Getting Figgy With It

When I was three my parents took me to Italy to visit my grandfather.  The only memory I have from that time, and what might be my earliest memory, is taking a bite from a fig, fresh off the tree.

Today, that taste and the smell of fig leaves is my Madeleine.

About seven years ago or so I bought a TINY fig plant from our local public gardens.  It is now a towering thing and this past summer it produced many delicious fruits.

It's been a rough winter for my little fig tree!  I can't wait to see how it does this Spring!  Do you have anything you're waiting to see pop?

Fig Tree - March 23, 2014

Wicked Winter

Like most of the country, we've had a wicked winter down here in region 7.  Even tonight we are expecting 3 to 5 inches!  Welcome Spring!

One nice thing about delayed openings and days off from school is that the pace slows down a little bit and we've been feeling a lot less rushed.

Still, we are waiting eagerly for Spring.  The garden beds are ready and Green Husband has stacked the wood from the old silver maple that finally came to the end of its life.

Chopping wood warms you twice.

Strawberries will be our first crop.

The Smurfs survived, the Gnome did not.

Lots of birds in and out of these boxes.  What's going on in there?

Waiting.

Bah. Best Intentions.

Have you noticed?  It's mid-July?  I had promised a Clothesline Challenge this summer which then got, er, hung up, so to speak.  Today we are staying cool inside the air-conditioned bliss of the house while temperatures soar to the hundreds (And Beyond!).

So far the summer had been wonderful, despite the high temperatures and my children's addiction to television.  What brought them to this point?  Well, an overly permissive mama is really to blame but a small creature also had something to do with it.  One that need infinite patience to banish.  One that makes mama throw up her hands and lets her children watch marathon amounts of television (on that first day, inparticular) all while appeasing them with candy.  Can I give you a hint?  Remember my post here?

What has been keeping you busy this summer?

Spring Has Sprung in Virginia

Today, after a heavy rain the previous day, I put the first wavy petunias in the planter and window box.  Spring Break has officially begun!

Stay tuned for the Clothesline Challenge 2011 beginning May 1st (my dryer truly needs a rest).

On a very unrelated note...  Any Friday Night Lights fans out there?  For those of you without pay television, the fifth and final season has at last begun on NBC.  I've already gone ahead and watched Season Five on DVD (don't worry...no spoilers here) and the final episode is just as sweet as southern tea.

Green Chit Chat

A big thank you so much to the three of you who have already signed up for this year's Clothesline Challenge!

Robin from Simple.Green.Organic.Happy, my very forgiving penpal from Australia, and Willo from Green Gracious jumped right on board within hours of my posting.  And the official challenge doesn't even start until May 1st!

This year I promise not to be as lazy and offer some more green giveaways.  I'm teaming up with a blogger-soon-to-be-revealed who is quite fabric-crafty and who will no doubt have some clothesline-related doo-dads up her sleeve(s). 

As we get closer to spring, I always like to peruse the latest edition of Kids Garden News from kidsgardening.org.  Two items stood out:

If you are in the Grand Rapids/East Lansing area of the country, the 19th Annual Children & Youth Gardening Symposium will be held there towards the end of July.  Many moons ago Green Husband presented at this conference and I tagged along.  If they are offering garden tours this year, be sure to take advantage of this very inspiring opportunity.

Are you a teacher?  In the mood for a lot of slaw?  Know a third grade class who would like to raise some cabbages?  Then check out Bonnie Plants 3rd Grade Cabbage Program.  I mean, really, is there anything more that can be said about this...?

And finally I leave you with a fitting and timely excerpt from a poem by Jane Kenyon, one of my favorite poets.

The shadow of smoke rising from the chimney
moves abruptly over the yard.
The clothesline rises in the wind. One
wooden pin is left, solitary as a finger;
it, too, rises and falls.

from "Bright Sun after Heavy Snow" by Jane Kenyon, from The Boat of Quiet Hours. © Graywolf Press, 1986.