1) strawberries (well, truth be told, I didn’t grow them but I did pick them!)
2) the strawberry jam collection
3) endless summer hydrangeas
4) the garden (2 weeks old)
5) succulents (by the mailbox)
6) an improved Meyer’s lemon tree (I ordered it from this website and love it! I hope I can keep it alive )
7) chickens (they’re in the awkward, homely teenage phase and the coop gets delivered tomorrow!)
8) the ducks (who think they’re chickens and waddle back up from the lake every night to sleep with the chickens. Heaven help us!)
9) a single carolina wren hatchling (which is living in a patio planter and may not make it–may have hatched too soon)
10) two scurvy dogs
11) four great kids (Taylor and Caiti will be around some this summer but both are taking summer classes and working)
who even agreed to go on a hike with their mother and didn’t complain when it came a downpour with an hour left to go!
We are still four days away from finishing our spring semester (at home) but I’m pretty sure summer has already begun here!
Hope you’re growing good things too.
Mwaahhhhhhhh!
Wow!!! How inspiring!! The only thing I tend to be growing right now is gray hairs…UGH!! I have sooo enjoyed watching God bless you & your family for your faithfulness & trust in Him. I’m going through my own little trail & I remember reading about the fire & how you lost EVERYTHING & look how God truly has brought beauty from the ashes! That’s why I started my blog, I want readers too to be inspired by my ashes as I KNOW God will make them beautiful one day too 🙂 Blessings Edie!!
Sweet Edie-how your garden grows. It looks wonderful. I love hydrangeas. They are my favorite!!! How great to get your coop tomorrow. Will the ducks spend the night in the coop with the chickens? Lol
The outside of your home is as gorgeous as the inside. It is in true Edie style. I want a lemon tree but it would have to stay inside. It isn’t warm enough here.
Hugs,
Ruth
So much goodness to rejoice in! Thanks for sharing it.
I’m loving the succulent garden. I’m interested to see how it looks when it fills in. You will take more photos of it? Yes?
Happy Early Summer!
Yaaaay!!! What a fun, happy list!!! Love it, every syllable. Hey surely you will post photos of the coop?? Awesome news. Our geese sleep with our chickens too, super fun. All one big happy bird family. Beautiful succulent collection, I have always wondered if they would do well outdoors here… Beautiful garden, beautiful children, tons to celebrate!! xoxo Happy summering, Edie.
Hi Edie,
I love the chickens and ducks, the hikers and the dogs. What a really lovely life you have, and you’d never know by peeking in what hardship you had to endure to get just here. I hope you read my comment about tomatoes; I’m a sucker for cherry toms, and I’m about 2 weeks or more behind you on the gardening. I’m in the mid west where we are strongly encouraged not to plant until after the 31st of May. I may just tempt fate tho. What d’ya think? 🙂
x o x o
andrea
Sweet Edie,
You are from the South, but darlin – your love is entirely from the North Star. You had me at hydrangeas. Totally weak in the knees.
xoxo michele
how do you do it with 2 white dogs? I have one white lab and the fur is driving me crazy.
oh goodness edie that strawberry jam looks divine! and those ducks are too funny that they think they belong with the chickens ha! glad ya’ll are enjoying your almost summer over there. 🙂
What beautiful pictures!! I bet the mailman thanks you for the succulent garden…I always feel bad for them when I see mailboxes hidden in beautiful blooming flowers and I imagine the bees they have to go through to deliver the mail.
What a wonderful post and such gerat photos. I am using your post as inspiration and aspiration not to give up on summer arriving here, even a few days of sunshine would do! The garden is looking so good and the succulents are so pretty (in their own little way!)
Your 2 week old garden is the cutest thing! ^_^ Gotta admit, your description of the awkward chicken made me laugh!
We ate all the strawberries before I could make jam. Love the awkward, homely teenage stage chickens! You are so blessed and I know you know it. Is that hike near your home? Gorgeous. Looks like your summer is off to a fantastic start. Are dance recitals done?
I adore succulents. So pretty! I’m going to plant my garden tomorrow. It’s a salsa garden, so tomatoes, peppers and onions. Along with a cabbage for the 3rd grade cabbage contest and some sunflowers for the kids. And rhubarb! Can’t forget the rhubarb!
I would love to see a picture of the ducks sleeping with the chickens!!
I’d love some more detailed info and pics of your front flower beds.
how bout you grow a few more square feet and let me move in? you can call me minnie or pearl or……..love it all!
planted my firt garden this year!!! loving it!
can’t wait to see the coop ….. post pix soon!
What recipe did you use for the Strawberry Jam?
I love gardens–walking in them, smelling them, relaxing in them–but I do not love to garden. Plants have listed me on their Most Wanted List for being a murderous fiend for killing their brothers and sisters and keeping them in concentration camps until their limbs wither and their soil grows mold. Beautiful picture!
Hi Edie, Seeing the dogs reminded me that one of them went to doggie boot camp. I don’t recall seeing a follow-up story. Would love to know how that worked out. I love dogs. Have you seen the film Dean Spanley? It is perhaps the BEST dog movie ever, imho. Your family looks as beautiful and joyous as ever!
Sincerely, Trudy Royston
Actually it’s not a bad idea for the ducks to come to the safety of the coop at night. Predators like to strike at night.
great post, edie… love all the plantings… i’m so jealous. i’m also fearful. i think i’m on the cusp of when i’ll actually have time to garden. scary.
How lovely!
We are currently looking at coops and would love to know what you ordered for your “girls”.