My, How They've Grown!

2004

2011

The're pink, not red, No kidding, Yum,

1. The blooms of the Redbud grow in pink polka dots up and down the branches.
2. The store attendant says he has four daughters and I tell him that I also have four daughters! We compare notes on the ups and downs of parenting all girls.
3. Good, homemade pizza with red peppers, sweet onions and pepperoni.

A feast for the eyes, Another feast for the eyes!, A feast for the ears

1. The weather came in fits and swells, one minute lightning and thunder and the next, sunshine. It was also a day of dramatic clouds, dark and looming, then back lit with sunlight. It made for a beautiful landscape.
2. I glanced out the kitchen window and stopped dead in my tracks for the abundance of blooms. I saw sweet cherry, crab apple, ornamental plum, daffodils, forsythia and flowering almond- all out of one window!
3. Tess and I went to the Singing School concert where the choir put on a great performance. They sang one of my favorite songs, In Christ Alone.

Digging in the sun, It happened overnight, I love my car

1. I walk around to the shady side of the house where a cool breeze is blowing.
2. Cherry trees are covered in masses of fluffy, white blooms.
3. We found an excellent mechanic! (The one with the VW graveyard.) After months of frustration with the VW dealership, who "fixed" the wrong things, my car is finally repaired. I got so used to my car sputtering when I stepped on the accelerator, that it took me by surprise tonight when I stepped on it and it shot off at lightning speed. Whoa!

Settling in the hollows, Comig along, Good eats

1. Morning fog makes a mystery of the day. Will the sun come out or are we in for drizzle?
2. It's visibly apparent how much the young plum tree has grown since last year's planting. I think maybe I shouldn't fret that my life span isn't long enough to see these trees grow to maturity. I'll take pleasure in seeing the growth that has occurred.
3. We enjoyed an especially good lunch of pulled pork BBQ. (Slow roasted yesterday and simply re-heated today.)

Planting day, A volunteer!, Baby lettuce

1. Today we picked up our hemlocks from the nursery. They're gorgeous! It's been raining so Steve got right to digging the holes while the ground is soft. Now to keep the deer and wooly adelgid off...
2. I've had trouble getting any sort of vine to stay alive live on my trellis. My next idea was to try a climbing rose. As I was pulling dandelions out of the daffodils, I was astonished to find what looks like a miniature rose! It's almost too weird to believe. I've never grown a rose here, so I can't imagine how it came to be growing in the daffodils. I moved it to the trellis and we'll see what happens.
3. A seed packet of inspiration. This little seed packet has me antsy to get out there and dig my garden.

The Road Goes Ever On by JRR Tolkien

The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.

The road behind our house that we call "The Loop" because it's a perfect three-mile walk leaving and returning right to our back door. From a summer time photo.