A few nights ago I was out working in the garden -- my favorite retreat at the end of the day -- when I noticed that the grass is (already) getting very over-grown.
I started feeling annoyed and discouraged, but fortunately remembered fairly quickly how useless those feelings are and started searching for some better-feeling thoughts.
As I pondered ways to make peace with the time and energy-consuming task of mowing the lawn, I started thinking about my desire to create a flower garden that will attract butterflies and bees, which also feels like a time-consuming task.
And then, just like magic, as I looked up towards the barn I saw a beautiful meadow of wildflowers with a wide path through the center connecting the barn and the garden.
In the meadow is a mix of weeds, grasses, wildflowers, sunflowers -- all of which are enjoyed and appreciated by many varieties of butterflies, birds and bees!
I mentioned it to John and he thought it sounded like a great idea (read: less grass for him to mow) and so I set to work.
Lily has been joining me out in the yard in the evening while John puts Quinn to bed. While I weed and water and plan, she picks buttercups and dandelions and visits with her chicks, collects eggs from the nesting boxes and waits eagerly for the bats to descend from the barn rafters.
"Is it time yet, Mama?...When are they coming, Mama?...I think I hear them, Mama!"
It's actually still a little cold for the bats, but in a few weeks, there should be plenty swooping through the air, gobbling up bugs, to entertain her (and me)!
Last night the two of us spent some time digging up beautiful flowers (a.k.a. weeds) out of the path and moving them into the meadow. We also planted several packets of sunflower seeds and scattered several packages of "wildflower mix".
It's SO fun to share my vision of the farm with Lily because she is so receptive to all that I can imagine and is happy to join in with her own ideas, like a pumpkin patch and pear trees.
Very fun indeed.
In other news, I posted an ad on Craig's List this afternoon to re-home two of our Araucana hens. I'm tired of chasing these two escape-artists out of the garden and watching them tear up our sorry attempts at a lawn. Within a couple of hours, I had several offers to take them.
John is out catching them now and tomorrow they can move to their new home where they can happily free-range with a bunch of other hens and duck -- and I can plant flowers and vegetables without worrying about them being scratched up!
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