Laughing Heart Living : Friends, Fruit, Flowers & More...

Juniper found a baby salamander!

Logan's 30th birthday celebration

Surprise dress-up for papa Logan

I've been meaning to write for quite some time now, but it hasn't quite
made it to the top of my list. There's always so much going on around here! Granted, the priority isn't always work related, but celebrating Logan's birthday, dips in the river, long walks, short naps and swinging in the hammock with the kids are pretty important things to tend to as well. And I'd much rather spend most of my time outdoors than in front of the computer--so that's what I tend to do!

Tule planting potatoes in mid April

potato jungle in late May

In the weeks that have passed since my last post, there have been so
many little nuggets I've wanted to share...the weeding in the gardens and orchards was all completed (thanks in big part to Juniper for motivating this chore and Pleasant Valley Sanctuary crew for rocking out a work day with us), all the seeds that we started are now full on plants thriving in the

Juniper & Andres planting

Logan tending the burn pile on a rainy Spring day

veggie beds, the potatoes Tule & I planted look like a wild jungle, the fruit trees are loaded with delicious treats (we've already eaten all of the cherries and apricots!), the woods around our homes have been cleared of dead branches and debris, all of it burned up (long before the current heat, of course!) and the ashes scattered on various garden beds and tree bases to neutralize our slightly acidic soil.

Luna with a cherry harvest

Simran enjoying the cherries

One other story that stands out for me is of two young, but very knowledgeable gardeners here at Laughing Heart...Luna & Tule. While all the work of planting was in full force, they took on creating a garden of their own. Here is their story about that garden...

Luna & Tule's Fairy Garden

~~"The magic drew us to the space and we decided to garden. We pulled the weeds, we mixed compost in the earth, we dug the holes for the flowers and we transplanted flowers from the greenhouse and flowers we won at the Mayfair Plant Walk. We watered the earth.

Simran, Luna & Tule in the fairy garden

To make the space special and interesting, we found a post, stuck it in the ground and put flowers in the holes. All the colors of the rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple. We found an old watering can to make it even better. We found a sign that says, 'My garden blooms in the most beautiful shades of friendship & love'. We hung it in a rose bush. The garden is to attract fairies, gnomes, dwarfs and fawns. We will spend as much time, energy and love as we can on it. The garden makes us feel light, happy and joyful when we step into it."~~

And now we have so swiftly moved into summer energy--the grasses have all browned, the heat is upon us, the school year has ended, and with all the life that has been bursting forth in the big energy of the sun, all the gardens are creating so much happiness and joy for each of us. I'll leave you with some of that blossoming joy in the form of this flower parade...