We made great progress on the yard projects this weekend. The pond was taken to the next phase with the weir added for the waterfall, rock delivered for the edges and bottom, and the rest of the liner put into place. It is starting to look more like a water feature than a bomb site . We had lots of warblers, cardinals, and other winged visitors checking us out as we worked around the feeders. I got a little weeding done and a few more plants in for the dry creek bed project, but didn’t get as much done as I had hoped. I was limited due to an unfortunate encounter with poison ivy, from which I did not emerge the winner!

The irises are getting ready to open and the daffodils are just about finished. Vinca is in bloom along with candy tuft and the hostas are coming up in their wonderfully different shades of green. The astilbes and bleeding hearts are peaking out, columbines and coral bells are up with some already blooming. I love the perfect star pattern on the vinca blossom in the picture at the top. Below is a lenten rose from the shade garden. Such a subtle little plant but so welcome as one of the earliest bloomers. It is almost finished for this season. I got four of these at great prices from Grower’s Outlet this year. Their website is: http://www.growersoutlet.com/. Their prices are awesome and their selection is wonderful.

And since we had then, we had to plant them – here are the pictures to prove it!

forsythia: outrageously beautiful

Like the hosta and the tulips and the peonies, for two months I dwelled in a state of underground readiness. The blow of losing my job at the end of January forced me to consider my options and a more productive future. I followed the directive of diligent looking and positive thinking and dreaming outside my preconceived box. I knew the window of opportunity would be narrow, the hiring season quick, so I worked to be the first person in line when the door opened. Wadda ya know but it worked! I got several offers, of which I chose the one I had wanted from the beginning.

hosta tongues licking the air

With that item out of the way and some time before the job starts, I can hunker down, stress free and do something productive. Not that getting a better job and dreaming big aren’t productive, they certainly are. But they are also exhausting, partly because in my case I really felt like it was the old “fake it til you make it,” adage come to life. Despite my forward movement, my heart was in chaos and my mind was screwing with me by repeatedly suggesting the best I could hope for was working in a Huddle House. Ha! Chin up and look what happens.

porch floor: not all it’s “cracked” up to be

Now down to domestic bliss and the projects at hand inside the gates. In the pre-Christmas wind storm the screen was torn off the screen porch. Over the years the painted floor in there has become increasingly beat up and it was time for a face lift. Before we get the people to come fix the screen which requires scaffolding and more than one set of hands, I decided to repaint the floor. I had a few dry days come up in the forecast so I jumped on it. Painting is a lot like gardening in that it is weather dependent. I think it’s so funny how you will see usually on weekend morning TV teasers for Home Depot or Lowes (Never stop improving: isn’t that a great tag?) where they say, “All you need is…”or, “All you have to do…” That’s a joke between the Champ and I, because the project may only need five tools and a can of paint but it takes 10 hours of prep if you want the work to last, and it’s never as simple as they say. True to form, three trips to the hardware store and a host of mishaps later, the floor is drying and should be ready to rock in a few days. Total time commitment: 10 days. Remember that when you hear, “All you gotta do…”

so simple

Dahlia update: As you may remember from a previous post all my tubers molded and withered and basically croaked over the winter. Despite following all the rules, something went wrong and I was unable to stop the spread of the mold across the entire population of 1000+ tubers. So to hell with the tubers. To hell with having almost 100 plants that need daily care. I declared the Dahlia Diva no more and was ready to move on. Then I got an email from the Dahlia Society about a big cutting and packing party out at a member’s farm. It’s like knowing someone in another county has a drug that you know you don’t want to do anymore (insert your drug of choice here), but you can’t help yourself and drive the 45 minutes anyway…just to “visit.” It’s hilarious how I kid myself, delusional, seriously. I drove out there and we all worked together to get his gadjillion beautifully overwintered tubers bagged and tagged and in the process a couple of delightful good ole boy farmer types  set me up with a box beneath my station and kept dropping tubers in it.  “This un ul do ya good. It’s a winner.” “She’s a big ole beauty.” “This un here is as close to black as yer gonna find.” Did I want/need a black dahlia? I did not, but now I have one, along with about 25 others and the process starts again. I’m a junkie.

pastel pillows of phlox

Of Note: The bleeding heart I was foraging for came up, as did every other thing and more. I haven’t seen any evidence of the asparagus yet, but I know it will emerge when it’s ready. There was a spray of flicker feathers (again!) down at the Killing Log, which we both found to be absolutely amazing, a gruesome Rite of Spring. I got out my bow and arrows and shot with some accuracy into the target yesterday. Aaah. Several times Julia has spotted a white or albino robin in the yard flocking just shy of the other birds. When the rain has come, it has come with a vengance, but I’m happy to report my sand redistribution project held up against the flood.

the banks runneth over

The blueberry survived the cold snap, of which I feel certain there will be another before Mother’s Day. All the apples are in full bloom and the creeping phlox is a pastel pillow dripping from every rock wall and slope in the region. The pears over the past few days have been littering the whole town with their delicate white blossoms. We are plotting the garden and will plant over the next month, sooner if Julia can get the tiller to run. The lawn has been mowed now twice and I hit the borders with the weed whacker making everything all neat and tidy. Unfortunately a couple of ladies from the Gastonia Master Gardeners came to preview our yard for a late July outing with 23 others in their group. I tried to help them envision what July would have in store for them, but as we were walking around all I could see was the storm debris and the things that needed to be accomplished. Given that they are master gardeners I think they saw the potential.  In the space of a few days, in between coats of paint much has gotten done and I’m feeling very hopeful.  In a few days I start a new chapter of my life. It feels good.

perfect primrose

Igår så såg träningen ut på så vis att det var torsdag och jag hade min fantastiska dressyrlektion!
Riktigt roligt och denna gång var P med och filmade så att jag ska få kika sedan
Han är bara bäst han!!!

Tanken var sedan att göra den dagliga Powerwalken, men då jag inte kände mig nå pigg sköts den upp.
Så nu över till den underbara efterlängtade fredagen. Här var planen att gå på gymmet och pressa mig svettig som attans!!
Men kroppen har sagt ifrån, varför vet jag inte. Så nu ligger jag och snorar i sängen sedan ca 13.00. Jag har feberrus, ont i halsen /kroppen, snor fulla näsan (haha), hosta och jävulskap…

Tack och hej till den fredagen!
Vill inte alls kliva upp ur sängen, inte mysa med min pojkvän dagen då han är ledig, inte äta fredags gott heller. -.-

Ps. Super kurer mot förkylning mottages tacksamt och fort !!

It’s right next to the brick patio, where it will bake in the afternoon sun.

I need to move it posthaste, but work on the last segment of the rain garden stalled on Tuesday when my beloved Mantis garden tiller stopped working. After 10 years of loyal service in which it never failed to start (I am receiving no reimbursement for the endorsement), it solidly refused to turn over. I took the thing apart, cleaning the air filter, fuel filter and line, checking the starter cord in its housing, and the spark plug. Everything looked fine to me. (I should say that while I’m not in any way a mechanical engineer, I am competent in basic maintenance of small lawn and garden equipment.  This situation is not comparable to when I open the hood of the car and stare at its entrails, expecting a neon sign to flash and point to the problem.)

I took the tiller to the machine shop Wednesday morning, where it will sit for at least a week before anyone can turn to it. I would expect most machinery to fail only when there is a line in which it can wait for repair. But my Mantis? I thought we had a better understanding.

As I stewed over the possible reasons for the Mantis’s treason, I felt a rising fear that perhaps I had not filled it up from the gas can for 2-stroke engines (i.e., oil and gas mixed). The cans are prominently marked in the shed. One says “Gas Only” and the other “Gas & Oil.” Surely not. Surely, surely not? [Deep breaths.] Such an error would, of course, ruin the engine completely.

I am 90% sure I did not ruin the engine but at the moment, the other 10% is feeling much larger than 10%. Fingers crossed that it just needs a new spark plug, or something else obscure and impossible to see, but financially inconsequential. I do not ask for much.

I did not mean to finish this one but my instructor encourages me to continue.  We will see if I lose my mind before finishing…

Last night…

Tonight. After 3 hours work. Can you sense my insanity?

Before and after.  Eek.

Last night…

Tonight. After 3 hours work. Can you sense my insanity?

Today was another glorious spring day.  I  got a chance to plant a few more shade loving plants before lunch and errands.  It is so fun to chose what to put where, and yet, it is also a bit thought provoking….trying to imagine how much room each plant will need when they are fully grown so they don’t crowd their neighbors.   I take comfort in knowing that almost anything can be moved if necessary, so there really isn’t a “mistake” to be made. 

I am dividing some of my established  hostas this year as they are the perfect plants  for this shady area.   I will also buy some from Grower’s Outlet in Loganville as soon as they are offered.  I do love the different shades of green to  brighten up the shade.  The Brunneras are blooming as are the lavendar and white astilbes and one of the bleeding hearts.  The foam flowers are also adding their little blossoms to the view…they look like little bottle brushes sticking up out of the pine straw.  

This morning as I was planting, there were two male cardinals battling over a female.  They were really going at it…she must have been SOME BIRD!   There are several little Carolina chickadees who love to watch me too.  They are used to me working in the flower garden in the front yard and will come really close to eat at the feeders.  For now, I am still an intruder in this area of the yard, but I am hopeful that they will warm up to me as they enjoy the new feeder and birdbath that I’ve put in for them.  

Tomorrow is supposed to be another warm and sunny day before the rain moves in.  Hope to be back out digging holes and playin’ in the dirt. I love to think and pray as I dig and plant. Here are a couple of pictures of the creek bed project. The top is a shot of the area when it was just woods. The bottom is “Stage 2″. Still working….

9.30 Måndagsmöte

10.30 Videokonferens med UK

12.00 – 14.00 Lunch + dragning

16.00 Voica en spännande sak

18.00 Manikyr

19.30 Träning

Känns som om dagen kommer att flyga iväg, funderar bara på när jag ska hinna med det “vanliga” jobbet idag? Andra saker jag funderar på:

- Dagisungen som satt bakom mig och hostade svinhögt (och utan att hålla för munnen) hela bussresan i morse – ska han verkligen vistas på dagis? Med tanke hur grundligt duschad min nacke blev känns det som om smittorisken är ganska hög. Mamman verkade dock fast besluten att lämna honom.

- Snö – really? REALLY?

- Att måndagar återigen är veckans bästa TV-dag – nytt GoT idag!

Update April 11, 2013: A few more of these delicate leaves are coming to life. And as of today, there is another variation growing snugly right against the porch steps. In case you’re wondering, that is a termite trap behind the plant. This house had a bad case of them in the past. Hopefully the problem is gone with help from Armor Pest Management. These traps will keep us informed of any activity.

Hostas in the right-side porch flower bed.

Gardener Gardening (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

So after my rant about being retired and broke – I went out to do some yard work. Ah no. There are so many viney like weeds that have died that I can’t rake them up. So ………. I will wait until it gets warmer and pul l them out. I’m going to prune the old white lilac bush too.

I’m going to remove these really weird bushes under my front bay window. They get red in the autumn and have thorns all over. Really ugly and they have grown four feet since we’ve been here. They do not know it yet, but they are DEAD. Also the hostas which line the drive are DEAD. I dislike hostas intensely. I had them in my 40 x 90 foot garden in Michigan but only because I put them under two apple trees. The people who bought my home tore up my entire garden. A pox on them. There were antique roses, japanese maple, almond tree, lungwort, tulips, climbing roses, ornamental grasses, sweet woodruff and pretty purple coneflowers. The coneflowers were all in one bed 4 x 9. There was a 25 foot long x 9 foot wide veggie garden and planters around the deck. There were super expensive plants – more than I can remember – it was lovely. I should never have sold that house. Who cares spouse didn’t want to stay there? Honestly – not his fault – just a dumb move.

Anyway I just found out Uranus is conjunct my Jupiter and Pluto conjunct my Sun. The former means shocks to my attempts to expand and grow. The second means my ego is being rota routed. Really. Honestly if I make it through these next few weeks without having a meltdown it will be amazing.

I have Saturn, Neptune and Mars conjunct my ascendant. The Neptune explains my inability to see reality and to be psychic. My Saturn shows me all the limitations and privations I have experienced as well as the valuable learning lessons (thank you Lord Saturn and please don’t make anyone else have these experiences). My Mars means I fight, I struggle I start. Mars go Saturn stop Neptune daydream. Eeee gods. No excuses – I chose to come into this existence. If only I can play my part in this Maya well. It is only illusion. It is not reality.

For the rest of the day I am going to knit. That has not gone well. Not nuts about the yarn – kind of scratchy compared to the alpaca in my pink sweater. I always have trouble starting. I will persist.

Planets of the Solar System (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I have been getting paintings ready for mixed exhibitions and have just about finished 16 new ones. At one of the places I show my work they suggested distressing frames so that’s my new look. These frames aren’t really distressed, they’re quite happy in a sort of Boho-Chic way. Well I think they look OK but we’ll see what reaction I get.

I thought I was planting a short iris at the edge of the patio, but I think I’ve actually (mis)planted my Hosta ‘June.’

Photo of Hosta ‘June’ with Dicentra, by jacki-dee via Creative Commons. http://www.flickr.com/photos/werms/5802818911/ 

The iris and hosta were planted close to one another near one of the Osmanthus, and when I dug it up all I could see was its fuzzy little scalp crowning the large root ball. They look quite similar to me at this stage (dormant, crusty nothing). I haven’t yet come up with a satisfactory system for marking my plants–I like the metal markers fine, except that they sometimes come off their pins as I am raking leaves in the fall, and in the winter there’s not enough growth in the garden to keep the area from looking like a miniature graveyard full of little metal headstones.

‘June’ will roast if in fact it is where I think I’ve put it, but I am going to wait until it emerges before I move it again. In the meanwhile, I’ll take any suggestions you have for discreet, attractive plant markers.

blooming pear blossom

Spring is filled with drama: joy and sorrow, survival and loss, all the elements of a good tale. With the buds a bursting, the squirrels skittering and the birds noisy with activity I get the impression we all feel a similar restlessness. The lure of warmth has everybody ripping their winter coats off to run with the warm breeze through their hair only to find they’ve ventured out too far when the weather turns and they’re stuck in the freezing wet, without protection, spent from exertion, no resources to save themselves. Awful. Like the old Reader’s Digest feature Drama in True Life that always started with an upbeat passage like, “ 7:55 am: Mona and Tom pack lightly for a picnic lunch on the bluff.” Fun turns to tragedy in three easy pages. It was like that last year around this time when we went on a road trip, but on a much less human scale. With the Two Acre Eden a state or two to the east, and the changeable Appalachian weather off our radar, we neglected to warn our faithful friend and housesitter about the tender blueberry buds that needed to be covered.  Unprotected over two bitter nights these beautiful balls of potential froze and dropped off the bush, pale and withered. All the fruit trees and bushes were stunted from the season’s last vicious frigid push, so we got no apples or raspberries or blueberries. TRAGIC. I’m surprised the Reader’s Digest people weren’t beating down the door for further insight. The apple tree in the memorial bed had been pruned a few weeks before, (probably not the best timing) so when the freeze hit, well, a beautiful tree was lost, killed in the prime of its life.

remains of the frozen apple tree

So much of this is out of our control. Over time we have learned to accept the losses spring brings. We can’t throw a blanket over a thirty foot apple tree, or spray it with water so the ice will protect it like they do the oranges in Florida, though believe me there have been years when the entire yard was draped like a Christo installation. Now we pick and choose.  So for the past few nights as temperatures have dropped into the 20s, we’ve covered the blueberry with a sheet in the hope that if we are diligent we can have fruit three months from now.

rhubarb unfurling

It’s an interesting thing about spring. The yin and yang of it. The cellular instinct to sprout, grow, thrive, bloom, reproduce, fade and die exists with all living things yet remains mysterious. No amount of scientific understanding can contain my fascination with the process. It just blows my mind. Keeping my hands in the dirt reminds me that everything is as it should be, that wonder is everywhere, and there is power in the unpredictable. Nature, for me, reflects the challenges of faith. Faith feels a hard thing to maintain when so many factors work against it. Will the sun come up tomorrow? Will winter turn to spring? Will the birds migrate on time? Will the fledglings learn to fly? Sometimes yes (in the case of the sun, thank god) and sometimes no (in the case of the baby birds: see previous post “It’s All Downhill From Here”). It’s hard to believe in January when the daffodils start jutting though the cold ground that they have the proper instinct to wait and open as they did last week. It’s hard to believe an organism no matter how simple or complex has an internal clock that regulates that sort of mechanism, that it can regulate its blooming and dying based on what? Ground temperatures, moon phases, ambient moisture, the presence of love? And yet they do know somehow…Unless it freezes at just the wrong time and then they’re doomed, hopefully just for a season. Perhaps that loss makes the plant stronger.

daffodils/jonquils

I had the privilege of supporting my dear Tybee Island friend as his mother lay dying in a hospice last week. We sat on either side of her clean crisp sheeted bed and held her frail bone-thin hands as sunlight poured through the windows. We watched her delicate breathing so persistent yet fleeting for sure, because there is usually only one outcome for a 90-year-old in a hospice. It was such a beautiful thing to see this resilient, caring woman so comfortable and peaceful on her way out after a long interesting life, surrounded by so many of the loved and loving. We waited and waited, knowing the end was near, wanting to be present for her as she had been for us. Like the daffodil her body and spirit had its own agenda mysterious to us and the hospice staff because she hung on for far longer than predicted, stronger apparently than the pale curled shell of her body indicated, finally yielding to a place beyond the lovely peace she had at last achieved. What a mystery it all is. Life and death, yin and yang, seasons taking their own sweet time, following the course set by whatever power or force that created them. And it’s interesting how life-affirming death is, how powerful the process is, how perfectly natural.  

Quince

“In the sweet (in the sweet) by and by (by and by) we will meet on that beautiful shore.”

Even if you’re under a blanket of snow it’s time to tour & scratch beneath it all to see what’s emerging…

Now for a Cat’s  Eye view -

Cover of Stephen King’s Cat’s Eye

I am laughing!    I am always amazed as what comes up when writing…

The first feature film I worked on was Stephen King’s Cat’s Eye…as assistant costume designer… but that’s another story…

That is a sweet 10 year old Drew Barrymore in PJ’s .

The Camera team did a lot of work with steady cam & handheld camera – which was a new technology then… to simulate the Cat’s Eye view…

…so here’s my still version of steady still cam… in the garden.

Sometimes one must lay on the ground to have a look at nature’s miracle enfolding….

Hosta shooting up like a rockets on a launch pad…   I watered and added a blanket of leaves last night.

Fiddle heads  delight as they question  whether to unfurl their plumage yet… a gift from Amelia Lane and Suzanne Edney….  These babies get 4 feet tall and pop up in unexpected places… but I find them more charming than annoying.

Epimedium form pink basal, yellow shoots  and these are the tiny  yellow flowers getting ready to appear;  the leaves come next.   One must explore or they miss the fairy like blooms….  More leaves needed to blanket from cold.

This I’m not quite sure… the tips of some still bent coming up from the ground…   Might be a May Apple, something I transplanted and forgot it’s new  location to my data base.  It will be a nice surprise.

Solomon seal – Polygonatum – This one requires “I Must Garden” spray… I must spray before the deer eat them  all away!

The red variegation on Persicaria ‘Red Dragon’ is always welcomed.  This is a behaved plant that will get to about 3 feet and in early spring.  Then in summer a show of petite white flowers.

Trillium almost a full month behind Raleigh gardens just 10 miles south.

Tulip ‘Lady Clare’ – a species tulip making her depute in Entwined Gardens!   Love the burgundy striping in the leaves!  Must spray or the deers will find!

The first sign of Tulip ‘Fire Of Love’ … If you love the leaves you will love the burning hot red orange bloom!

The charming miniature Tulip ‘Tinka’  bud and early bloom!  In front of  Star Flower.  I checked with husband Phil, and he indeed bought a bag of bulbs & planted them, before I came to live and love the property.    It is a delight they have multiplied and now tucked in and out of well… everywhere!

The petite native Blood Root, Sanguinaria canadensis -  another share from Ameila -  they delight to know end.  Their seed is scattered by ants… any be clicking the above link some amazing fun facts to know and tell!

Pulmonaria – lungwort -    Look at that intense blue!  These again from Amelia’s garden…   Just love them this early!

If  you are in the Raleigh area April 13 – 14, Amelia’s garden will be on the Garden Conservancy Open Days Tour - “Under the Loblolly Pines”… Amelia is a gardeners’ garden… it is impeccable any time one visits and filled with “COOL” Plants.

A determined Muscari or grape hyacinths noses up.

And look at this!   A Vinca minor with a partially blue petal!   I could not believe my Eyes!  I will have to ask Mark or Tim at the Arboretum about this… Stay tuned!

Have I convinced you yet to brave the cold and snow…  get out & see what lies beneath?

Enjoy – living the  EntwinedLife

Jayme B

NC Certified Environmental Educator

Garden Conservancy Regional Representative

JC Raulston Arboretum Volunteer

The “yard”

I’m also going to get at least one of these for my garden -

Gardeners Supply Company VegTrug

We look out over a huge park – Broadway Park to be exact – or the west side of Broadway Park as it is split in two by Broadway. We have the trees and ice skating rink on our side and it’s a great dog park. And yes the dog owners keep it clean – there’s even baggies for them! Anyway the park looks awesome in white although I could learn to love green again.

The view from my living room ……..

That should be the end of the snow for the year. I love that we get spring much faster than when we lived in Prince Edward Island – there the winter could last until May. It never really warmed up until August and then it got hot. Here it gets really going by late March or early April and by May we may have to stick the air conditioners in the window. I’m hoping to leave them out of the downstairs this year. We’ll see – I cook so it gets hot in the kitchen and we don’t eat much meat so we don’t grill outside.

I finished the hoodie yesterday – could not believe the final finishing was all by hand. Very relaxing and it looks great. I want to get a better finish on the snap tape and will experiment with that today. It frays – nasty stuff – hate fraying so I think I have some Fray Check somewhere and I’ll drag it out and plop some on. Then I’m going to make a T shirt to match from the same pattern. Ooooooh I’ll be coordinated!  Pictures today – battery on camera is charged.

I worked on Boxy last night and watched a movie at the same time. Bad idea. Anyway I’m now past the 25.5″ of stockinette (OMG) and am working on the design used to shape the neckline. I lost my place while doing a short row and had to tink (knit backwards – i.e., remove work) until I got back to a place where I could figure out where I was in the pattern. One must pay attention, really.

The other day I dyed some 100% silk lace yarn that I purchased from Paradise Fibers – love Paradise Fibers by the way! I dyed three 1400 yd. skeins with Lilac from Dharma Trading Company. It is one of the pre-metalized dyes so it does end up not dyeing even if you don’t stir it a lot – and I didn’t and I love the result. Now we’ll see if I can wind the yarn. It is like fine thread and it was tangled just a bit when wet. I think it’s come out of it now. Hopefully.

I made rice milk yesterday with my soy milk maker and am going to use it today for DH‘s oatmeal. We’ll see what he says!

It’s almost the weekend! Even though at this time of year I’m not working it still feels like a time to celebrate. I will get called back soon enough and I am determined to take joy while I can!

This year, think about celebrating your “Irish” friends and family with green gifts of life!  Plants give back in so many ways! They clean the air we breathe, bring back wildlife, and create smiles along the way as they grow. And they’re not as mischievous as leprechauns can be…

Tropicals add many wondrous plants known for their lush green foliage to any garden!  Some even give touches of other colors with berries and flowers. The point is they’re green and can winter inside as house plants in case you don’t live in Maui, Florida, or the tropics. (I know I don’t…) Your family and friends can plant them outside when their zone weather is appropriate — even if they have to keep them in containers. It’s all about going green, this time with tropical foliage plants!

Bodin’s Tropicals is proud to offer many shades of green to grace any garden, be they great or small, shady or sunny. A few of the green tropical gems available from our nursery are:

• Burford Holly

• Cordyline Chocolate Queen

• Hosta

• Italian Cypress

• Japanese Boxwood

And we have other great green tropicals available for whatever gift you’d like to give!

 When Irish Eyes are Smiling — The Irish Tenors

At Bodin’s Tropicals, we want you to give meaningful gifts to your family and friends; and, what better time to go green? Think of the unexpected smiles you’ll receive! Erin Go Braugh!

For more information about the history of Saint Patrick’s Day, please visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Patrick’s_Day

Last summer I visited my best friend in Wisconsin during the middle of the drought.  Both of us are nature photographers, and we love hummingbirds.   We went many places for photographs, but the best stuff was in her back yard! When she turned on her sprinkler to water the parched plants, the birds came from the trees and started dancing inside the plants!   It was such a treat to watch. I caught a little sparrow in a hosta and a hummingbird on a blade of long grass, just turning around and fluffing itself up! Getting every last drop of water on every inch of his little body.  He was in heaven and so was I.

It reminded me of just being in the moment and taking advantage of what’s offered to you, in this case, the garden hose! And just enjoying it. A simple pleasure for me and for the birds. Water!

Everyday holds little miracles like these. I pray that you can just be in the moment and notice these beautiful little gifts. You will be so richly blessed.