My Happy Place

I composed the Morning Message today for the 5th Grade Goes the Distance Google Classroom, and I shared that I love to play in the dirt. Specifically, I love growing things. Mr. Arnwine would agree that we have a lot of plants. He is particularly wary of the number of Spider plants in our house. He thinks they're taking over! This is one of my favorite times of the year to go outside and observe all of the growing that is taking place right now. (I could totally go all "Teacher" on you and talk about vascular and nonvascular plants, but I'll just stick to my yard. I challenge you to identify some in the pictures, though!)

Today, as we hopped in the car to go pick up lunch from Briar Woods High School, I commented to Ellie that everything seemed so green. It's been an overcast, gray day all day, and it keeps drizzling off and on. It's the kind of day when it seems hard to warm up. I've been sitting here with a blanket on my lap as I work on school work! I miss the sunshine, but I noticed that this kind of day makes everything seem greener.

Yesterday, I bought some plants from the Annual Spring Academies of Loudoun plant sale so I could support their agriculture program. We bought some baskets for the porch, a few yellow bell pepper plants, a jalapeno pepper plant for making salsa later, and some flowers. I'm trying to create a perennial garden that will attract and feed birds, butterflies, and hopefully some pollinating bees. (A perennial plant is one that reseeds itself and comes back every year!) This would be a Win-Win for all of the living organisms around here! I'll share more photos once the rain clears and I can start planting them.

One of the best things about having lots of plants and flowers in my yard is that it smells wonderful! The Golden Salvia plants seriously smell like pineapple! The lilacs are in full bloom right now, and by Mother's Day, the rose bushes will be covered in pink, red, and yellow blossoms. Even the tiny daffodils that are just about gone smell sweet. The mint, thyme, and basil plants have their herb smells, too. Really, I even enjoy the smell of the soil as I dig. I wish you could smell my yard!

There are so many reasons why my yard is my Happy Place. It takes a lot of effort digging into this soil - it's solid clay and full of rocks bigger than my head. However, the work is worth it when I can celebrate things blooming. I think of it as beginning with the end in mind as well as thinking Win-Win. My neighbors enjoy the flowers, and I feel proud of what I've accomplished by spending time in my Happy Place. Do you have a place that makes you happy? Share!

  If you want to know the names of any of these plants or flowers, just ask! I'm happy to share their names!