Journey In Nature

What a fantastic week of nature we have had around these parts!! The mornings are divine, the days bordering on hot, and the evenings are still and temperate. I have enjoyed being able to be outside for my workouts now. It is light enough at 6 a.m. to see good, and I have loved the heavy air and beautiful sunrises. That being said--I HATE getting out of bed in the mornings, but I love it once I argue myself there 3-4 days each week!

larkspur
School ended for the kids on Tuesday, and so we spent the majority of the day outside watching the play day games and races. We always enjoy the picnic lunches that we take along. We ended up with 3 extra kids that afternoon. They had a blast, exploring outside, shooting guns with Jeremy, riding go-karts, and playing on the zip line and trampoline. I know they all slept well that night!! And I did too, after all that cookin'! The big boys have a summer job of mowing the yard down the road for an out of state hunter. They went over and worked on his yard Wednesday and are dreaming big dreams about how to spend all that money. . .right after they split it out to God and the bank. The possibilities are endless!! Thursday we took the boat out to the lake in the afternoon. I know, I know you are all wondering if anyone around here works!! I assure you, we do!! I don't think we have ever had the boat to the lake in May. .EVER. We're usually lucky to be there by August. The boys can all wakeboard--even Devin. And Miss Cami loved the water as much as the rest of them--she wanted her dad to dip her in, but not TOO far. . .you know, just enough :-) We certainly won't go close to our lake this weekend. It will be packed with wild little jet ski drivers and lots of boats too. Seems there is not enough room there for everyone!! The boys are already wanting to know when we are going again!!

sea of larkspur
That night we enjoyed the beautiful weather and walked door to door gathering food for the county food bank. The kids had a great time, and the donors were very generous--we collected a ton of food!! Topping that off, was an ice cream sundae party at the park afterwards. I am looking forward to making some homemade ice cream this weekend too. It just sounds GOOD!! (and whipping cream and half and half were on sale at the grocery store!!)

butterfly weed, asclepsia

We have eaten swiss chard from the garden this week. The okra seedlings are looking like they will survive. The tomatos and pepper plants are great. I had 5 corn seeds sprout, so looks as if I may try to throw a few more seeds in the ground next week--I used last years leftover seeds--wonder if that contributed to their overall failure?! The sea of larkspur in my south garden is striking. I love them because they re-seed themselves readily!! The butterfly weed is ready to pop open. The butterflies are busy in the yard (if you look close you will see a tiny butterfly lunching on the open butterfly weed blooms) Mom got me a butterfly ID book for Christmas. Those little devils are, so far, difficult for me to identify!! They move quickly and aside from a monarch, I know what none of them are!!

This fragrant honeysuckle, along with the red variety are in full bloom. I tell you, it is one my favorite scents!! I was doing laundry late one evening and was intoxicated by the scent coming in through the open window! There's just nothing like it at all!! This one is on the north side of the house, next to the bathroom window on the big porch. I also have one in the west front flower bed and another one blooming on the south side of the house, in front of the kitchen window. It was bought at half price somewhere and hasn't done much so far! But it is looking good now. We need to fix some trellises for a couple of them, before they get so big that it will be too hard!! So, hopefully in a few years, the scent will be everywhere you go during its bloom time!! I am trying to plant a few more things with scents (mostly lavender this year) to capture all senses when people wander through my gardens!

I have moved the houseplants outside. Also got my pumpkin seedlings planted and mulched in a couple nights ago. I am waiting on the clearance sales this next week to see what kind of bargains I can find (I have gotten some of my best plants on clearance!!)

The big boys both have plans for today, so I decided that D and C and I will go with Jeremy to the races today. I haven't been since before Cami was born. He is always talking about people he meets up there, and I am excited to meet them. D will feel big because he can be in charge of looking out for Cami and I since he has been there several times and we haven't.

I am looking forward to finishing this cup of coffee on my deck right now (I would have been there already, had my internet server crashed last night and not saved the rest of my post. . grrr), lounging on the deck with the kids in the evenings and eating some homemade ice cream later this weekend!! But for now it's "off to the races" for us!! Happy Memorial Day to everyone!!