Wordless Wednesday: Gratitude
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When you are grateful, fear disappears and abundance appears.
~Anthony Robbins
There is nothing as simple as gratitude to turn your mood around. It changes your perspective from self-absorbed to outward-looking; from being closed up, away from experiences to being open to receiving what life has to offer. Whenever I feel like things aren’t “going my way”, I stop for a moment, and focus on just being… thankful. It’s amazing how much better things look when the things you have are the things you want.
On this Word(ful) Wednesday, the things in my life for which I am grateful...
The Endless Wonder of my Children in our garden:
An Evening Out with my Husband:
Fresh Veggies from the Farmer’s Market:
The Pine Barrens (wish I could transfer aroma through the internet):
The Simple Beauty of My Garden:
The Magnificence of Nature (on our recent trip to Ithaca, NY):
For what are you most thankful?
How Does Your Garden Grow?
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One touch of nature makes the whole world kin. ~William Shakespeare
(Columbine, out back)
I've tended a garden – of some kind – for as long as I can recall. As a child, we had a great big garden – surrounded by a picket fence, filled with treasures we’d tend all summer long: potatoes, carrots, corn, peas, broccoli, strawberries. I remember tilling the soil, planting, watering, pulling weeds (ugh), and finally harvesting our bounty! The garden was always a marvelous place for discovery: we had bugs in our veggies, rats digging tunnels through our rows, and one year, even turned over a nest of baby bunnies! Gardening was a part of every day life – a lot of work, but fun too, and even better – we ended up with Stuff To Eat at the end of it all.
(Our strawberries ripened this weekend & they were delicious!)
When Adam and I were apartment living, I kept pots of flowers and tomatoes on our deck, and when we moved to Maine, we tried our hand at a full-fledged vegetable garden a couple of years, along with many perennial beds. Though we never got much of a veggie harvest, there was always something that felt so right – and even necessary – about tending a garden. Without it, there’s a piece missing from Spring and Summer. A piece missing from the soul.
(Our backyard garden as of last week)
We’ve been back in New Jersey now a few years, and don’t have much space. But every year with the kids I’ve made the effort to get something in the soil with them. Our perennial beds are thriving, but with limited space and sun, we don’t have the most impressive veggie garden. Yet, even without ending up with baskets full of edibles in the fall, it’s still so important to get your hands dirty. Through gardening, my children have come to understand the sequence of planting a seed, watching it sprout, grow, bear fruit, and die… the cycle of life. A garden is life. I’m grateful for the time with my kids – planting seeds, digging in the dirt, feeling the sun on our shoulders, the breeze in our hair, smelling the rich soil, and watching our plants move through the cycle of life and seasons.
(Kiddos, planting)
We are all a part of this earth – no matter how far away from it we tend to get, through technology – we come from the earth, we return to it, we need it. The garden reminds me of how interconnected we all are with each other and our earth, and I am grateful for it.
(Foxglove, out front)
So… how does YOUR garden grow? Do you have rows and rows of veggies or a couple tomatoes in pots? How do you connect with the earth with your children?
Wordless Wednesday: Don't Mess With Texas
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We travelled to Texas over Spring break. The wildflowers were abundant; my iPhone camera was so happy! Family time was also in abundance; and for that, I am grateful. For Wordless Wednesday, here's our trip, in pictures. Enjoy!
Texas Bluebonnet
Cactus
Hiking
Blanketflower like I can never get to grow in my garden
Peace
Sitting on rocks. Not the best photo, but necessary for the dramatic next photograh...
This fellow crawled out right next to where we were sitting, above.
Obviously, we didn't see this sign before sitting there.
Creek bed
Primrose
An awesome mural
Geocaching (we did A LOT of cahching while in TX!)
Sunset
Walking with her hand on his back. My heart.
Wildflowers
More wildflowers. And bugs.
Tiger at the In-Sync Exotics Wildlife Sanctuary. Each big cat here was rescued (some really heartbreaking stories of abuse & neglect) & are cared for by this amazing place, run completely on donations. If you're ever near Wylie, Texas, you must visit. (just a note, I'm not affiliated with In-Sync, we just happened upon it on our trip & I was really moved by the place).
Big tiger sleeping like a little housecat
Beautiful
Hot & dry y'all
Walking along the reservoir in the sunset
Waiting to head home
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Last year was the first year we tried planting edible plants in our backyard in containers, and had a fairly successful (albeit modest) harvest: a couple of sweet strawberries, three tiny cucumbers, and several handfuls of cherry tomatoes! In our condo, we are blessed with a tiny fenced yard which allows us a private (although mostly shady) area where we can plant our own veggies and flowers, along with a sunny garden we built up against the woods in the common area. We've used the in-ground garden in past years for non-edible plants (due to the pesticides & fertilizers which are spread in the neighborhood [not inside the fences], I'm not comfortable eating anything from the common area) like sunflowers and pumpkins. This year, we decided to get a bit more ambitious with our edible garden, and we're going for some shade-tolerant root veggies: beets & carrots, greens: lettuce, spinach, and broccoli, along with fun-to-grow & eat snap peas! It's still a bit too cold yet in New Jersey to plant veggies outside, so we decided to start our seeds inside, and move them out to the back in a few weeks. I'm not sure yet whether we'll construct a raised bed, or plant in pots again. We also haven't decided what's to go in the common area garden yet either. Stay tuned for details!
We bought some lovely organic potting soil (from Maine - yay!), biodegradable pots, and organic seeds, put down some newspaper, and got to work! The kids had a blast in the dirt (okay, so did I!), my daughter showed a bit of her creative side with designing the seed markers, and my son practiced his motor skills gently watering the finished pots. Enjoy our afternoon in pictures... Can't wait until they start to sprout!
(Go Organic!)
(If you could only SMELL this dirt - *swoon*)
(Carefully filling the pots)
(Gently sprinkling the seeds)
(More seeding...)
(Watering the pots)
(Done!)
Are you planning a garden this year? What are you planting?