Garden Renovation: Before

        Gardens have been a thing of beauty for us to enjoy since the beginning of time. They are mentioned in the bible (the first place man lived was in a garden) and many other historical documents.
  We can bask in there shade in the hot weather, enjoy the fruits they produce, smell their sweet aromas and marvel at what a beautiful site they are.
   I've always wanted to have a big, luscious, beautiful garden. Full of the things we need to cook with ( I love to cook ) as well as plants we can use for decoration, ect. But I never knew how much work they really are. That is until we started our own a few years ago.
   As of now we have two gardens, they were planted earlier in the spring, but ours has not done so well. Jesse's however is colossal, his plants are as big as Charlene ( if you look to the right side of the screen you'll see some pictures of his garden ). So I'm hoping to replant a few of the plants that died, take better care of them, do some excavating and give you tips and hints on what works best for a home garden while I'm at it. Here are some "before" pictures of the garden:

This is the bench and stool set that will hopefully be replaced when this whole ordeal is over with. It was beautiful in it's day but I think now it's time for it to go. c ;

This is the pathway that will go behind the garden to the left of the bench.

   

And this is the one to the right. These pathways will make it easy to reach the plants on the back side of the garden.

                                                                                    

This is the garden on the left side of the bench (which is centered between these two soon to be raised beds).

And this is the one on the right. I found it a good choice to hoe the ground before bringing in the soil. Making sure that I get all the roots of the plants up as well. That way the grass and\or weeds will not continue to grow up through the soil and become a problem later.

Hopefully when we are through this little pathway that you see at the bottom of the picture as well as the two pathways behind the beds and the area in front of the bench will have stones. We will have a new bench or perhaps table, there will be raised beds on both sides of the new bench and the sides of the house will be pressure washed.
c ;

This is the only raised bed that has not yet been established. But when were done we hope to have maybe some blueberries in this one.

      I would have pictures of the other three raised beds which are already established and have growing plants in them but my computer wouldn't let me, so, I'll try and get those later. I know it looks bad but we'll have fun working on it and when we are all done, it'll be beautiful c ;

      

   

And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord.......

       As we slowly get back to normal around here, I'm finding it sometimes difficult to keep my focus straight. With all the emotions, difficulties, chaos and hum drum that has been going on, it's hard to remember the little things. For example I often find myself scolding one of my younger siblings for not cleaning up after themselves or neglecting my responsibilities as the oldest daughter, instead of speaking to those around me with love and making sure that I hold others needs above my own.
    It's easy to think selfishly, especially when your at home with just your family. I mean, how many of us can say that we have suffered from "cabin fever" or just gotten so tired of the everyday routine?
    In reality however when we look past our selfish thoughts and desires, we find that every day things that we do at home with our family can be some of the best things that we'll ever do.

     There are two main things that we need to remember as christian men and women weather we are in the position of a mother, father, sister, brother, daughter or son.
    The first, is that we must love each other with an agape love. Agape is one of the Greek words for love. It means to love unconditionally. We must also remember that love is a choice, so we have to choose to love unconditionally, just as the Father has done for us.
  This means regardless of our circumstances, regardless of wether or not we are getting love back or being treated poorly. We love because it is a commandment from our Heavenly Father, not because we feels like loving. It also means that we forgive when those we love have wronged us, we must have a tendency of mercy rather than judgement, just like the Father.

      Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.  Matthew 22:36-40


  The second thing we must do is remember that we do not work for men. Whatever we do, wether it be going to a job every day or staying home with your family, we do it for the Glory of God specifically.

          Colossians 3:23    And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men...


    These are things that many of us have already learned many times throughout our lives. But It's good to examine ourselves on a regular basis, and reconsider how we act. So that we make sure we are striving to be like Jesus.



  On a different note, I thought I should tell you that bible studies have started up again. We will be having them every Sunday night again just like before. At least until further notice that is. The Travers ( the family who's father was our bible study leader when we did them at the Cedar House) have graciously allowed us all into their home. ( Which is where it first started by the way c ; )
   On the first night, after we all sat through a very good lesson by Mr. Travers in which we saw a very funny illustration with a strawberry, I went outside to help Charlene with a few different things. While I was out there one of the little ones asked me to take them on a walk. And I'm glad she did because other wise I would have went back inside to talk more and may have missed realizing what I did. As I held her and walked down the driveway and back, we saw fire flies dancing on the lawn and little ones trying to catch them, heard a Whipper Will in the distance and felt the warm air all around us. All the things you experience in summer time.     
   But as I looked back towards the house and saw everyone there with smiles on their faces, the little ones laughing and playing, the girls talking about the past weeks and some of the others playing instruments. I remember feeling just the way I did at the Cedar House, our Safe Haven. We hadn't lost it after all, because it doesn't matter what building were in, it only matters that were all together. I only wish that Mr. Lee could still be with us.


  Also, Mr Liverett ( Mrs. Crawford's father ) has been sent back to the hospital a few times over the past week due to more chest pains. ( The first came the morning of the storm when he did have a heart attack but later recoverd. )  I think I heard that he will be released tomorrow, I don't have many details right now. But keep the Liveretts and Crawfords in your prayers.