The Garden in May

Dear Friends,

We have been having fun with blue paint around the garden, wanting it to look like the South of France. We may not have a stone mas to live in, but it does look prettier than before!

We splurged on these allium bulbs last fall, and now they are the queens of the show. Even the foliage is attractive, with big, strappy leaves.

The girls have been practicing to perform at the local farmer's market, and our cat Ginger made sure that the bodhran was properly tuned.

Hickety Pickety decided to check out the chicks' pen whilst they were elsewhere, to make sure it was properly outfitted. Doesn't she look lovely amidst the irises?

Radishes have been our best crop in the garden so far, other than the wild greens that are running rampant throughout the yard. These are from Tasha's personal garden spot~

Hyrum just keeps growing and growing (as does his bushy hair). He loves being out on the trampoline!

The peony in back is now in bloom, and it complements the irises perfectly. We put in four more peonies out front, and will have a hard time waiting till next year for them to bloom.

Peony bud.

Last but not least, we planted this catmint and false blue indigo next to each other last spring, not knowing that they would match perfectly this year. I love it when things work out this way, seeing the faeries at play! Now where are all the bees and butterflies they are supposed to be covered with?

Until next time.

Love,

Marqueta

"A swarm of bees in May
Is worth a load of hay;
A swarm of bees in June
Is worth a silver spoon;
A swarm of bees in July
Is not worth a fly."

-  Rhyme from England

Adorable Chicks and Sweet Garden Blooms

Dear Friends,

Yesterday was one of those days when my long, long to-do list turned into "hold Hyrum until his fever subsides." Thank goodness I have lots of helpers to change the water and feed for the chicks and ducks!

We decided that the chicks needed the portraits taken, while they are still somewhat tiny. Some turned out better than others.

Don't you love this hair on this one? We're really hoping it's a hen, and not a rooster like it seems to me.

Our Silkie is a complete sweetheart, that never fusses when she gets picked up.

These two are twin "chipmunks~" We hope that they are Speckled Sussexes.

We're not sure what little Yin/Yan chick is, but she's a sweetie, too.

We think that the gray chick on the left looks like an owl, and the white one looks like a regal eagle!

Lowe's was having a sale on their bedding plants, so we splurged and bought enough for everyone to have several of their own.  Even little Hyrum picked out a pansy for his pot.

This has been "The Year of the Violets" in our yard, but they are quickly coming to an end. Every year we don't get around to making jelly with them, but we certainly have eaten lots in salads and smoothies!

Last abut not least, we proudly introduce our first official music video, featuring an original song written by yours truly (thanks for Tasha for editing it, and for arranging the music). I hope you enjoy it~

Love,

Marqueta

"Bound and Bordered in Leaf Green..."

"...Edged with trellised buds and flowers

And glad Summer-gold, with clean

White and purple morning-glories

Such as suit the songs and stories

...unrevised in text or scene..."

--James Whitcomb Riley

Dear Friends,

Our summer has been unusually cool and nice; which means we have been able to be outside more and jump on our trampoline. (And draw with chalk!)

Evangeline doing a flip~

Our Black Swallow-tail caterpillars have all turned into beautiful butterflies and flown away.

The garden is in full bloom and looking lovely.

These little hobbits found giant cabbages and eggplants in "Farmer Maggot's" (aka the Farmer's Market) crop.

Have you ever seen the likes of those cabbages and eggplants before? They are huge!

The heat has been turned up lately, with temperatures around 100, so now it is starting to feel more like a real Missouri summer! We do love the singing insects at night, as well as the fireflies on a sultry evening, and will miss them when they rest this fall.

Many blessings to you all.

Love ~ Marqueta

The Flowers in My Garden

 Dear Friends,

I've been out admiring the flowers in my garden today. As you can see, some of them are a little more "wild" than others. . . .

. . . but they clean up real nice!

Rebecca is posing by a beautiful poppy that I planted and can't remember the name of. I was planning on saving the seeds to share with my friends, but you know how two-year olds are with flowers~

 So we get to enjoy it as a cut flower, instead!

Here are some lovely Bright Eyes Flax blossoms. . .

. . . and Shirley Poppies that Rebecca can't reach.

The pansies are still blooming sweetly in the onion patch. . . 

. . . And the celery we started from a grocery store plant  is growing happily, too (of course we know that celery is not a flower).

 The Asiatic day flowers are beginning to bloom all around the yard. They are quite tasty in salads, and we love the leaves in smoothies.

Senora just can't get enough of the garden these days (or is it the chipmunk that resides therein?). . . 

And the sunflowers are getting to open their beautiful faces, much to the goldfinches' delight!

 Have you ever been feeling down or discouraged, and read just the thing that pulled you up higher, and let you breathe God's fresh air again? We found such words on a tin at the thrift store, and thought we would share them with you. May we all be freshened and encouraged through God's words, and may we treasure the gifts that He has given us (even those that come wrapped in sandpaper!).

Love to you all,

Marqueta

p.s. I just uploaded a video of my lovely self demonstrating what to do with the things you harvest around your yard. Cheers! 

Happy Spring!

Dear Friends,

After experiencing a short "summer" in the first two weeks of March, now we are having more "winter" when the calendar says "spring!" It hasn't been cold enough to snow, but it has been cool enough to make us grateful that we can wear layers for a little while longer, instead of perspiring in the coolest things we can find. :)

The little apple tree out back is leafing out,

 Violets are so pretty all over the yard,

 Love is in the air (and lots of squabbling birds and squirrels),

 The comfrey successfully overwintered in the big pot outside,

 And all is right with the world!

 AnnaMarie and I chopped down a  superfluous elm trunk in the backyard, the old-fashioned way,

And AnnaMarie has been using the mucilagenous bark and twigs to make rustic baskets (we'll have to get pictures of those). Elm bark, no matter what the variety, is a good medicine for dry situations when the body seems to cry out for moisture, no matter how much you drink. The medicinal part is the inner bark, which is easily obtained by peeling it from small branches and saplings.

Some of the pansies in our front yard are showing their pretty faces,

And we've been constructing teepees for all the peas that we bought too many seeds for, and had to find creative places for planting them all around!

Today we thought we'd have some sunshine to plant garlic and more potatoes in, but it's clouded up, so we're going to go stitch and apron and a few diapers, instead. Busy hands, happy hearts, they say! In our case, this is mostly true (there is no saying about "overwhelmed hands," you know), as we go about doing all the domestic things that hold our family together.

We are in the book of Psalms in the Old Testament, and are reading a stack of gardening books that we borrowed from the library. If we can keep all that we read in our minds, we'll be real professionals before you know it!

A happy, blessed, and safe weekend to you,

Love,

Marqueta

p.s. Don't forget to enter our spring-cleaning giveaway, if you enjoy collecting vintage sewing patterns!

Dear Friends,

Happy Monday to you! We've been having lots of fun outside, bouncing on our new "hoppity balls" and planting more goodies in the garden.

 

Each child picked out their own four-pack of pansies at the local nursery, and we planted them in a bed out front (where the chickens can't get them).

 Evangeline, Frankie, and Rebecca decided that we needed lots of onion starts, too, so now we have a pansy/onion bed, along with LOTS of peas that we had to stick here and there, since we soaked way too many for the area we had prepared. :) Someday we'll have a normal garden that's just in one spot!

These robins were waiting patiently for us to leave, so they could get any worms that we may have unearthed!

The rest of the birds are more shy, and like to watch us from a respectful distance!

Our two little clumps of daffodils are blooming along the side of the house, and we've noticed that the magnolias in the neighborhood are begin to unveil their lovely pink and white flowers. Ah, spring!

Mr. Graham and I took a class the other night on making kefir and other fermented foods and drinks, and have been inspired to start some internal "house cleaning" with these wonderful, life-giving foods. At the moment, we have kefir and sauerkraut working, and everyone is drooling waiting for them to be done! Talk about slow food! We are also dehydrating some rye berries that we soaked until they sprouted; we will grind it into flour and make a more gut-friendly baked goody than that of unsprouted flour. Here is the website of the lady who taught our cultured food class~ she has lots of wonderful, creative recipes!

We hope that you're enjoying this day, wherever you are, and creating wonderful memories with your family.

Love,

Marqueta

***********

"Spring Is . . . "

Spring will make the flowers grow,

Spring will melt away the snow.

Spring will bring the robins home,

Spring will let imaginations roam.

Spring will . . . be spring!

~Audrey Graham

******************

"Spring"

Did you hear the robin today?

His song sounded so very gay!

And did you see the grass so green?

And did you hear the flowing spring?

The snow is melting all away,

We will see it another day.

Yay for spring!

Yay for spring!

Yay for Yay for  everything!

~Tasha Graham