Garden Thyme

I love flowers...there. It had to be said. LOL I always have. My very first kind of flowers I ever planted were zinnias. My dad made a space for me out in front of our house. I loved watching them grow, watering them and weeding. Weeding my HUGE garden my mom had out back was like forced labor...but my flowers out front, well, weeding there was a labor of love.

My husband gave me four, raised flower beds in our backyard one year. Each year I would add a little more perennials and fill in with annuals. This year, I moved the perennials to their permanent spots around the yard and decided to try my hand at growing vegetables. Pumpkins, cantaloupe, watermelon, tomatoes, green peppers, cabbage, spinach and snow peas.

I may as well have put out a 'Free Buffet' sign for the rabbits, chipmunks, squirrels and other wildlife. Our youngest would go out, snap off a pea and eat it raw. We had enough of a pea crop to help with stir fry one night. Looking out my kitchen window one day I told our oldest we would have green peppers for him to enjoy...as I was speaking and we were both watching, a squirrel went into the garden and picked the lone, ripening pepper! 'You have got to be kidding me.' was the only thing my son could say. I love memories made in the moment.

Mr. Scarecrow was definitely not helping keeping the veggies for us!

And now I can see why...he's laying down on the job!

A planter entirely pink for me! Petunias and million bells with a sweet little bunny tucked in for fun.

What beautiful and stunning colors we've been given to surround ourselves with. We've had hummingbirds, cardinals, blue jays, opossums, finches, frogs and bugs galore enjoy the gardens. And I know how much I love looking out my kitchen window to watch them!