This is a busy time of year. We only have two weeks of school left and it seems like there’s always something requiring our attention – all those projects that got left to the last minute that are due (Josiah), events leading up to graduation (Hannah), and lots of teachers taking days off and requiring subs (me). And Stacey always has a dozen things going. On top of all that, I have new orders for barn quilts to do and there are always the gardens to tend. These are vital garden days as we complete the final preparations for planting everything. Tomorrow is Planting Out Day!
Yesterday I did the final tilling. Josiah and I planted clover seed in the new part of the orchard and buckwheat in the fallow part of garden #1. Josiah and I put down mulch for the cabbage patch. Tomorrow we will put down mulch for the tomatoes and the cucumbers. By the end of the day tomorrow all the cabbages, broccoli, and cauliflower, tomato, and pepper plants should be in the ground. I will also plant seeds – pumpkins, squash, cucumbers, carrots, and beans. Then we’ll wait, watch, and weed as it all grows.
The weather has been nice and fruit trees are in full bloom. Unless we have some freakishly cold weather, (always a possibility here) we will have a good apple harvest this year. The lilac and magnolia bushes are also in bloom. And the woodland garden is carpeted with lily-of-the-valley. There is no time of year lovelier than apple blossom time.
Last week Hannah had her final violin recital. She has been taking lessons for eight years. It was a little sad to think she’s done with all that now. She will keep playing her violin (she’d better!), but she’s done with her Strings and Things group. I always get emotional when my children reach this stage – when graduation comes and they prepare for new and different things. I’ve been through this five times already and it never gets easier for me. I love having my children at home. I’ve loved all the years we’ve spent together as they’ve grown up. I hate to see that era end. I miss them so much when they leave home.
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| Hannah at her final violin recital. |
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| Hannah with her violin teacher and her accompanist, Carol and David Williams. |
Thirty years ago today Stacey and I were married. That’s when this whole adventure began – at 5:25 on 5/25 at the Los Angeles Temple. And what an adventure it has been so far! When we decided to get married, we chose Memorial Day weekend so we could have the long weekend for our honeymoon. Our wedding was simple. We couldn’t afford and didn’t want any extravagance. We didn’t have a big reception, just a family dinner before we left to spend the weekend in a relative’s mountain retreat at Big Bear. We were poor and had to be practical – a pattern that has held for thirty years. We came back from our honeymoon and settled into a tiny apartment on Foothill Boulevard in Sylmar, California, and things just rolled on from there. In the past thirty years we’ve lived in two apartments and six different houses. We’ve raised seven wonderful children. Now all these years later, here we are in the house we always wanted to live in, in a place we love, settled at last. We are older and maybe a little wiser, and definitely a lot wider. We have just two of our seven children still at home and soon there will be only one. We have three beautiful granddaughters, and I’m sure many more waiting to join our family. We still have a lot of adventures ahead of us.
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| How we looked 30 years ago. |
To celebrate our thirtieth anniversary, Stacey and I went to the temple yesterday. The drive to and from Palmyra was beautiful. Being in the temple together was beautiful. I’m so thankful that we made a covenant to be together for eternity.
Today is one of those perfect spring days full of bright sunshine, singing birds, and warm air laden with the scent of mowed grass and lilacs. After church I took a walk around the yard to admire the beauty of the flowers. Blossoms are brief and perfect spring days are too rare to be taken for granted.
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| Apple blossoms. |
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| Lilacs. |
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| Lily-of-the-valley. |
Tomorrow we will celebrate Memorial Day. Stacey has to work in the morning until 10:00 and Josiah is marching with the high school band in several parades and will be gone all morning so we will wait until later in the day to start our traditional cook out. Hannah and I will go to the parade in Ulysses. Then I plan to be busy most of the day - it is, after all, Planting Out Day!
