adventure no. 3

easter sunday. this has always been such a HUGE event in my world. from my very first memories of easter...HUGE. i'm talking white patent leather mary-janes huge. bonnets and ruffles and painted eggs and church and cooking and and and...

then it stopped. i grew up and got too big for my britches and paid little mind to the fanfare, hoopla and wonder of the day.

that being said, i have to say how grateful i am that i got to spend THIS easter with a whole bunch of kiddos who were very excited about it. they reminded me why it's so special AND more importantly my nephew, jake, was baptized easter morning and we got to be there. we spent time together as a family, young and old. we braved the cold to watch jacob play baseball. we laughed, ate (way too much), took a million pictures, rolled on the floor with kids, sang songs and

enjoyed EVERY moment.

but these little faces are what made this easter huge.

GO JAKE!

adventure no. 2

so after 5 weeks of growth, here are some updated pictures of the garden! we have peppers and tomatoes growing and i saw some delicate little pea-pods just beginning to stretch out and unfurl...this is SO exciting. i dunno what it is about spending a little quiet time surrounded by growing things and getting my hands dirty, i suppose it's therapy. i get excited to go out there everyday and see what's changed. i guess it's just a reminder to me that everyday is a fresh beginning and sometimes the reset button is sorely needed. :)

something else growing at break-neck speeds...delilah kahlo! here's a picture of bean this morning...she's 6 months old now. phew!

adventure no. 1

so the garden is looking LOVELY! i can't believe the growth in just 3 short (albeit busy) weeks! i have to give credit where credit is due...foy brought the tools down, framed the beds AND unloaded a TON of mulch. there would be no Barrett Farms with out him and it's even more special because we all worked on it together. ryan built the mulch bin and susie was kind enough to take me all around town to get plants and other supplies.

step one: the hot tub IN the yard...it's GOTTA go

this thing has been on the side of the house since we moved in almost 2 years ago!
(i know - i can't believe it's been that long either)

i must admit, there's something FRIGHTENINGLY satisfying about swinging a sledge-hammer that weighs more than you do.

step two: the beds

now what you see below is the result of about a million wheelbarrows full of mulch, careful measuring, RE-measuring, (moving the angle iron a couple times - thank you RE-measuring)
and some all around plotting and planning.

step three: a bean sprouted!

how lucky am i that my garden came complete with a built-in BEAN!? she loves to be outside with us and it's so nice to just take her along to the garden when i need to water or weed or...whatever. she's the best crop i could ever ask for.