greenery

Today was the first Saturday in a few weeks I've had nothing planned and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Caleb and I woke up, had a leisurely breakfast, and read the Bible together which was cause of some great discussion.
Over the past week, I have been telling Caleb I REALLY want a herb garden in a window box that I can hang on the railing on our deck. This morning I asked, almost BEGGED, Caleb to come with me to Corliss Brothers and he agreed, I think with a smile on his face because he knew how excited I was.
As Caleb and I got ready to leave for the garden center, I told him of my "dreams" of having a garden w/herbs, vegetables, strawberries, rhubarb and more and an orchard w/apple, pear, plum and cherry trees. It all goes back to my younger years... Growing up I spent my summers in Sweden w/my mormor and morfar (grandma and grandpa). My mom would pack up us kids and fly to Sweden to spend 6 wonderful weeks w/her family in the SUMMER, my dad usually came for 2 weeks in the middle. My mormor and morfar had a fabulous garden filled w/carrots, potatoes, lettuce, dill, parsley, radishes, strawberries, rhubarb, black currant bushes, red currant bushes, gooseberry bushes, and my favorite: a HUGE row of raspberry bushes at least 40 feet long. I would wander along the bushes, picking and eating to my hearts content. They also had apple trees, pear trees, plum trees and my favorite, cherry trees. Many evenings I'd hang out by the large cherry tree and eat cherries until I was full. Often I walked around the garden and helped my mormor and morfar weed, use the compost, water and do other gardening things to help them out. Those summers I spent in Sweden have left me with wonderful memories and the desire to start my own garden. Today, I start small...
So, we headed to Corliss Brothers and it was exciting. Dads, husbands, sons & daughters were at the garden center picking up plants for mom, wife, grandma, etc. One father, son & daughter group picked up a fabulous hydrangea; the employee had wrapped it in foil and put a pretty bow on it. 'What a fabulous gift,' I thought. 'I would love a hydrangea bush... if only I had a place to plant it.' For now, I can only dream of having a yard, a garden and many bushes, plants, and trees.
Back to the garden center... Caleb and I perused the area. I enjoyed dreaming about all the different plants we would one day have, and Caleb, well I think he tagged along... We checked out the window boxes and I was pleasantly surprised. They were all made of white cedar; they had the cedar smell and yet they are fabulous for planting (according to the guy we asked). We picked out a wooden white cedar window box and a wooden white cedar box about 16"x14". Then, to the plants.
Earlier in the week I was inspired to start my garden. I started it by growing garlic; I figured it'd be an easy start. It must be pretty resilient, after all, people have bad breath long after eating garlic. Also, the garlic in my fridge was starting to sprout, so I wouldn't have to wait long to see results. At the same time as I planted the garlic, I bought a basil plant, in anticipation of my herb window box. Now we needed to pick out other plants...
We picked out rosemary and oregano; great compliments to basil. Back inside the store, we picked up a bag of soil, a packet of carrot seeds and a packet of lettuce seeds. I was so excited to go home and start our garden.
As soon as we got home, I got to work. I started by lining the wooden window box and wooden box with a black plastic trash bag and poking holes in the bottom for drainage. Then, I filled the window box with soil and planted the herbs: rosemary, oregano and basil. Next was the box. My plan was to plant lettuce and carrots... To my dismay, the directions said to plant lettuce 8" apart, that means 1 small row of lettuce and 1 small row of carrots. My final decision was to use the box for carrots only. Maybe I'll get ambitious and plant lettuce in my landlord's yard a little later, but for now my herb box and carrot box will have to do. The directions said to soak the carrot seeds for 12 hours, so now they're soaking, I'll plant them tomorrow morning. I can't wait to see how it all turns out. Overall, it's been a fun learning experience.
Caleb left shortly after coming home from the garden center; he had some work to do. When he came home, we had burgers on the grill and corn on the cob, such a summer dinner. I'm looking forward to the warmer weather, using our grill on a regular basis, having a Crane Beach sticker, spending time on Cape Cod, watching my little herb garden and carrot garden grow, and best of all, spending time w/friends and family - maybe a vacation in August!!

Avkoppling = Relaxation

Weekends are great. The feeling that the day-to-day life of the 5 day work week is over and the weekend is yours to enjoy, to do what you please. Weekends can be a way to catch up with what you haven't had time to do during the week, or a way to relax and "koppla av" as they say in Sweden.

Helgerna finns för att ta det lugnt och koppla av. Det känns skönt att kunna väcka när man vill på en lördag morgon och njut av dagen. Jag var ut och gick en promenade med min mamma, bara gå tillsammans, prata lite och ser alla nya hus som blir byggt i vår område. På en lördag är man inte jaktad, man kan kolla in i varje nya hus och undra hur det ska se ut när den är färdig byggt. Senare på dagen är det ärende som gäller. Det som jag ser fram emot efter solnedgång är hockey. Oj vad jag tycker det är kul. Att knytta skridskor, sätt på min hockey jersey, öppna dörren till is och "bara åk". Vilken härliga känsla! Visst är det sent på kvällen, men det är bara dig, din team och den härliga känsla att åka skridskor i en timme så hårt man kan. Efter, blir man helt slut och den kvällen när man ligger i sängen och sover, då sover man BÄST! Sen är det söndag morgon. Jag vaknar och hoppas att jag kan sova längre, men det finns barn som jag är söndag skol lärare till. De vill att jag är där för att sjunga, leka och har det kul med de. Då stiger man ur sängen, duschar, äta frukost och skynda sig till kyrkan innan barnen kommer. Eftermiddag blir det Amerikansk football som gäller, eller en promenade. Söndag eftermiddagar finns för att göra ingenting. Vilken helg! :)

Something to think about:
"Too many people put off something that brings them joy just because they haven't thought about it, don't have it on their schedule, didn't know it was coming or are too rigid to depart from their routine." - Anonymous

Saturdays are meant for relaxation. I love Saturdays. It's nice to go for walks feeling the breeze on your face, and the sun shining brightly. As I walked through my neighborhood, there's no sense of hurry. It is just a lazy Saturday morning. I can talk to my mom as we walk and peer in the different houses being built. We go inside the skeleton houses and plan out how it's going to look when it's finished: bedroom here, kitchen here, fireplace there, master suite here.

After a relaxing walk, you can take care of errands that you weren't able to finish during the week. There's no hurry.

Once the sun sets, the highlight of my weekend has arrived. Playing hockey. The feeling you get as you tie your skates, pull your jersey over your head and snap your helmet in place. I grab my stick and head for the ice. I love the sound of the click as the door opens and the scrape of my skate on the ice. A quick warm-up of skating around the rink and shooting on goal. Then, it's time, the sound of the puck hitting the ice. Gametime. It's the rush you get, struggling to get to the puck as it is pushed into the zone. It's the feeling you get when you and a teammate block off the defense behind the net so one of you gets the puck and the defense loses. It's the sensation of making a pass under pressure and watching as your teammate's stick slaps at the puck and the puck hits the back of the net. It's the satisfaction of coming off the ice completely exhausted, knowing you gave the game 100%. That night, the best feeling is pulling the covers over your head and falling asleep, your body completely worn out.

The next morning, you struggle out of bed. Sunday. It's time to teach Sunday School. Some people may think it is silly to spend a "valuable" Sunday morning teaching Sunday School. They would rather sleep-in. Well, pulling my worn-out body out of bed is difficult, I will admit. However, the satisfaction from seeing the 5 year old's face light up when I tell him we're doing an obstacle course, or the sound of the 4 year old's voice when I tell her we're going to sing her favorite song - she starts belting out the tune with a smile on her face before the rest of the class has even comprehended which song we're singing. Teaching Sunday School is such a reward. The children are so fun to teach and they always have funny stories to tell. They want you to think they are special and you leave knowing you've left your footprint on a child's life.

Sunday afternoons are filled with family dinner, football, and just enjoying the laziness of a Sunday. The feeling that you have nothing to do till Monday morning is satisfaction enough.

“Att våga är att förlora fotfästet en liten stund.
Att inte våga är att förlora sig själv.”
- Sören Kierkegaard

This sums up my weekend :)

"I’m looking forward to looking back on all this."
- Sandra Knell