Happy Mother's Day!



I hope every one has had a great weekend.  The weather was great for growing things, enough rain for moisture and enough sunshine for our little photosynthesis factories to kick in.

Native Woodland Wildflower Bed

I hope all you have had a great Mother's Day too - in your honor and/or getting to celebrate with your mothers, or by remembering the good times spent with her.  I'm very thankful for everything my mom has done for me, from teaching me enough household skills to get by when I left the nest to loving me when I was less than lovable.

Especially pertinent to my blog is the love of nature and growing things that I picked up from her (and dad too) in our vegetable garden, woodland wildflower beds, and hunting morels growing up.  Here is one of the hillside terraced beds we built, and they have brought in more species since.  The diversity of songbirds they attract to their feeders, the aerial displays by hummingbirds and the numbers of wood ducks raised in nesting boxes around the yard are amazing!

I got a chance to walk and look around the backyard of our "homestead" tonight, after supper but before our family bike ride, and grabbed a video of this singing goldfinch.  He was happy for the sunny evening before the next rain showers.

 



I also grabbed a few photos of herbs in flower.  They provide fresh flavor to many dishes, a variety of health benefits, as well as provide nectar for pollinators.
 

Sage

Thyme







Horseradish

Chives

I also peeked in my rain barrel to check it out.  I had tweaked the "first flush" earlier this year but it was losing too much water, so I readjusted the hole sizing last week.  We now have a nice supply of rainwater stored to use in case we have a dry stretch, and the overflow system is still working great to move the excess to our peach and cherry tree guilds.





I also have to give a shout out to the mother of my children!  She puts up with a lot of my crazy ideas, has a few of her own, and when we get a crazy idea together we are going places!!!  I love the way she teaches our kids, encourages me in my parenting skills and loves them all to pieces!  Thank you for all you do!

Happy Mother's Day!  Enjoy your week!