Nothing profound, just green

I spent a couple hours outside this morning, enjoying the weather now that it's heated back up to Spring-like conditions, listening to my MP3 player, pulling weeds and getting dirt stuck under my cuticles. I don't know how I managed to pass hours out there, I didn't even really get much done. But I thought I'd post photos of what's new in my yard anyway. Here is my tomato patch just downhill from our patio. A couple years ago this used to be rose bushes that were wild and unruly and always seemed to be getting black-leaf diseases. I'd always chop them up and then they'd just keep coming back. Finally I dug out their roots and now I have a place to plant something much less romantic and much more practical. Tomatoes. We have one rose bush remaining in the far corner down there. It has some oregano growing under it, which I don't actually use but it makes a very pretty ground cover that spreads at a nice pace (not too fast to get out of control but fast enough to fill in spaces). So I planted a double row of tomato plants all down this bed and we'll see how they do. I had to pull two out already because we had that cold spell this week that actually managed to freeze two of my plants. It also killed the basil plants I had, but I can replant those later when I find some space for it. I have a big baggie full of basil seed I harvested from my basil last year.


Here is something that looks like a rather boring photo but it's actually pretty exciting for me. It is my baby spinach that has come up and is doing quite well in some spots. I plucked a leaf off this morning after watering them and ate it. Very tasty.















My grapevine got its leaves! And many tiny little clusters of potential grapes. I'm really excited about that. It's produced grapes before, but as soon as they'd ripen, birds would eat them before we'd have the chance. (Plus last summer I was in Egypt during the fruit season so we missed our chance) Maybe this summer we'll miss our chance too, with our summer road trip plans, but it's always exciting to know that we have the potential to grow our own grapes.













And here is what our grapevine arbor/trellis looks like overall. It doesn't look like much but remember- it's only March. These are the "before" photos!

Gardening updates

These photos are actually from last weekend but I didn't have a chance last weekend to sit down and upload and write about them. This is the outside of our kitchen window looking out to the backyard. I planted petunias there and they are really thriving. So we get to look out at them when we stand there to wash our dishes.
















Here is my herb garden area. Up against the fence there you can see that my row of snow peas has indeed sprouted. After this week's rain, they are already much taller than in this photo from last week, and actually trying to climb up my cilantro plant at the far end. Bad peas! I have one net trellis up for them that the honeysuckle is already climbing. I have to make it out to Home Depot to get another one of those things.













The leaves on my pomegranate bush came out :-)

What lies downstream

Yesterday as I was getting ready to pray, I started to wonder what I would blog about this weekend. It'd been raining here for the better part of 5 days so I didn't get any gardening done and the weather this morning is still overcast and isn't conducive to photo-taking. As I stood there washing my arms, I thought about what I wrote last week about how we have a plan and how God has plans and I was again reminded of something.

It seems like I've always been encouraged to make goals and plans for my future, that's what we're supposed to do. "What do you want to be when you grow up?" "Where do you see yourself in 5 years?" I think sometimes we get so caught up in choosing a goal and then feeling like we are stuck trying to attain that goal that we sometimes get there the wrong way. If we get there the wrong way, then doesn't that mean we're actually in the wrong place? If we set up goals for ourselves that cause us to... neglect our families, take what's not ours, live against our principles or worse yet, live in denial... then is it worth it? Does the end justify the means? The answer is "no". The means are the important part. It's not the destination, it's the journey. It's not where you end up, it's how you got there that matters.

So I was reminded that while I have things I would like to see in my life or in the world, it's better for me to focus on each step instead of the final destination. The destination will take care of itself if I just take each step with care and intention. I think that's what faith is all about. If you do the right thing, you believe in this unseen force that will guide you to end up in the right place. Or better said: wherever you end up, it IS the right place. If I live according to my principles, wherever I am, that's where I should be.

But I'm not saying you just stop paddling and just simply go with the flow. Not at all. I still plan to steer my vessel, steer away from dangerous rapids, and towards pretty scenery. But I can't predict the current and I'm definitely not foolish enough to try to row upstream.

Bloom where you're planted

This week was interesting. I spent four of the five days at my children's school, chaperoning a field trip one day and filling in for a teacher two days, and then sort of doing the rounds on Friday (starting off with a long and much needed talk with the principal, then helping out another parent who was subbing, then watching the little kids at recess, then helping out the first grade teachers and making a very cool tie-dyed coffee filter and then... as the finale... ending the day supervising the high school PE class where they played a very brutal version of dodgeball which it worries me to say I found very entertaining.) It was almost like being at my hippie summer camp again, and indeed I'm often reminded of the New Hampshire woods when I walk through Treetops' campus. Watching the gym class, the thought ran through my mind that I never really know quite how I get to where I end up. (you know, in other words, I paused and smiled and mentally asked myself, "What am I doing here!?") We never know what lies ahead on the road we're on. It's like that analogy in "The Secret"- you're driving on a dark road at night. You just keep following the road but you can't see what lies ahead. So you just keep going and trust that it will get you to where you are supposed to be.

I spent a lot of time gardening during this unseasonably warm weekend, which always gives me the quiet time I need for my thoughts to take root and grow, not to mention basking in the ample sunlight which burns off any negative stuff I might be carrying around. And I admit I was carrying around some negative stuff. But I think I'm at the place now where I can submit and accept that wherever my road leads, wherever I end up tomorrow, next month, next year, it's ok with me. We work hard to cultivate our lives but some things simply won't grow in some environments. We try but some things weren't meant to be. That's ok. We have to trust that we will end up where we were meant to be. I think I lost sight of that but I was reminded of it while thinking about where to plant things in my yard.



Here to the left is the southwest corner of our property. This apparently at one time had been a flower bed, as there are decaying wooden landscaping beams marking off the area, but as you can see in the photo, the sunlight never really falls directly into that area. I thought that in the hot dry Texas summers, this *could* be beneficial as things wouldn't dry out as fast and they are still getting some sunlight because weeds sure find a way to grow there. I went ahead and started pulling out those weeds and turning over the soil and decided that this is going to be my experimental garden this year. All those little tomato seedlings I photographed last weekend have to find some place to root so I started off by planting some here in the corner in mounds of my home-brew fortified leaf mold composted mulch stuff. We'll see how it works out. If they look like they're growing, I'll plant a few more back there next weekend or during Spring Break. Like I was saying, if they don't grow there I won't push it. You just try stuff out... if it doesn't work, it's ok. Tomato plants weren't meant to grow just anywhere.



This is the view of the pathway behind our house that connects the two side yards. When we first moved here about 8 years ago, I had a vision of all these ivy-covered trellises covering the walkway so I slowly started working on that. Boston Ivy grows relatively quickly but I started with just about a half dozen 4" pots planted at very intentional intervals. The trellises are really cheap- you can get them at Michael's for about $15 and then you know, there's that 40% off coupon every Sunday for any item. :-) So it's really nice to see that the ivy just keeps growing and as the years pass, my vision is being realized. Ivy was meant to grow there. I planted a Camelia bush at the same time in that area. Its tag says it does well in partial or full shade. It hasn't died but it's never grown in 6 or 7 years. Maybe it would have been better off someplace else.