pretty things...

My sage is growing abundantly this spring. I planted it last spring from seeds I had started indoors, and it is doing awesome. Sage is a perennial in the planting zone where I live (Zone 5), but when I planted it several years ago it only lasted one season and never came back. I had it planted in a different bed, one that received less sun and more shade so that's the only thing I can figure for the lack of success I had with it. Sage likes lots of sun and can tolerate a drier soil, so it a very easy herb to grow, especially for those who live in drier areas.

I noticed last weekend that it had bloomed. Anytime an herb blooms, the yummy part that is usually used for culinary uses (the leaves), decline in productivity. So when growing herbs it's really important to keep the plants from flowering in order to keep production up. Anyway, I noticed that it had really bloomed so earlier this week I took my shears and went out to trim off all of the flowers. I took half of the flowers out to the chicken coop and spread them in the nesting boxes, and then I tied the rest of the sage blooms into little bundles and hung them over the door in our kitchen. There's something very lovely about dried herbs hanging in the home that delights me. I've made herb bundles with lavender before, but this was the first time using sage, and I think that this will be a nice way to use the blooms I cut during the growing season. And, of course, I will be back out there with my shears when my lavender blooms!

I went to our local nursery on Wednesday. I love this little place. I've been going there for years. It's owned by a sweet woman and her husband. She is such a delight and so helpful which is why I keep going back. And there is something so satisfying in buying my plants and flowers from her rather than a big store such as WalMart or Lowe's. It's good to know that my money is going to a hard-working family who really prides themselves in the product they are providing to the public. And you can really tell that they take great care of their plants.

So I went and got these gorgeous (and I mean gorgeous) hanging baskets as well as another flat of various flowers, both perennials and annuals. My kids are just like me and really enjoy going to the nursery, walking among the greenhouses, admiring all the beautiful colors and amazing scents. They each picked out a few different types of flowers for us to plant. Most of these flowers will go into our landscaping, and then I bought my favorite, begonias, to plant in pots for on our decks. I just love this time of year. I love beautifying our decks with all the flowers and plants. And I love going out and sitting on the decks, enjoying the view! This warm season is my most favorite time of the year.

Next week, I will be sharing some of my favorite homeschooling resources for any of my readers who are homeschoolers. I always appreciate hearing what other people enjoy and find helpful, so I plan to share some of those things with you. I also plan on doing  a post on "laid-back summer homeschooling" for those families who hope to encourage the learning to continue over the summer months. I have several resources that I use for summer learning that I'd love to share with you all. And also, next Wednesday will be the third installment of the "How We Homestead" series I'm participating in. Next week's topic is "Real Food" and I will be discussing how we grow and preserve our own food.

And today? Well, it's chilly, cloudy, and a bit damp. I'm hoping the sun pokes out a little later today, but we shall see. But for now, we've got school lessons and a few other things to keep us busy inside. As much as I love sunny days, these last few rainy days have been great for watering the gardens. And it's also meant that I haven't had to go out and water them which saves me time!

Well, I pray you all have a lovely day!