A Walk through the Garden...

This past week has been a very welcomed break in heat-it was absolutely beautiful weather! Usually by this time in the summer, the garden starts to get out of hand due to the horrid heat, humidity and the bugs it brings with it. But thankfully this past week has been almost cool and has provided a chance for me to wrangle in the growth so to speak. I have even managed to begin filling up a journal for the garden while relaxing outside(sitting still actually-something I am practicing on) It is fun to look at the gardens and jot down my thoughts that I will forget by next year which will lead to making some mistakes twice. It will help me to be excited about the work in spring instead of overwhelmed.

The kids also enjoyed playing outside as well. They had fun creating fairy gardens in an area of the yard that has yet to get some love from us. It was fun to see them create a whimsical little land complete with trickling water features. I had fun planting little clothespin fairy doll ideas in their imaginations as well. Standing back only to see each one of them spin the idea into their own styles.

In the back corner of the yard, behind the pool, we put in new strawberry and raspberry patches. But, not much else had gotten done around them and the area has been fortunately hidden from sight. But this week I had the chance to get the mulching around them done and they are blending nicely into the rest of the garden area. There is even a nice bench to sit on and dream.

strawberries will be wonderful come next year-cannot wait...

The other project came about in a round about way. We have one of those, big, but not so permanent pools for the kids. They are fabulous for a tight budget but of course not designed too great, so the tiny little filters that come with them do not quite keep up when the temp gets close to 100. The pool began looking more like a pond with no chance of recouping no matter how many chemicals you feed to them, so we drained it(it took 7 days!) repaired and deep cleaned it and then filled it back up. Oh how nice to see the sparkling blue water again! Anyways, in that process, we decided to move the sand out of the old sandbox to under the pool giving it a better foundation. Once the old sand box was empty, I was able to dig it up and move it over to the newer garden area for next year. I wish I did not have to wait until next year to plant!

I always think it is so curious how the plants inch their way out of their confinements. Do they not understand I am trying to keep them safe;) We have a few little watermelons on their way. Just needs some more of that oppresive heat to fatten them up.