*insert clever title here*

Sunday afternoons are a favorite time to sit and contemplate on how life is going. Life is wonderful. I have a fantastic husband who loves me and tells me so everyday. It is fun to have Meg. married and in the same situation as me. She came over to visit and we had fun chatting about how different married life is and how great it is to have a roommate that you chose... She was feeling a little lonely as her husband is out working and she is looking, something I understand completely...

Dad-o gave us their old grill that has been in the shed for a long while. Bryce has spent the past few days cleaning it up and scrubbing it down. We found a hole in the burner and so replaced it just before our "barbecue warming party" we threw. It worked just perfectly. Thanks to my skilled at the grill hubby of mine. He was quite dashing in his mickey mouse apron standing at his grill. I wish I had gotten a picture... *sigh* We'll just have to do it again...

The sun is starting to shine for real! Bryce and I were so excited yesterday that we went out to play in the yard. Bryce wad trying to fix the gate and I decided I would pull weeds out of those darn bushes... crazy me for thinking I could get very far... 2 1/2 hours, a couple giant slugs, and a few pounds of weeds and bush later- I finished my first bush! But it does look pretty good if I do say so myself. And yes... only one is done...

This is what the bush looked like before I attacked...
You might ask yourself... "bush? what bush? All I see is grass..." My point exactly...
Eww... look at all that junk! There was a lot...

the finished product of my labors. Looks pretty good if I do say so myself. Now the sprinkler can actually water something other than the branch attacking it, and we can get to the water faucet without pricking our hand on bush...

I have decided that I might not have the patience it takes to garden. I get so excited about what I've planted that I can't wait to see what they are going to look like full grown! Dirt isn't very exciting to look at... My Gerber daises are struggling right now, but on further inspection of the bulbs I also planted, they are beginning to sprout, so hopefully *cross fingers* they will begin to grow soon and I can enjoy the fruits of my labors.

I am loving life right now. God is good and life is great. Til next time!

Garden at the Gardiner's Cabin

I have been working hard to establish a working garden at my cabin for the season this year. The Saturday before Memorial Day was spent in the garden hoeing and tilling the rocky and clumpy ground to establish enough mounds to plant some seeds. We planted 4 rows of peas, 1 row of green beans and 21 mounds of pumkins (of all sizes).

This garden is basically an activity for the kids and something for people to watch me do... as part of my interpretation I do laundry with the kids, and have them help me in the garden as part of the pioneer chores the children would have had to do. We also beat rugs... but that is another story... :) Because of the garden's value to my interpretation I was very stressed that it might not start growing... the rocks and clumps in it made for a lot of obstacles, and no one seemed to know how old the seeds actually were... So there wasn't a lot riding on them... Plus, these plants get watered every 3 minutes all day long... We tried to keep a large garden so we wouldn't drown the poor things... but without corn, there isn't much we could do.

But I came to work last week and discovered that I have sprouts!!! YAY!!! I didn't kill them and they grew in the terrible soil that I have to work with... I am absolutely impressed. My pumpkin mounds all have 5 or 6 good sized sprouts. My green beans are all growing nicely as well... I wish I could say the same for my favorite crop (the peas)... but I discovered most of those seeds washed up from the rain moving around those good for nothing clumps of manure...

With a new found excitement I spent most of last Saturday in the garden again. With all the rain my ditches where I have the children pour water are starting to get a little shallow and washed out. So I grabbed a hoe and started to work for a second time, although this time I had to be careful of sprouts and roots... ;) I am very proud of the turnout. This is the first garden I have done myself. I remember a couple of gardens growing up... but I had the help from my all-knowing parents... in my pride, here are some pictures...

The Green Beans


Pumpkin sprouts!