Our little corner of the world has awaken from its short winter's nap. Every day new blossoms appear, here and there and...everywhere.
The trees are abuzz with bees busily collecting nectar for their hives. If I get too close they buzz right by my ear, reminding me not to interrupt their chores.
Little purple pea blossoms happily hang from the vines of our heirloom pea plants.
A thin coating of pollen covers everything in sight...as the trees sneeze all day long with apparent springtime allergies.
The dainty grape hyacinths fill in around the yellow daffodils, who are already preparing their goodbyes.
The first few asparagus spears of the season found themselves nicely tucked into a bed of scrambled eggs. Not even one meal complaint from my 3 out of 4 little asparagus haters.
With major plan changes for the future of our backyard...4 young fruit trees needed to be transplanted to the orchard. A couple of years ago, we planted two plums and 3 peaches in the middle of our backyard to shade the garden beds. But, when Fall dropped leaves all over the growing vegetable plants...we knew it was bad planning. Last year Bryan transplanted one of the peach trees to the field...and it has done well. So we decided to try our luck with the others. Bryan trimmed them way back and dug them all out, with a shovel...and his muscles.
Then he and Myra dug holes in the field to plant the trees in. Myles helped with the last couple of holes and they dug all day long. {Notice Myra's shovel foot is the only one with a shoe on it. When I first brought Myra home from the hospital, my sweet old neighbor lady told me, as she admired my baby's long black hair, "you've had an Indian baby". Through the years, we have laughed about that...but truly, my neighbor was on to something.} It was way past dark by the time all of the transplants were settled in their new home amongst our other fruit and nut trees. All in a day's work.
While the others were digging, I was prepping vegetable beds and planting hundreds of seeds. Green beans, kohlrabi, cantaloupe, watermelon, pumpkin, pickling cucumbers, beets and carrots all sit in the underground, hopefully getting their germination on. Also I planted zucchini and basil starts. We will have a busy spring in the garden, if all goes well.
Sweet little strawberry promises on the front porch.
All hail the hens! Such little darlings.
I mentioned a while back, that after months and months of riding his mountain bike with the local road biker gang, Bryan finally saved up enough money for a road bike of his own. It is all he hoped it would be, and more. He loves to go riding and has already put many miles on his Green Cannonball. I love that it gives him an outlet...and keeps him in tip top shape.
With later church on Sunday mornings, we aren't always rushing out the door.
Personally, I love the slower paced simpler Sunday schedule.
When Bryan and I were first married we borrowed my sisters double bed to sleep on in our apartment. A couple of years later...when moving into our first home, we bought a new king sized bed. From the first, Bryan did not like it. Nevertheless, beds are pricey and there was always other places to put our money. For 14+ years poor Bryan has been complaining about how much he hates our bed, and how his back always hurts after sleeping on it. In fact, for the past 7 years, he has spent more nights than not on the couch...by his own choice. ;) Two weeks ago, we finally got a new mattress...and, so far...so good. Of course, a new mattress calls for new bedding. Bonus!
Since Bryan was on-call with his work on Valentine's weekend...we spent a night on The Cliff last weekend. The kids stayed with my mom and we had a wonderful time, just the two of us. The moon was huge over St. George...as we watched Florence Nightingale and drank hot chocolate. We talked and laughed and loved with no interruptions. We shopped and made plans and discussed life and politics and our family.
After dark, we drove around town...passing the Temple, my old stomping grounds at Dixie College (while Bryan was on his mission in Spain) and the Church Institute building. The year after I graduated from Dixie, they built a huge and beautiful Institute building. I was so jealous as it is right across the street from the apartments that I lived in while I was there. I spent hours and hours at the old Institute (at the far north of the campus) with my calling as the Institute Sorority president (Lambda Delta Sigma)...oh, the memories. As we drove past, I asked Bryan if we could go inside and take a look. We ran into Brother Finch, who was my favorite Institute teacher. He looked at me and said, "I know you...you're Emily..." After 17+ years, I was duly impressed by his recall. He claimed I left quite an impression. Ha! Me? ;) So many memories flooded through me of those years of college, while waiting for my missionary. Thinking back: the good times were plentiful...the struggles were real...and life was good. Yet, I am so glad that time is where it is right now. I love remembering the past with fondness...and looking forward to the future with faith. But, I hope and pray that I will always be madly in love with the present.
