Grow Up

Stuff of Life Sometimes there’s just too much stuff and not enough life. Focusing on the positive… actually mostly just trying to ignore the negative. Spiritual Insight of the Day Start a garden. Grow something from seed. Visit a berry farm and pick a few baskets. Today it’s all about the garden metaphor… scratch that. It’s not just a metaphor. It’s also just God’s great creation. Scrapbook (Gardening) Idea of the Day To be honest, I haven’t scrapbooked in a while… not really. I’m in garden mode right now. My grandparents a few years ago gave each of their children an early inheritance gift, and my father gave my sister and I $1000 of it for ourselves. I’ve saved it in its original American currency form (darn that – whodathunk the Canadian dollar would go par? – crud). I had thought to use it as part of the down payment on our first house, but what with housing prices in Alberta so high, the thou would’ve seemed a meager contribution. So I thought, “Hey, we have no landscaping other than grass. How about a MacDonell tribute garden?” See, my grandparents were hard working parents of ten children, and as well as owning the MacDonell Inn in Cornwall (now gone), they also owned the MacDonell Greenhouse, selling plants and trees and shrubs to people and landscapers (not that landscapers aren’t people…) Anyways. We spent our first summer just getting the landscaping done to the point of grass (don’t even GET me started about our landscaper). We spent our second summer digging out the packed cement-like clay to 18 inch depth (deep for perennials – can go shallower for annuals). Now in our third summer we’re finally at the fun stage. And by we I mean me. I’m doing most of the work because quite honestly I have most of the motivation. I’m super excited to have planted 45 perennials as well as 4 tomato plants, a zucchini, basil (two kinds), oregano, chives, cucumber and seeds for carrots, beets, peas and beans. I still have to plant some Chinese lantern, sweet pea, dill and morning glory seeds, and after looking at the empty patches in my garden, I went today and picked up 20 more perennials to fill. Can’t wait to get them in, but it’s raining today, so am trapped inside watching the clock and wishing it was sunny. Maybe tomorrow. So, my scrapbook idea of the day? Be creative with whatever you’ve got, whether it’s paper and ink, or dirt and seeds. Make your world more beautiful!