Here are updates to my backyard.  The patio is Phase one of project one and the cinder block table under the window is Phase one of project two.  Ejoying the nice weather we've been having to start these projects.

Hubby informed me today that I was using the wood to make my beds in the garden that for the last several months he'd been using as lifts for working on the cars in the driveway.  He was feeling bad to buy new wood for the work on the cars as I used the junk wood for my garden beds.  I'm not worried as I was trying to keep the costs down on the garden.  Thats been my goal all along :)

This morning I was listening to Kim Clement as he spoke from his prayer garden.  While listening to him, God showed me that for years He has been trying to put my backyard into His sanctuary, and my home to be His home.  It makes perfect sense when you think that when we bought this house, it was because the pastor of the Foursquare Church bought the church across the street from us.

On one side of the street it is zoned for residental and business.  Buying  a property (an older mobile home to boot) near a commercial property isn't the best investment at times.  We didn't want a lot to be where a lot of traffic would be going on down the street and really liked that it was a quiet neighborhood. 

We knew when we bought our home it was to be a place for God to dwell and for us to serve Him.  It kind of lost that over the years due to different legs in the journey that we as a family have been on and I can see that God has had enough and is working to get us back to where He wanted us to be in the first place. 

So as I'm listening to Kim speak, I'm hearing "keys" and "prayer" which means that my prayer garden is expanding.  God wants His property back and in the service He's set it up to be in.  Its my goal as a wife, as a mother to do that by prayer and supplication.  He promised to provide all I need to have that happen.  I need to learn what a blessing is and not turn it down when it comes. 

The past week when I've opened my front door, I really haven't known what I was going to do until it has opened.  I've had plans as I take my first step, but it changes on the second step.  Yesterday was a good example.

I was getting ready to go out and work on the patio when my friend who gave me a pressure cooker last week came over with the pressure valve to it.  In fact I hadn't even opened the door yet and she had alredy knocked when my hand was on the handle.  I went to show her what I was doing and she told me I could take the sand she had as she wasn't going to be using it.  So while she gave me her shovel and a bucket and I was carrying out out to the piles of sand she had, she looked at me and said "I have a 50.00 gift card from Home Depot.  I'll get you your sand." So we got in her car.  I had also shown her another section I'm putting together and trying to find cinder blocks for it.  She asked me how many I needed.  I said nine. She bought that for me also.  

Please note how hard this was for  me. I knew it was a blessing that God was bringing me and I really had a hard time accepting it for a while.  Then I remembered something I learned in my Bibical Foundations of Freedom class on rejection.  "It is a sin of idolalitry to put words or actions of another person above God." ( page 152, Bibical Foudations of Freedom).  I could not reject the blessing my friend was giving me by listening to things from the past.  If God was giving me a blessing through her I needed recieve it. 

Later I went over to help her out with a project she has and we had some things in our wood pile that she needed also.  God is so good as I shared things with her that I knew she needed to hear about God and who He is.  At the end of the day, I felt the presence of God as He showed me things in my life that still need correcting.

I also discovered my new occupation title.  "Prayer and Benevolence."  I kind of like that!

Here are some updated pictures of the garden area. 

I'd like ot put some flowering plants in the front area to brighten it up, but I'm running out of plants to transplant. 

My Garden area that I've been working on

Here are updated photos of what I've been working on the last couple of weeks. 

The war is on!

I'm declaring war on my garden.  Last year, what the deer and I'm assuming slugs didn't get get from the top, the gophers or moles got from the bottom.  I'm making boxes with hard cloth either stapled or tied to the boxes on the bottom and I'm going to make a cage at the top with a way to open that will have to take a security code to do so.

I'm taking on a project (why I keep doing this  I don't  know!) of making a garden for my kids club kids to have also.  The plan is to make birdhouse gourds to sell at our craft fair out benevolence group is putting together in September to raise funds for the club so it doesn't come out of the church fund.

I'm also having to do this by way if whatever I have and can find to use here or what other people are throwing out in the driveway for those driving by to pick up.  I'm really turing into a DIYer and I'm loving it!

So let the war begin!!!!!

My commitment for spring and summer 2012

My commitment is to make improvements from last year in my gardens.  I usually start out with a grand scale of things and by July (or the first snake in the yard), I retreat.

This year I'm going to try to commit to it.  Was playing Hidden Chronicles and got into the scene of "Bessie's Shack".  Was looking a little too much like home.

Getting an early start on some late start on others

I started planting my seed starts about a month ago and found old plastic containers to use for "Hot beds".  We've had several storms in the last three weeks that have caused a lot of rain fall and some chilling nights.  I went out to look at the  "beds" when the sun started peaking through the sky and saw some starting to sprout up. 

I'm thinking of finding someone one with a rotertiller to dig up my garden this year. Once its dug up I can work in it.  I'm getting a late start on that as I want to put some screen under about 6 in of dirt before I start planting or transplanting to keep the gophers from digging it up.  I have old pallets that I can tear apart to make larger beds to screen over my beans, peas and tomatoes.   I still want to do the square gardening as I get more room in my small space. 

A new concept in gardening

A film on using your own resources that God gave us to produce a garden by nature.  Very cool!
http://vimeo.com/28055108