Work redefined

"My work is loving the world." - Mary Oliver

There are so many amazing people and beautiful things to appreciate in our world. 

I've made this is my new job description!

Gratitude for the gifts of summer

Flowers seem intended for the solace of ordinary humanity.  ~John Ruskin

Flowers are those little colorful beacons of the sun from which we get sunshine when dark, somber skies blanket our thoughts.  ~Dodinsky

Every flower is a soul blossoming in nature.  ~Gerard de Nerval

I perhaps owe having become a painter to flowers.  ~Claude Monet

Let us dance in the sun, wearing wild flowers in our hair...  ~Susan Polis Shutz

A New Greenhouse: Chapter Three

There was still one panel left to be installed but the greenhouse needed plants!  Lulu came to check it out inside.

The finished house!  Obviously some landscaping needs to be done around the outside.

More has been planted:  flowers, tomatoes, peppers, onions, beans and carrots.  Herbs include:  basil, oregano, thyme, and cilantro.  Can't wait to harvest everything and eat some fresh, homegrown veggies!

This is where the greenhouse is sitting in relationship to the house.  It doesn't actually have a chimney on it.  Hopefully this house will shelter our garden from hail, wind and snow so we can eat lots of fresh goodness in a couple of months!

See more skies at SkyWatchFriday!

Building a Greenhouse: Chapter Two

The patio bricks we removed became the floor for the greenhouse.

Gary and I filled up the beds with dirt, compost and peat moss.  

The next weekend, after the "kit" arrived, a crew came up to help erect the metal structure.  It's a good thing that we have smart friends who know a little about putting up buildings because the instructions that came with the "kit" left a lot to be desired.  

That same weekend we had another snowstorm, making me glad again to be getting a greenhouse.

This is in May!

As you can see, though, the moisture turned everything green.

Once the metal structure is in place, the sides start to go up.

Building a Greenhouse: A Chapter Story

We have had a long, cold spring.  We live at 6800' (2072m) elevation.  The climate is not conducive to growing green things in our mountain desert zone.  A few years back when a major hailstorm decimated my garden I gave up.

This year my husband decided for a spring project he would like to put up a greenhouse.  It was a great idea but it turned out to be way more labor intensive than he expected.  How often do projects like this turn out that way?

We took out our ten year old hot tub, tore down the old garden fence and made room for the greenhouse. We hired a contractor to pour concrete for a foundation.  He also added a sidewalk out to the greenhouse.  He did a great job.

The Kubota tractor is our friend!  My husband used it to haul bricks from the flatbed trailer over to the interior of the greenhouse in order to build the beds.

We also took out our patio bricks and poured concrete.  We have had flooding in the basement due to extreme weather conditions.  Hopefully it's a solution to the problem.

It took an entire day with one helper to build up the planters. Later we filled the planters with dirt and compost, thanks again to Kubota.

Brogan is giving his stamp of approval on the new sidewalk.

My World Tuesday gives us a chance to visit each other all around the world.  Check it out!

Stop the car!

I was driving home from Salt Lake when the sunset became so dramatic that I had to stop the car.  I forgot my window was broken, I couldn't roll it down.  Even though I wanted to get home I got out of the car to take some pictures.  Some skies are worth stopping for.

You can visit other spectacular skies at SkyWatchFriday.

Life has been so busy I haven't been able to find myself!  I've been in high gear putting in a greenhouse, going to a wedding in Aspen, scheduling and attending all manner of work-related events, and planning for a camping trip in Wyoming if the snow melts.  This weekend it might be nice enough to plant flowers in the yard.

Whew.  Time for bed.