For the Frugal Flower Gardener

My family's business is having a sale. Drop by for some lovely flowers before it's too late for fall plantings!

My New Project . . .

. . . and confession time. My confession is that I have been meaning to post about this project since last winter or spring! Okay, no more excuses. Here it is.

I now have my own garden.

1. Because a certain spot on our property demands to have something done with it.
   
2. Because I think we need this type of garden.
3. Because I want to.
4. And because I want to learn to garden and I think jumping in with both feet is the only way I am going to accomplish that.

It's approximately 40x40 feet (it has been so long since we laid it out that I have forgotten the exact measurements), in our front yard, and is to be a potager.

A potager is a mixture of flowers, herbs, vegetables, and fruits. Potagers are usually thought of as formal gardens but they do not have to be formal. Mine will be semi-formal.

The plot of land was previously a raspberry patch, nursery beds, and a let's-put-this-here-until-we-find-a-place-for-it area. Some things we were not able to move this spring (including the raspberries) so it is very much in progress.

Here are a few pictures from this spring:

A "before" picture, after we had cleaned it off some.


Digging up grass clumps.

Measuring and staking.

More measuring and staking.

Dressing Ideas

Fashion Ideas : One woman's tips on dressing modestly and femininely.

And a couple of potential sources for modest clothing: DownEast Basics and Lilies of the Field. I just realized I have a lot of decent clothing links so maybe I'll share more in the future!

Memorization With Motherhood In Mind

I have thought for years that if I was a mother I would want to be able to sing lullabies and other songs, and repeat choice bits of poetry and prose to and around my children. It has also occurred to me that in order to someday do this I must first know about these things and memorize them. Imagine that!

I have wanted to do this for so long but just now it has become a practice, not a wish. I am now memorizing with motherhood in mind!

To start me off, I have a book (that I bought years ago) called A Child's Garden of Verses: A Collection of Scriptures, Prayers, & Poems, featuring the works of Robert Louis Stevenson and the art of Thomas Kinkade (published by Tommy Nelson). I am memorizing something of a religious nature and something not particularly of a religious nature (I may not always be able to do this--I fear that good selections not of a religious nature will be in shorter supply).

I am also going to try to put up a sidebar of my memorization choices.