And now the waiting…

The time for the planting of gardens has come.  In our climes the “May long weekend” (Victoria Day) is that moment.  Seeds are covered in earth–pole beans and zucchini, pumpkins and peas.

P1140831P1140830

Tomato plants are set out to flourish… (or fail), as the weather dictates.

P1140825P1140848

and the waiting begins.

A garden thus begun doesn’t look like much, except in its maker’s eyes.  Only he/she knows the grunt work that preceded this simple dropping of seeds into dirt—the weeding, the turning, the amending of soil.  Only she knows the plan and holds the vision of what it all will come to, if all goes well…

P1140845P1140841

In the meantime it’s just dirt and bean poles, mulch and hoses.  Small beginnings.P1140826

God knows.  He planted a garden once*.

His was designed to perfection,  the tree of life its crowning centerpiece.  There wasn’t a weed to be seen and the irrigation system was all tucked away underground.

Into this fledgling garden He brought  the man He had breathed into being, to ‘work it and keep it’.   What more blissful pastime could there be?  And then He brought her a woman for his very own, and the garden was complete ( :

God set in motion His glorious plan for mankind with the planting of a garden.  Only He could see down through the ages to the culmination of His hopes—a bride for His Son and the summing up of all things in Jesus, to the praise of His glorious grace.

In the meantime there was dirt and there were wee plants sprouting, and there was a gardener…

So, for the record I’ve snapped photos of my messy garden’s beginnings this week.  The digging and weeding and composting and planning are behind.  The planting is done.  And now for the waiting to see the plan unveil its glory!

The strawberries are gaining ground despite the hungry deer.

P1140845

Poppies have volunteered in the tomato bed, but never mind, I can’t wait to see them bloom!

P1140848P1140853

Ugly overgrown tubs of ivy have given ground to a slender young lilac and a pot of petunias not yet filling their spaces…P1140854

The steps need replacing but the pansies don’t mind…

P1140858

And all about the house are flowers tucked in every available container…P1140810P1140808P1140822P1140811

while the bees go a-BUM-bling

P1140818

And the elegant columbines dance for joy!P1140868

 

Ah… and my new heirloom snowball bush is bursting out in its first baby snowflakes ( :

P1140803

–LS

“And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good…Gen.1:31

“…making known to us the mystery of His will, according to His purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and thing on earth.

“In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of His glory!” Eph.1:10,11

———-

*Genesis 2:5-9

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To Water or to Dig…

I went strolling out for my morning garden tour with no particular mission in mind.  But when I got to the potato patch I wondered… shall I water these sad looking plants–some yellowing, some clearly dead, others chipper and green and trying to thrive despite their want of regular watering–or shall I dig…

Bracing myself for disappointment I grabbed a hand rake and scritched at the surface of some of the withered lifeless vines…when what should appear but a lovely dusty potato!!! YIPEE!

I scritched and scratched some more, and more potatoes–whites ones and red ones, even one JUMBO one (there’s always one fellow that taps into the water just right and busts his buttons outgrowing the rest).  And soon I was hunting down the pitchfork and digging deeper to turn up buried treasure.

Wonderful hot sweaty work it was in the morning sun.  But I turned about a square yard of that bed and I have potatoes for many potato salads to come!

P1110852

The moral of the story is, don’t judge a garden or a life by its surface.  Fruit may not be visible but that doesn’t mean it’s not there.  Dig a little.  Get to know what’s beneath the surface of that foliage, that face, that lifestyle….You may be in  for a surprise! 

————-

In other news this week…

  • We watched rampaging Redcoats (aka the RCMP Musical Ride)

P1110816P1110817P1110819

  • motored across the lake for a swim…

P1110832

  • beheld my Japanese Anemone in bloom  (I love it!  Thanks Nola!)

P1110845P1110846P1110841

  • Walked the neighborhood admiring neighbor’s dahlias

P1110826

P1110822

  • and documented the wonder of being together…

for just a little longer…P1110828

while this bedazzlingly warm and dry summer fleets sweetly away…but not without notice!

–LS

“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven…” Eccl. 3:1

Heralding October

 

In all the recorded history of our town never has there been a September so rain-free as the one just past! And now October has come with a token rainfall and the sun lingering yet…

hydrangea

We had our first frost this week and our first fire in the woodstove.  I’ve dug out my turtlenecks and my new woolie socks…

P1080443

We’ve commenced our fall birthday season with strawberry chiffon and black forest cakes and a whole quart of whipping cream consumed between the both of them!

P1080348P1080366P1080372

But for this morning I’ve come out to savor the brisk brightness of autumn and see what’s smiling in my garden…

I find honeybees harvesting last pollen and nectar from summer’s merry-golds…P1080400

Pole Beans hang on the vine fattening seed for spring planting.

P1080408

Other more exotic seed pods do likewise.  Here’s ‘love in a mist’…

P1080402

I stumble upon my fall crocus nearly spent from its blooming, its beauty almost overlooked.  And I am glad I came out to see the morning…

P1080412

Nasturtiums ramble brightly still, holding their faces to morning’s cold dew for a few more days.

P1080417

Jim’s homegrown Christmas trees, backlit by morning sun, await their season of celebration…

P1080425

While this year’s lone duet of wee pumpkins herald October.

P1080430

The neighbor’s grapes are plump and tart as ever.  Rachel tries her hand at jelly. We’re surprised to see the color green grapes produce!

P1080421P1080455

The firewood’s all dried and split, gathered in to clear the chopping lot  for next year’s logs.

P1080427

And I sit out back in the Adirondack, cherishing the gentled chill of this fine October morning… Whoops, roosting crows in the willow branches straight overhead are intent on making a mess of my meditations…must move on.

–LS

“While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.” Gen.8:22

P1080392P1080415