Summer has officially arrived!!  Aaahhh… the long, sunny days, hours spent at the park with the kids, family barbecues, and fresh veggies from the garden.   This is what I look forward to during the summer months!

To be honest, I have felt a bit unmotivated in the crafting/digital scrapbooking side of things recently.  I really don’t feel like sitting inside on a beautiful, warm day –  I would rather be outside tending the garden or watching the kids play at the park.  Who wouldn’t?

So today, instead of a crafty post, I thought I would share a few photos from my outdoor passion – the garden.

Here are my top five favourite things about our garden:

Number Five:

Gorgeous peony blossoms!  I wish these lasted all summer!  The beautiful colours and the heavenly scent make these a favourite spring blossom.

Number Four:

A dry river bed created with rocks found around the yard.  It makes an ugly spot under the spruce trees look so calming.  The river bed has two purposes – helps drain the water from the downspout and makes a nice path for the kids to walk on under the trees.

Number Three:

Robyn’s fairy garden.  This was a fun mother/daughter project we completed at the beginning of June.  She loves having this special fairy garden that is all her own, tucked away by the dry river bed.

Number Two:

The kids’ handprints and footprints on stepping stones found throughout the garden.  They each have their footprints (done when they were 3 months old) beside the trees I planted for them the year they born.  Then we made handprint stepping stones in 2012 and there has already been talks about doing another set this year.

Number One:

The raised vegetable garden that was built by my husband and son for a Mother’s Day gift three years ago.

Here they are in May of 2012 building the garden beds:  (Casey was so cute at 4 years old!  He wore those construction goggles all the time!)

The three raised beds  (4′ x 4′) are perfect for growing some of our favourite veggies:  cucumbers, tomatoes, romaine lettuce, spinach, peas, and carrots.  This year has been hard protecting the tender seedlings from the soccer ball, so hopefully we still get a decent crop!

I love spending time outside puttering around the yard and I plan to do a lot of it until the mosquitos arrive!  Don’t be surprised if there aren’t as many weekly blog posts – just know I am out enjoying the short Alberta summer!

Leah