MOST of the four pallets of paving stones are in place(s)
My back is 'strong, like Ox' and my head is full of more ideas for improving the front of the property.....
MANY plants are being planted, transplanted and imagined.
Seeds in dozens of containers are springing up in the greenhouse and on the back deck.
Possible snow tonight and a low temp of 30 degrees F

Yeah, its Mothers day, bring on some snow...... and wind

greenhouse

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While it is still topless and has only three sides, you can see here the beginnings of my 9x12 greenhouse.

we lack the heat here in the mountains to do proper tomatoes... and it freezes so late in the spring and early in the fall that I get little produce. this way I will be able to grow more crops and much longer.

I am in love with my RECYCLED doors and the designs they created.

Not just dirt

Sifting reveals rocks that are a problem for some and a building material for others.

Today as I was filling my garden beds, I felt the need to sort the rocks from the soil using my old sifter ( picture) much like the kind my father used many years ago

In therapy I am also using a sifting device to lift up the contents of my life and to let the good and useful knowledge, wisdom and gifts fall through and screen the boulders, scree and gravel for other uses. It HAS BEEN a long process and I bless God and the many sensitive souls who have gone through those times with me.

here is what I have after sifting the soil for my garden; several large rocks that could be used to build a wall or a path, many smaller stones and gravel that I am using as fill below the depth where the roots will reach to provide drainage and stability, and then the smaller particles that fell through my 1/2" screen that will be mixed with manure and other soil amendments to make a nutritional source for the flowers and vegetables that I am going to grow.

Obvious to me, this is hard work. I lift the dirt at least three times before it is in the garden beds.
( my brain just told me how to do it in two moves, yay! )

As I work my brain works also - usually on hidden things, so no surprise that the sifting of my emotional, spiritual and psychological perspectives should come into view as I moved a half ton of dirt from one place to another.
A while ago I was a mess, a large pile of debris with some good stuff hidden in the midst. Trust me, or read my archives. A series of life changes and relationships has caused me to continue to examine what about me works and what did not, my last two therapists lent an huge boost to my progress by NOT TELLING ME MUCH, but by letting me see it for myself and OWN the reality so that it was also mine to alter. ONE REALLY GOOD BOOK opened my heart to me in a new way, Many conversations with sweet and caring friends pushed me along the path toward NOW, and being here with mom has turned into the great blessing that God is using to make me into a strong man and a more compassionate human being. It has been a hard path, but worth every step and every stubbed toe for I am seeing the mountain pass and the blue sky that foretells a brighter day.. More later - the garden has more to teach me

Tiptoeing through the tulips

there is NOTHING like a garden.
it matters not what size
containers on a balcony
neat rows of veggies in a garden plot
or massive old grand royal gardens
planted hundreds of years ago

we all need to keep and nourish our connection to the earth
for that is what we were made from
and what sustains us
tend a small plant and see it produce food
watch a seed become a pair of leaves and then a flower
and you will never doubt than life IS a miracle

YOU are a miracle and a flower in the garden
you have the ability and the need and the honor
of nourishing others and beautifying the world we live in
I welcome your miraculous life into my world
Thank you for your presence here

Living in God's garden

As I was pulling more dandelions it occurred to me that God is a bit like a gardener or farmer
and that He has planted me, right here and right now, generously providing everything I need to grow, to be strong and to bloom gloriously.
In his garden he puts all sorts of trees and plants for various reasons and only expects that they would respond to the care He gives to become fruitful and beautiful. As I grow I can not get puffed up with pride about my own beauty or compare it to the appearance of other trees or shrubs in this garden, nor can I take much time with worrying about why there are so many weeds around me.
In the parable of the wheat and the tares Jesus helped us see that the world is full of good and evil and that at the appropriate time God will sort out who is each, and deal with it, once and for all.
I am blessed that I see growth in my own life and in that of others around me. I wait patiently for the King of the garden to bring it into full mid summer glory, and I do not worry about telling Him how His garden should be. It is good to be alive in the spirit and to feel the grace and mercy of a loving Father rain down upon me like soft summer showers with just the right hint of 'Miracle grow' mixed in.

For more on Jesus explanation of this parable see CHESTER STREET
or just do your own search of Matthew 13 or google "wheat and tares" like I did.

garden mid may

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Oriental poppies about to burst open

The reluctant rose

snap dragons await placement by the bird bath

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the crab apple in full magnificence

weeding - and feeding

It is WAY spring all of a sudden
and the battles have been renewed between myself and the ever present Taraxacum officinale,
or dandelion.

It should be plural but what is the plural of thousands?

SO i am pulling weeds, and planting flowers.
Mom thinks the damndelions are flowers, cute and yellow.

I think the damndelions are a scourge, the eleventh plauge that God set on the Egyptians to finally convince Pharaoh to "let my people go!" No matter. They are bad news, and a pox and a blight on my flower garden. I will not have them or their floating fluffy offspring ruining my floral displays.
As I am constantly monitoring myself for useful messages and visions to explain what heretofore has been inexplicable ( me), I sensed in the dandelions an object lesson de jour. I am working it up into a full blown post, but suffice it to say that God owns the garden that is me, and has let me work in it, and so I am choosing daily the type of flowers and care that go into making me beautiful and fruitful.
Yes, it is back breaking work. I am holding on to see the results that some weeding, watering and fertilizers will bring in the months and years ahead.