{pretty, happy, funny, real} An afternoon in the garden

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~

Brought to you by Like Mother, Like Daughter

Today is a "grainy" day, as we like to say (gray and rainy), but these photos were taken last week "in a golden afternoon" in the garden.

"You can learn a lot of things from the flowers, especially in the month of June. . ."

{pretty}

I just love pansies by the back door! They give such a happy welcome.

I am not a bug person, but I discovered this little spider among the blossoms and actually thought he was quite cute!

 Arden and I planted Nasturtiums and they are growing!

But of course, the prettiest flower of all. . .

. . . Arden in the garden!

{happy}

This is the first year I am attempting a vegetable garden! It's all new to me, so I decided to start out small with two little plots, about 4 x 8 each, toward the sunny back of the yard. The kids and I have been enjoying our little garden so far, and yes, things are starting to grow!

There is the view to the garden, with the kids dirt pile in the background. That table came from one of the old sheds and has been put to use as a gardening workstation. (The big cupboard thing is another shed find that needs to be disinfected of raccoon dirt, but I am planning to put it in the kitchen! The sink is going to the chicken shed.) It's hard to see the apple trees, but they are behind the garden as well.

I planted rutabagas, carrots, green onions and chives in the left plot, and cucumbers, swiss chard and lettuce in the right plot. (I now have two tomato plants in the right plot as well.)

Everything has sprouted that I planted! Every day that something new came up it was like another little miracle. Right now the biggest things growing are the rutabagas.

I have happy garden helpers, too!

Jack is my dirt-taster!

{funny}

As we were pottering about the garden, I suddenly heard a rustle in the evergreens. I turned around and expected to see the cats. . .

The hens had escaped the coop again! Boots, the wandering silkie rooster, must have called them out. :)

They were eager to check out the garden! Right now we have seven hens, belonging to friends, which are living with us for the summer. We've enjoyed having them so much we are planning on getting our own.

The cats were out, and came over to investigate. This is where it got funny. Millie and Pickwick didn't know what to think!

When the ladies started getting a little too interested in the garden, we herded them back into the woods toward their coop. Arden shooed them with a little stick, gently, but seriously! 

{real}

This old shed is now home to the ninety-or-so chicks we are raising (with our neighbours) for meat this summer.

The guys have done a great job with the shed! There is a little window that opens out to the river.

So these will be organic, free range, waterfront view chickens!

Thanks for stopping by! Hope you are enjoying the contentment of early summer!



~lg