random fun garden shots

The children call these faery lanterns. They are so beautiful. We always have some in the yard during July and August. They are just like little green paper lanterns.

This little tiny fruit/pumpkin/gourd is now growing from the mystery vine. My guess is gourd.

This beautiful poke plant is growing right beside our porch stairs. It makes me so sad when people pull these "weeds". They are such wonderful herbal allies in certain situations. Feel blessed if they grow around your house! They hold anti-cancer energy in their roots. The berries make a wonderful ink. I will post pictures when we make ink in the Fall.

Nova found this springy spiral vine on the butternut squash which has decided to hop the garden fence and come out into the yard.


Our first tiny dipper gourd...

The children spent a long time visiting with this amazing cicada. They love bugs!

for the love of figs!!!

We have ripe figs on our fig trees! This is the time of year when we jump for joy every time a few figs ripen. They seem to come in one handful at a time for the first couple of weeks of ripeness, but by mid-August the figs will be pouring in faster than we will be able to pick them.


For now, we will just enjoy them by the handful even if we do have to tree climb and ladder climb in order to get to the ripest ones! Yum!

Chrissy's Blessing

My beautiful friend Chrissy is going to have a sweet little baby any day now. We went over to her house yesterday for a mama-and-kids blessingway. The children were all so patient and sweet. They loved the part of the blessing where they were invited to paint Chrissy's belly.


Blessings on your birth once again, Chrissy! I love you!!!

birthday canoe ride

Last Friday, I celebrated my 30th birthday with family and friends. We stretched the party out over the entire weekend. I have such gratitude in my heart for all of the people who surround me with love every day, but especially as I make transitions like the ones that I am going through now....

Sunday was wonderful. We spent the day on the lake, swimming and taking a canoe ride. My kids are such water babies, we were with our best family friends, and the day was perfect in so many ways.

playgroup

Today at playgroup, the kids kept going on "adventures". I love their sweet innocence. They walked up this huge hill, and came back with stories of a "deserted trail".


They made up a fun game with this tree by grabbing onto two branches and swinging out over the water.

As a perfect end to our fun playgroup time, Nova spotted this beautiful dragonfly. Her eyes were just like two little pieces of turquoise. They were the most amazing blue.

Uncle Jay

My brother visited from New York earlier this week. We had such a good time. Everyone is really missing him right now, but the kids are especially anxious to see him again.

They loved having him here, and wanted to be with him at every moment. Clover had lots of cooking projects in mind to work on with him. We had lots of fun.

garden update

July and August are my favorite months of the year. Everything in the garden is so green and beautiful. So much of our food comes out of the backyard. I feel so blessed every single time we walk out the back door and pick vegetables for dinner.

The cucumbers are still coming in...


We have watermelons, tomatoes, corn, and peppers ripening quickly...





Our non-edibles are thriving as well: gourds and sunflowers galore!



The goldfinches are loving this sunflower in Clover's garden...

And the kids are loving the first crispy little apples of the season...

mountain trip

I took the kids to visit my dear friend Charlotte earlier this week. We had such a wonderful time. I always feel such peace and contentment when surrounded by the beauty of the mountains. We were glad to get home yesterday, but we have all had a hard time adjusting to the much warmer weather and the lack of lovely scenery!!

We spent lots of time playing at the pool. I sunbathed for the most part because the temperature never got above 80 degrees, and I really need HOT weather to enjoy a swimming pool. The kids wanted to get in constantly!




We visited the Nature Center one afternoon, and enjoyed seeing two playful black bears, deer, bobcats, wolves, a very cute otter, peacocks, alpacas, and a beautiful butterfly "room". The kids were so delighted when the butterflies landed on them!





Ofcourse, we also just enjoyed some time relaxing at Charlotte's house. All of the kids loved her sweet little dog. Clover read while patting Kahlil's belly each morning. The quiet morning time with the cool breezy air and beautiful white clouds over the mountains was wonderful.