Friday's Nature Table...

Sometimes a simple act of taking a photo can reveal a new world.
My children love "the front yard"
I prefer the back.

There is magic in the front yard.  My babies know this.
And sometimes, when I am lucky, I too can see the magic.
I can see a glimpse of this hidden world from their perspective when I look through the camera.

There are hidden holes for spiders, or gnomes...

Magical fairy flowers, with special names...

This one is called a "Cowtock" flower.  

No one knows how Ava came up with the name, as it was before she could really communicate with us.  Its just always been "Cowtock".

She spent a year taking care of Cowtocks.  Picking them, washing them, making special beds on her pillow...

There is room to drive the "fire truck" 

(Cyrus has named his red bike.. also decorated it with a basket, and a bird house..)

trees to 'climb'....

And "golden balls" for making wishes.

Thank you to The Magic Onions for bringing us together to find the magic in our natural worlds around us!

To see what they could see...

Earlier this week I let my babies run free with my camera.  Very little instruction.  No cautions.  No directions.  Just to see what they could see.  They each have a different technique but their subject matters had a common thread.  Daily things in their surroundings, and things they like to look at.

Cyrus's approach is very direct.  He walked around snapping hundreds of photos of things he loves.  Mostly extreme close up, most with out the benefit of light, or clarity.

His sister...

His baseball bat... 

His father, napping on the couch...

His mama's pregnant belly... 

His football in the library basket...

and himself!

Ava's view showed a little more experience.  Have I let her do this before?  (honestly can't remember) 

'

Her bedroom... 

The "yellow room" (play room)

A passing blimp... 

Her garden....

Anna's finest apple...

And herself!

I had so much fun hearing their squeals of delight with each photo taken.  I loved looking through the pages and pages of photos.  I learned that my house is very very very messy.  Overall a great experience.  (except for the messy part)  I look forward to doing this again with one of my better cameras, when they are older...  (Looks like I may have passed through my reckless stage)

Inspired....

There are a few things that I want to do today.  Right now.  Here are some beautiful posts I found that have me inspired for spring...


~Garden Mama's tutorial for Water Color Lanterns....

~Two Blue Lemons recipe for Raw Carrot Cake....

~Creating custom fabric?  Seriously, I didn't even know that was a thing....  thanks to Spoonflower it is!
                 see here and here for examples of how crafters are using this service.

~Homemade yogurt!  This recipe looks so simple, and the cost is great!  While I'm at it, why not make my own sour cream?

~Sisal Pendant Light.  I want to make this this weekend.  I even know exactly where to put it!

~Lemon cups!  I have been compiling ideas for Ava's fairy birthday party this fall, and this has to be made.  Some how, some way...  I probably wont have wild violets to use in October, but hey, its Arizona, you never know what your going to find!


Thanks to Childhood Magic , Soule Mama, JCasa *handmade,  and Garden Mama  for offering such beautiful, inspiring ideas! 

So far so good....

I know I do my fair share of complaining when it comes to Arizona weather... but, and I hope I am not jinxing myself (and everyone else in the state)  so far so good...  Tomorrow its to be in the 90's.  That's  common for late April.  Thursday we have a forecast for... wait for it....  Low 70's.  It seems to good to be true.  Often things seem to good to be true.  Maybe I am too cynical?  Maybe.

My lettuce has decided that the heat is here to stay. Its changed from short frilly and sweet to this new tall and lean physique.  Its very pretty.  Its horrible, and bitter, but very pretty so it gets to stay a while longer.

Just behind my leggy lettuces we have my rebellious flowers.  This season we have branched out (so to speak) and added a few more non edibles to our yard.  Delphinium, and this pretty little pink Easter gift below.

I am really glad to have them.  They go against our original plan of only planting edibles or workers, like the marigold who helps to keep the bad bugs away.  But its ok with me.  I feel a little reckless.  I mean to say, I live in a desert.  Its one thing to use minimal water to grow things to eat.... its quite another to grow them because they are pretty.  But they are pretty.  They add such flair!  And truth be told, I am a little reckless these days.  I've been letting my children play with one of my cameras just because I like to see what they take pictures of.  I skipped a neighbor girls birthday party, and sent Matt with the kids, so I could just rest.  I ate the frosting (and centers) off of three pieces of cake in one day. (eating a good portion of cake in the process)  I am blaming this on third trimester pregnancy.  Every other part of me is effected by pregnancy so it stands to reason that my practicality is too.  I didn't even recognize Earth Day this year.  (usually it involves crafting, singing, and community projects)

So that's me.  That's the weather.  We both are a little out of character these days.  And I think its going to last a little longer.  We'll come around eventually.  We always do.  But for now...

Here's to being reckless!  So far so good!

Gratitude Mondays

What I love today...

 

~30 weeks down, 10ish to go!!!!

~Pretty napkins.  Someday my mother will get tired of these, I hope to be on the receiving end of that day!

~Giving a camera to my babies and telling them... nothing.  Just letting them explore.  (more on that later)

~Weddings.  I love weddings.  I may not share the same ideals or values as every bride, but I sure share that joy.  It is so much fun to have a wedding.

~Cake.  Seriously.

~A trip to the bead store with my girl.  I want to try to do more 'just us girls' trips with her in the next few weeks... after that, its baby time!

~A boy who cries that he can't fall asleep, while sleeping.  Annoying sometimes, but oh so cute.  

~A partner that will take my babies to a 9 year old girl birthday party (only a small percent in English) so I can just rest after a loooong weekend....

~Roasted beets, and Swiss chard...  We are so planting more of this next year!

 

~Birthday cake delivered to my door on my birthday!  Oh my goodness it was Amazing!

~Taking a week off of blogging for no reason.  No writing, and no reading.  Just a spontaneous break.  It was good to be away, and its good to be back.

Friday's Nature Table....

We love our garden bugs around here.  Most of them, anyway.  This season we have been very fortunate to have a plethora of little friends to observe, and care for.

The honey bee is Queen, of course.  We give her space, and she provides us with a garden to be proud of.  We are ever grateful for her hard work.

With all do respect to the bees, its the babies in the garden that have gotten the most love these days.  Baby Ladybug Larva!

These larva have been watched over since the day we first discovered them.  Sometimes moved from one plant to another to provide our yard with maximum protection from aphids (of which we have many).  Both Ava and Cyrus love to carry them.  Maybe love it too much.  We had to put a stop to the larva rides... too many "opps!" were heard.

Soon the larva were replaced with pupa.  Not as much fun for my children, they don't transport very easily.

 The pupa is on the left in red, and the larva is on the right wearing stripes.

After a few weeks our babies are starting to grow up.  A lovely selection of ladybugs now live in our gardens.

The gray one is my favorite.  Ava prefers the black with red spots, and Cyrus loves them all.  That's his way.

I would be remiss if I failed to update you on my little friend the grasshopper.  Do you remember I mentioned him a few weeks ago?  My how he's grown.   He's doubled in length, and changed his colors with a few moltings.  He also decided to move across the path from the lemon tree to the artichoke plant.  I think he feels more protected there by all the bees, or just the sheer size of the artichoke, its a beast.  I am truly fond of this little guy.  He's like an old friend, or a bug that... I see a lot.

The newest thrill in our gardens are these hard to find, biiig eaters....  Caterpillars.  We'll be keeping an eye on these babies.  Hoping for more, but not too much more.  I'll let you know how that works out for us! 

So there you have it.  Sixteen pictures of bugs.  I swear I do still take pictures of my children...

Here's to getting out in the garden and enjoying the little guys who make it all possible.

A special thanks to The Magic Onions for bringing us all together to enjoy nature every Friday.

....

I am so happy!

I am also too tired to write anything interesting.
Happy, tired, and very grateful.
Tomorrow I will tell you all about our favorite bugs in the gardens.
Today
Just pictures of our front yard trees.

Changes....

A few weeks ago (3.5) we put in a garden just for my babies.  In these last 24 days we have tended and cared for this garden.  Every morning, and all day, this garden is loved.   Thanks to all the love and care, plus some good Arizona sunshine, our little garden is flourishing.  As it grows, so does the love of its smallest gardeners.

The Sun Flower House is  raising up her walls...

The little flower and vegetable garden is blooming and fruiting.....

 

 

Checking for strawberries int he mornings...

 

 

 

 

Finding our first zucchini....

 

My special thanks to this little garden.  You are loved.  I look forward to watching your changes this season, as my children grow and change with you.