garden, etc.

it's not quite summer yet, but it feels like it.  josh and i are both out of school, and we spend our days going about life at home. i must say it's much pleasanter than always running hither and yon with no time to eat or sleep or talk.

so far june has been kind to us. this time last year it was already 100 degrees and stayed that way for quite a few weeks. there were times i would wake in the middle of the night, head pounding from the heat. josh spent the summer sleeping downstairs where it was a least a little less stifling.  but this year, our evenings and mornings are still cool, and with the window open in our bedroom, it's downright chilly. last night josh said he's waiting for the other shoe to drop in terms of the weather. i suppose it will get hot, but for now we're enjoying the perfection of warm, sunny days and cool nights.

we have a teeny garden this year: a four-by-four raised bed of four tomato plants, three pepper, two basil. trying to grow some oregano and lavender, but every time he goes outside ransom digs in the dirt where they're planted. my calendula plant has a beautiful yellow-orange flower and needs to be repotted, i think. (one day i will have a garden like this)

we try to get work done outside during calvin's morning nap or in the cool of the evening after both babies are in bed. we cleared out an extremely overgrown large old garden area that looked like it hadn't been touched in years. i was a bit apprehensive because the undergrowth was so thick and i was sure there were a thousand snakes in there but they must have fled because we didn't see any. (we did see a great big one right by the door the other day, though. eek!)

we've also been working bit by bit, cleaning up the yard. it needs a lot of work, especially since there was one of those bobcat bulldozer things back here 6 months ago clearing out some huge trees that had fallen-- seeds were spread everywhere --along with old bricks, rocks, glass, etc-- and now there are little trees growing thick together all over the back yard. it's taking a lot of work. it can't be mowed because there are ruts, so it's all got to be done by hand.

but it's satisfying, beating back the undergrowth that has been creeping up on us for the past year. it's something i can sit back after working for an hour and see something has been done. not all work is like that.

and i feel like we are doing our small part here on this plot of land in redeeming creation, restoring order to a land that is otherwise choked with weeds and thickets. i do believe God is restoring nature, bringing it back to himself, and it's good to feel a physical part of that. one day this plot of land will be perfect in the new heaven and new earth and we'll have helped make it so.

i suppose anyone who's ever gardened has seen all these metaphors before, but they are more real to me this year than ever. probably because i haven't had a garden since i was a little girl.

in other news, ransom spent the night last night at the grandparents, so we got to sleep in a bit. calvin was up by 6:15, but back down for a nap two hours later. i think we're headed out to the farmer's market before we pick up ransom--

happy saturday!