Vacationing at Home

Vacation is this week from Saturday the 3rd through Sunday the 11th.

I wasn't really counting Saturday or Sunday for activities and projects, we just had a nice relaxing weekend.

Saturday we went for lunch at the Boynton and then hung out with our friend Bob to watch the final 4 episodes of Season 2 of Game of Thrones. Great company, great show and a great kickoff for the week. Bob just bought a house nearby and it's so cool to have another friend nearby.

Sunday was our 18th Anniversary so we took it easy, no projects or anything. Just a good amount of rest and dinner out at the 111 Chophouse - which was amazing and a fun way to celebrate!

This weekend was fun for me also because I had some sightings of things I haven't seen before in our yard/neighborhood...

I was sitting in the back garden on Saturday morning and a Hummingbird came up to some flowers about 5 feet away from me. It was the first time I have seen one in our yard! They are so amazing.

Saturday night at Bob's we were walking outside to see the yard and the pear tree and after we went in side we looked out the window and saw a wild rabbit hanging out in the yard. Luckily we have not personally seen rabbits in the our garden. It was really neat to see the rabbit roaming around his yard.

Saturday I also heard a different bird song outside the window and looked out to see the Goldfinches on the Sunflowers. This time last year, as the Sunflowers and Jerusalem Artichokes were blooming, the Goldfinches came around. So beautiful!

One decision my husband and I have made is that we really don't need to exchange gifts anymore. I can't think of anything more that I need and we both prefer a nice dinner out together - rather than gifts we don't really need.

Lemon Sorbetto with a special message from the waitstaff

Mammoth Sunflowers

What started as a few Mammoth Sunflower seeds became one of the most interesting beds this year. The flowers were towering over us and slowly, over time, opened and became a vibrant yellow and green and then grew to enormous size and started drooping over until they filled with seeds and we were able to harvest them.  We took the seeds out of the first couple that were done, and have 3 more large flowers to harvest seeds from.  I really enjoyed this experiment. The Summer of looking out the window to a beautiful bed of flowers and the song of the American Goldfinches, as well as the many, many different bees and other insects we observed - all made this a fun and interactive garden for many months. We interacted with the garden as well as the many people who stopped by and commented on the flowers - or slowed down to see them as they drove by. We will definitely be including the Mammoth Sunflowers in the garden next year!

Evening walks in the garden - wine in hand

Amazing pattern

Seeds from the first Sunflower

Checking on another flower

Even now - smaller flowers still try to grow

Seeds from the second Sunflower

A treat for the Squirrels and Birds

The flowers are all cut down, but some of the stalks are still standing as we wait for the Mexican Red Beans to dry for harvesting.  Scheming has already begun as to where these beauties will be next year and how we can grow more of them! Such a rewarding effort in so many ways.

Perfect Yellow

Today is the beginning of "vacation" for Rob & me. Technically it's vacation time for Rob and a little short term disability for me, but I am making the most of this and today was beautiful.

Because I've been home for four weeks with this ankle/foot/air cast thing, I thought it would just be like another week home, but it isn't, and Rob is here!

We spent the day today enjoying the birds and the garden. The weather was perfect - warm with a cool breeze...and it really, truly felt like a vacation day. That timeless, nowhere to go kind of day that seems endless.

Being home hasn't been so terrible. When I open all the windows and pretend I'm on vacation - it's a little easier with this view out the living room windows of the Sunflower, Corn, Beans and Squash bed.

Of course, it does look more impressive from outside - but I love that I can see the plants while I am resting indoors.

And the view of Sunchokes through the front windows is amazing!

Today, we got a little surprise of a pair of American Goldfinches!

I saw some rustling in the flowers and it took awhile to see them because

they are the same color yellow. If you look closely, he is in the center of the picture below.

This was how the day started and I was so happy to see them!

This is how the day ended - blue skies...

Wine & Chocolates.

I'm learning more and more to take each day as it appears and make

the most out of what I have to work with. I could find faults with the day, the situation of 

my health, the noise in the neighborhood, etc. etc.

Instead I chose to focus on the things that I really have control over. 

My attitude, and my choice to enjoy the many, many things I have to be grateful for.

I hear the voices that say: it's just a yellow bird, a few flowers and sunflower seeds are at the store and take a lot less work.

But I say that until you really look at the flowers and hear the song of the Goldfinch, sip that wine and taste the handmade chocolates from Vermont...Until you sit on a couch for four weeks with yourself and realize how much you have to be grateful for, you cannot know, and I cannot explain what this means to me. Every time I put my hands in the soil and connect to the Earth and harvest seeds from plants that grew in this yard...I realize that I would not trade this moment and this experience for anything. 

It is magical and I don't want to miss a minute of it!

And by a happy accident, I don't have to...