Just Before the Rain! :)

I so need a new charger! It is killing me to have to keep borrowing hubby's cell phone for pictures! lol 

Right now, for instance, the sun is glinting off of water drops on our pine tree like a hundred sparkling shards of glass! The droplets are twinkling every color of the rainbow. I've never seen anything like it! Words cannot do it justice!

The morning has been pleasant, to say the least. :) My children slept in while the sounds of birds, oscillating fan, and the sanitation trucks provided the perfect amount and kind of white noise. :) Even little Koala was humming off and on in her sleep in those precious noises only the tiniest humans can make. It was positively perfect. :) 

Hubs snuck out around seven thirty while it was still breezy and overcast and took some pictures for me. It turns out that was in the nick of time, because not long after that the low rumble of thunder was heard, and the most beautiful rain shower you've ever seen came through! (Hence the sun glinting off of the rain-soaked pine tree!)

So, why am I updating pictures again so soon? I'm glad you asked! :) I know that we just posted photos a couple of days ago, but look at this! My pea plant has surprised me yet again! There is a flower on the vine!! 

I got to have the privilege of explaining to my littles that this single white flower was the start of fresh sugar snapped peas for the summer! :) It is remarkable that one single flower on one single little vine can stand for so much promise! :) I cannot wait to post update pictures of a tiny pea pod, growing for all it is worth!

Well, blow me down! We'll have peas yet!!! 

Another reason for updating again so quickly is the fact that I did not update about the celery plant last time, so here she is. 

You can see that I took an old Taco Bell cup I'd been using for rinsing and helped the little gal to stand up straight. You can see that the plant is leafy and green, and growing very well. I am still surprised about this, and absolutely delighted! :) The girls and I can't wait to have our own first bunch of celery to put in a salad or turn into ants on a log with a little bit of peanut butter and raisins! :)

Here is another photo, so you can see the stalks of the celery as they looked a couple of weeks ago. It is going somewhat slowly, but they are thickening. I have enjoyed looking at them as they grow. A baby bunny visits our yard every single day, but has yet to discover the celery. In fact, it hasn't nibbled at any of our plants - just the weeds around the bales.

I have done some looking online, and it seems that if you cut off the end of a celery stalk at home (as we all do), you can plant the stump and regrow celery in your own home. Since that is the case, when I harvest this I am going to cut it right there in the ground to see if it will use it's original roots to regrow.

One last shot of the celery; this time just a close-up of the leaves because I think they are pretty. :) Our little hermit crabs are really enjoying the garden, as well. :) We have broken off leaves from the celery and tomatoes and given them to the pets to eat. They just love fresh produce! In fact, today is so warm and muggy that I am going to take Tink outside and let him mosey around the yard a bit. We'll keep a close eye on him. I'm sure he'll love it! :)

The cucumber continues to grow and to amaze me. :) I know I keep saying that each plant is my favorite, but the cuke and pumpkin plants really are at the top of the list! To have seen this little guy go from three leaves to the tall and somewhat sprawling plant you see here has been both wonderful and exciting! :)

I do not know what to do about the bugs making spots on the leaves yet, but I promise you I will figure it out! :)

Speaking of the pumpkin, here she is! Now, you just have to admit that this is a beautiful and healthy plant! The amount of leaves from what we started with is so, so, so exciting to me!!

I keep finding myself praying that we've got enough bees coming around to pollinate the flowers when they begin to show and to bloom! I'm also secretly praying that we end up with both male and female flowers in the first batch so we get a fruit from them. Oh my. I said I wasn't going to get my hopes up, didn't I? 

I am apparently SUCH a liar on that issue! lol

The tomatoes are doing about the same. The proper name of these is 'Washington Cherry Tomato'. I have decided that means that they are the 'big' cherry tomatoes. They are definitely larger than the ones we purchase at the store or farmer's market. In fact, they're at least twice as large. 

You can see here that the first fruits are ripening nicely on the vine, and the rest are in varying stages. I believe we counted another seventeen flowers or so. 

I do not have a picture of them from this morning, but my beefsteak tomatoes that are growing in the planter have also begun to develop the pods that will hold flowers and eventually fruit!

Here is the beefsteak plant from the same bale as the cherries. I am still so disappointed these two tomato plants seem so lackluster. They started off really well, but I just cannot seem to keep enough water in the bale to keep them looking happy and perky.

I have only spotted the one single flower on this plant so far, but I can tell that there will be others coming on soon. :) I do so hope for huge, juicy tomatoes to grace my table this summer! I have many happy memories of my dad slicing up tomatoes right there in the garden and slipping them onto bread. Those were the best tomato sandwiches!

Now we've arrived back at the broccoli plant. :) I know these little guys frustrated the ever-living snot out of me initially, but now they've become my pet plants! You can see clearly that there are more than two leaves in each plant now! I am babying them with added dirt (you can tell... they look short again), quality fish fertilizer, and a lot of kind words as I plant. 

My grandfather, God rest his soul, would let me help in his garden when I was visiting. He always said that plants, like his pigeons, do better when you talk to them. :) We would be out in his strawberries, tending them and talking to them lovingly. Now I baby every plant we grow, and every pet in the same exact way. 

I would give anything right now to be back in his yard watching him whistle and flag to his racing pigeons up in the sky as they responded with so many tricks. It is one of many sweet memories I have of him. I've really missed him lately...

Well, you get the gist. :) The summer is one of the most beautiful I have lived through. My home, my husband, my children, my family, my friends, my church, my life, my plants all bring me such joy. I am humbled by this. The Lord is so good to me. God is in His Heaven, and maybe not all is quite right in the world, but here on this little plot of land everything is beautiful. <3 I am content, and what can a soul ask for, more than peace?