this love.

This friend has a smile that can light up the state of Georgia, and I am blessed to see this smile multiple times a day. She is the epitome of a joyful woman, and has taught me so much.

She loves the Lord, and teaches her children to serve Him.

I am truly blessed to have a friend such as this, but I am blessed even more because I get to call her Mama.


Me, Makayla, my wonderful Mama, and wonderful Nana.


Mama with her handsome sons. :)


We tried to get a picture together, but DeDad promptly interrupted that plan. :P


If you love your Mama, be sure to tell her so. If you are blessed by her, be sure to hug her tightly. If you are the recipient of a beautiful smile every day, then return that smile. Mothers are indeed a blessing, and mine is my best friend!!

Bitty Kitties

I just don't reckon there's much need for captionin' on this post. Just enjoy the cuteness of these little rascals! :)







Cute, ain't they? :)

Camo Buckets and Pill Bugs

I reckon it's a well-known fact by now that I am crazy. But when it comes to gardening and seedlings of the nightshade family, I am extremely crazy. Mama knows. Oh she knows. She knows it's dangerous to take me to a plant nursery. She knows if we go to Wally World, we must positively walk through the garden section or I may actually have a panic attack. And Lord have mercy, if we see some pretty mater seedlings, then that's it. I am in a state of complete bliss. I am uncontrollable. (Next year I am going back to starting all of my seedlings myself, to help with my fetish. Help, but I am certain it will not cure it. ;)

So what is so uncontrollable about it all? Well, considering I have a rather small garden, my aspirations always come out much larger than the amount of tilled earth.

Example: I probably only have enough room in my garden for about 18 pepper plants. I am now the proud Mama of over 50 pepper plants! This means that I have tried to get creative and find places for them all.
I already broke ALL rules when it comes to spacing. I have already used all of my raised beds, and I have already used all the buckets and pots in my possession.
I was in a predicament.

So Mama and I went to Wal-Mart to look at buying some more pots.
"Shooo-weee!! Those are mighty expensive pieces of plastic." I was distraught, and even had a conversation with another lady looking at the pots. She agreed. Mighty expensve.

I had already thought about using 5-gallon buckets, but I didn't have any available, and was kinda hoping for something slightly more attractive, but hey, they would certainly work.

So we headed over to where they kept their 5-gallon buckets. There they were. White. Green. Blue. Camo.

"Camo?! Camo buckets! That's awesome."

The rest is history. Nestled in some good compost in their little camo buckets are some very happy pepper plants.



Now I don't know about you, but I believe "roly polies" are a necessary part of childhood. While I was out planting today, I was able to watch and listen to little Makayla as she played and talked to these little creatures. That made my day so special. I remember when I was her age and I was playing with pill bugs (and salamanders and tadpoles and lizards and turtles and frogs and any other critter I could get my hands on) and that made me stop and think, Man! Time really does fly!



Well, that's about all. Tomorrow I gotta call the neighbors and find out if it's okay for me to plant my five other mater plants on the property line. That's the only other place I got left. And unfortunately, those camo buckets ain't big enough for maters.