More garden blooms to share

We bought these flowers because the garden center had them at buy one get one free...



I have no idea what they are called, we call them fire crackers!




I do know sadly that they are not perennials....



and since taking these pictures I have learned to pinch them and more blooms are coming in.

I have a little, well two little trees.

Do you remember the mother goose rhyme?

I Had A Little Nut-Tree

I had a little nut tree, nothing would it bear,
But a silver nutmeg, and a golden pear;

The King of Spain's daughter, came to visit me.
And all for the sake of my little nut tree.


These days I am singing a similar tune....



I have a little plum tree
and nothing will it bear
but a SINGLE plum....
but it is golden

and




I have a little pear tree
and nothing will it bear
but a single pear....
not golden.

SO I guess when harvest time arrives,
my husband can eat his plum
and I can eat my pear,
and with the kids
we will share.

days like this make me think organic gardening stinks!

Perhaps we'll have enough raspberries......

OK I went to WORDLE and typed in a story that I had written, pressed go....

and it created:

title="Wordle: reflections on fathers day XII"> src="http://wordle.net/thumb/04298/reflections_on_fathers_day_XII"
style="padding:4px;border:1px solid #ddd"
>

Reflections on father's day

Tonight
the thunder claps loudly in the sky,
vibrating the air,
tremors through my heart. . . .

so I turn towards the bay window,
searching,
as rain pelts againt the glass panes.

lightening
streaks across the sky,
illuminating the darkness,
and secrets of the night. . . .

caught off guard I look up
reflections in the glass
mine own eyes looking back at me.

tears
streaming down my face,
just rain,
an illusion of what ought to be. . . .

startled by the reminder
repressions wanting to escape
mine own eyes turn away.

knowing
that acknowledgement
is also an illusion;
wanting costs too much. . . .

baby cries in the background
drawing me back to reality;
salvation from the rejection.

of my daddy's love.

My BLOOMS

ok, after posting that I am not around, I popped into Sherry's zoo....and read her sweet tribute to her father's garden. So I decided to finally show some of mine. Why? because I don't plant in lines- I kinda let them grow where they can....
and because I decided to take my own advice.

See, I am always telling my children things don't have to be perfect to be good enough....but I was waiting to take pictures of my gardens when they were perfectly weeded, bugged, and well, you get the picture.

So here are my BLOOMS and why I am not on the computer so much. . . .

My Favorite? Oh but my HYDRAEGNA's of course,



WHY? because they remind me of my great grandmother, Jane Jackson Cleveland. She lived in Vineyard Haven on Martha's Vineyard Island. These beauties can be seen everywhere there...she had them and Rhododendrums.


and because they remind me of the birth of my son, Caleb. See there was a picture on the wall in my birthing room. It was of a little blonde boy riding a tricycle in front of a mature hydraegna....I told my husband- that is my great grandmother's bush with our little boy in front of it- all is going to be well.

speaking of the birth of my Caleb, I also have these pretty little flowers. . . .



we bought these because they are bluebirds . . . .



which is what we've named our Caleb since he was born.



because he had the lightest blue umbilical cord-
and the most beautiful lightest blue eyes . . .

see;

ok I know I know

I haven't written in a while....but I will...

see, summer is here and we are OUTSIDE as much as possible....

and Sam, well, He just became mobile....

Caleb.......he just finished first grade HURRAY!

so this is the first week that we are all on our summer schedule.

I plan to catch up with Caleb on his writing and reading.....

and get Hannah ready for kindergarten.......

and get the summer projects on the house done.......

and still get to the beaches.

So, don't forget me if you don't see me as much, OK?

P.S.
can anyone help me about homeschooling????

I am so WAFFLING.....back and forth, back and forth.

I am like schizophrenic.

One minute, I am DEFINITELY homeschooling everyone this fall.......and the next, well, I freak out thinking I can't possibly.

I think, I'll put them in this year to get caught up at home.

Yeah, I have A LOT to get caught up with.

or I think I just am not organized enough.......

So I have only a few more months to decide.

Share your thoughts, I am open.

I LOVE what the homeschooling moms are doing.

and yet sometimes, it just isn't me.

The good thing is that I don't have to decide for today....so let me go back to my garden!

love ya!

Vacation Last week in New Jersey....

I'm always looking for ways to cut corners financially these days, I guess we all are.

I'm not so willing to cut in the areas of making memories for my children.

It all started with Caleb's being diagnosed with microcephaly...and my need to bombard him with a multitude of sensory experiences to open up his ability to learn.

It occurred to me back then that I don't remember much about the WHAT I RECIEVED from christmas or birthdays-

but I remember smells, tastes, sounds..

So I started a voyage of finding ways to open up Caleb's sensory system while creating MEMORIES all the time for the children.

This year Santa bought season's passes to SIX FLAGGS....so I decided to trek down to New Jersey to the GREAT ADVENTURE; most importantly I wanted the children to experience their drive through animal safari.

We camped in a YURT at ALLAIRE STATE PARK for $30 a night! WOW. You can't get cheaper than that unless you lug your own tent and set it up. The passes to six flaggs covered the safari and the park. We didn't have to pay for parking ($15 each time) because we also bought a season parking pass for $45.


ALLAIRE STATE PARK is also a living historical musuem. What a joy to find reinactors dressed up in a steel making town. There was a steam train that only runs on weekends but when we got there, a field trip from school was going for a ride. We talked to the conductor and HOPPED ABOARD!


A friend told us to visit the jersey shores...well, we are so glad that we did! The beaches were clean, the waves HUGE and the shells were every where.....



"MORE FLAGGS,

MORE FUN!"



can still be heard echoing our hallway this week as the kids remember their adventures last week- six flags, giraffe's licking the car.....and waves plummeting the shores.


Life doesn't get ANY BETTER THAN THAT!

You know it is going to be a bad day to get pictures

of the birds in your yard when Saasha decides to post guard. My normally seafood & mice eating cat started noticing the bird feeders when this noisy neigbor moved in! He's kinda cool- anyone know his name?





...and if you look closely at the little hummingbird feeder- that is our resident humming bird. He apparently knew he could outfly the cat!

BUTTERFLIES, LADYBUGS and DRAGONFLIES because the little lady turned 5!

blogger appears to be agreeing with me again, so I am going to backtrack to share a few special moments.

Hannah has officially turned 5!

She is in love with the outdoor world- birds, butterflies and bugs are her world these days.

So together we made these cupcakes to bring to school to celebrate her birthday-
butteflies (wings are dipped pretzels in frosting/sugar).....ladybugs....and dragonflies.

Oh we had SOOOOO much fun making these together and sharing them with her friends.