Yesterday morning, the kids and I planted the flower bed in front of our house. I really hope it grows. It’s a rather cruddy piece of Arizona land, and the first time I tried to plant flowers in it, I could barely make a dent in the dirt. I really tore into that dirt with determination and ended up finding exactly three spots in the bed where I could break through the soil. All three of those spots were filled with potting soil. Turns out someone else had tried planting flowers a few years before. I’m positive they met the same fate all of my flowers have met.
Death.
The soil isn’t 100% to blame. I can hardly grow a darn thing which is darn unlucky given my love of beautiful gardens. But really… who doesn’t love a beautiful garden? My husband and I have been pouring love and work into that blasted flower bed for a year and a half. This year, the dirt was much easier to work with. I spent my morning on my knees with my kids around me planting all manner of flowers. I didn’t take a picture because I’m afraid that even after all of my planting and watering, it really isn’t all that beautiful. I’m no master gardener, but I’m trying. Really, I am.
I also might have spent the rest of the day trying to keep kids out of the bed. It didn’t take but thirty minutes for me to realize that flower beds can only be successful in beds that are never invaded by two year olds. With watering cans.
There’s a good chance that marigold may never air out again.
But I love it. I mean, I don’t love choking out marigolds… I just love the country. I love the air and the ease and the neighbors. My neighbor, for instance, as we were planting flowers, called my daughter over. She gave her the most beautiful bouquet of iris that she’d hand-picked from her own yard. They were absolutely inspirational, but we’ll get to that in a minute.
I thanked her for them and turned to take them in the house when I saw… THE COW. I didn’t get a picture of the cow because whenever I saw it I was too busy chasing it instead of snapping pictures of it. That cow had gotten out and put itself back in so many times that I hated it. It was smarter than I was! By the time we got my Dad called (because the cow belonged to him) to tell him that he had a cow out, the darn thing had put itself back in. A regular jokester! I could never, ever find how or where it got in and out.
“There’s that cow!” I said to my neighbor, and we together… we sprang into action. She went around one way, I went around the other. We got the cow back in and succeeded in finding the hole it was moving in and out of. I called Dad, and he came over to fix the hole in the fence.
I finally had a chance to put the iris in a vase, and as I did so I was inspired to completely redecorate the wall behind it.
I stole a few pieces from the hacked up piano and went to work.
A shout-out to Laurie for the most amazing record(s) ever. They now sit on my piano and look sharp.
Remember when I went a’yard sailing? Well if you can ignore the blue wallpaper that loves to taunt me…
You can see what I did with what I got (does that line make anyone else want to start singing Sublime songs?). The chair sits in front of the thick piece of wood that sat underneath all of the piano keys. The vintage picnic box sits next to the chair. The frame (which used to hold art. I absolutely tore it out like a jerk.) cost me $3 and sits around the wreath I finally almost finished.
I stole another piece from my indoor wood pile and took my drill to it. I might also add that my husband is handy at leaving our two hammers lying around in places I can not find. So I used a high heel to hammer with. It’s official: I’m a woman. W-O-M-A-N.
My husband says it needs paint. I say it looks like a fresh canvas waiting for me to add crap to it. Look out!
After I finished my iris-inspired redecorating, I went to pick up my nieces. Their mom is getting close to having my nephew (wee!) and she pulled a muscle in her back. I picked them up and we went to visit some friends on the way home.
These friends are really, really cool. They have the best toys, and I’m not talking about anything electronic.
They have chickens! And pigeons! And goats and a calf and four bunnies and horses and even… A BABY PONY! I sat back and watched the kids chase chickens, put goats back in, play with a wild baby bunny, uncover teensy chicks that hid under their mother’s wings, and play with everything in sight.
My son found a bat and was determined to help chase the goats back in.
“Get dose sheep!” He cried. I love the cut-off sweats and the cowboy boots.
After the goats were all safely back home, we went back to our house to find grandpa fixing the fence where the cow had gotten in and out.
The kids used the same hole in the fence to go play on Grandpa’s tractors and throw rocks in the cows’ water.
After we hand planted a few seeds in the flower bed and run ourselves a little more ragged, we went back inside for hot dogs and homemade ketchup -made with the tomatoes from last year’s garden. My niece loved it. She could have cared less about the hot dogs. When her ketchup was gone, she simply started eating Trenton’s. He bawled about it, of course, but that didn’t stop her.
After taking the girls back home, we ate some dinner and then went outside to start our Family Home Evening… planting the garden!
I don’t have any pictures because my hands were covered in muddy potting soil the whole time. BUT in addition to having a flower bed, I now have an herb bed, six tomato plants, six pepper plants and two squash plants. The garden isn’t even HALF planted, but it sure feels good to get your hands into dirt.
Yesterday was wonderful. It felt like summer, and summer is my favorite. I love the heat. I love the green. I love the Fourth of July. I love oreos and hot dogs and root beer. I love fresh air and warm nights. I could live forever in summer… so long as I could stay right here where the air is country.
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