Week 196: Flowers and Fires

One way to work your way out of a melancholic slump is to spend time outdoors. I'm not the world's most outdoorsy person (it's not a coincidence I don't ever write about our camping adventures...that would be because there aren't any), but I do love a sunny day outside.

Even though there were things I definitely could have been working on inside (like grading papers, which is actually what I should be doing right now), I decided to bag it all and just work on the backyard. After church, we decided to shop around for a backyard fire pit. We had seen one that we liked at Home Depot, and thought we'd check out Lowe's. Didn't actually make it to Lowe's because I remembered that we needed ice cream, and 30 minutes later we were walking out of Walmart with coffee ice cream, milk, and a fire pit. An hour later, I went back and bought a bag of marshmallows and some roasting sticks. I also picked up 15 of the most adorable little primroses you ever did see. Because I wanted to. And because they were so ridiculously cute.

So the afternoon was spent putting together the fire pit and planting primroses in the backyard. It did not escape Jason's attention that I managed to buy yet another pair of gardening gloves on my primrose buying trip.

J: Are those new garden gloves?

S: Yep.

J: What's that...four pairs you own now?

S: But I didn't have pink ones. And the other ones are dirty.

J: You know that's what happens to garden gloves. They get dirty.

S: Which is why I always have to buy new ones.

It's true. I have a thing for new garden gloves.

The weather wasn't exactly what I would call 'fabulous,' but it wasn't raining and it wasn't freezing, so that's always a plus for February. Sydney played away on her newly installed play structure--the one that has been dismantled since last November when we decided to put the new shed where the play structure used to be. I have to say, it's very handy having the slide and swings working again. Sydney would probably swing all day if someone was there to push her. Jules, on the other hand, is terrified of the swings. That's okay by me. I get a bit weary of swing-pushing anyway.

Simply put, it was just a nice day hanging around outside as a family. Sydney helped me plant/fertilize/water the primroses, donning her mismatched Dora gardening gloves for the occasion, and finally deeming the flowers "beautiful and so nice smelling too!" Julianne wandered around emptying bottles of bubble liquid all over the patio. Jason managed to outwork all of us by assembling the fire pit, chopping up wood to burn, and putting in a fence post which involved things like digging a hole and mixing cement.

After I planted the flowers, I had a small moment of conflict. According to my beloved Sunset magazine, when you plant flowers you are supposed to snip all the flowers and buds off so that the plants can focus all their growing energy on roots rather than feeding the flowers. I might have done this except that we're having a family shindig at our house this weekend in celebration of Jason's brother and SIL visiting from Rhode Island.

I just couldn't stand the thought of all those guests at our house, admiring our new backyard, yet wondering what in the heck happened to our flowers. I want the backyard to look pretty, not like a pack of deer (team of deer? gang of deer? ah, herd of deer) wandered through our subdivision on an evening stroll, pausing only to nibble all the petals off my flowers. So, I fertilized the flowers, and Sydney and I whispered words of encouragement to them. I have faith they will survive. If they start looking weak, then next week--after the guests are gone--I'll invite the deer over for lunch.

As it started to get dark, Jason got the fire going and I brought out the bag of marshmallows and box of graham crackers.

Now, I ask you: is there anything more lovely than spending a Sunday evening roasting marshmallows in your own backyard? I even got so caught up in how fun and exciting it was that I totally forgot about the Oscars (even though I had been planning all afternoon on watching them, drat it!). I didn't realize my forgetfulness until this morning, at which point I was, I admit, kind of bummed. But then I remembered what Sydney said to me last night when we all headed inside after filling our tummies with sugar:

"That was so. much. fun. SO much," at which point she smiled and sighed and turned her eyes to the heavens in sheer bliss.

Well, if I had to miss the Oscars for anything then I'd want to miss it for something that was so much fun.

*****

(c) Creature Bug 2008. All rights reserved.

Comments

[Kismet]

Love!!!

We have a 1st generation fire pit and need to replace it. I like yours. Does it come with cute lil girls with marshmallow roasting sticks? :)

~K!

[amy wood]

Can I come over?! :) How fun to have your very own fire pit! Love it!

[Sarah]

so cool, let the fire walking begin or at least just more marshmallow roasting :)

[Leslie]

Super Fun Sunday! I love those days. Here's to many more days of roasting marshmellows.

[Karen]

Love the fire pit, and the red dirt :)

SO, hard to cut flowers off, that's the whole reason we by them!

Teach that girl to swing those legs!! It's amazing!

[Alida]

You had a much better evening by the fire-pit than watching the Oscars. We watched and although we enjoyed it, it was mostly because the kids were so darn cute with their comments.

Isabela: Oh, her dress is BEAUTIFUL.
Luke: (hearing the Indiana Jones theme when Harrison Ford presented) Mom. It's Indy...what's wrong with him?

Other than the gowns, nothing exciting really happened.

[Kari]

Much better than the Oscars...you can always see the dresses (which in my opinion is the only fun part anyway)in some goofy magazine.

[Devon]

For whatever it's worth, my mom never chops off the flowers when she plants annuals, and they always do all right.

[lakewood florist]

me too, I love spending my time off indoors, makes me feel calm and content just seeing the blooming flowers on our garden.

[andrea]

I didn't watch the Oscars, either. Of course, I don't have TV, but still...I think I would have still chosen not to. Like Kari said, the recap in People is really just as good (if not better). And you really can't beat fire. : )

[Margaret]

It's well worth it to miss the Oscars for SO.MUCH.FUN. It looks very cosy. I like new garden gloves too.

[Goslyn]

Lovely! I have never snipped the flowers on new transplants, and mine have always done just great. Plus, I subscribe to the Darwin school of gardening: only the strongest can survive the lack of water, fertilizer or weeding my garden is subject to.

[Rachel]

Ha Ha...I love the new CLEAN gloves! Who likes to wear dirty gloves? And the firepit looks like a ton of fun.
I like the swing comment...I lucked out and have a daughter that doesn't see what all the fuss a swing is about when there is a slide to go down...so no pushing for me!!

[Inkling]

Ooh, we like that fire pit. We've been wanting one of those. Visions of dogs eating charcoal haunt me, however. Did any marshmallows pass your lips?

We need to plan our tea party! February is over!