in which memorial day is celebrated, the garden is planted, and the pond is explored {may life update}

Hey, friends!

We’re almost halfway through 2023 which seems crazy! It also seems like a good time for a life update post since I have tons of photography to share and there has been a lot going on lately! It’ll be a lot like my monthly reviews but with pictures and more about what’s going on in my life, and not my writing.

Enjoy hearing about what I’ve been doing for the past few weeks!

the big hole

We’ll divide this up into categories, starting with the big hole that I can see out my window from where I’m sitting. For an explanation of why this hole is there, we’re adding on to the back of our house! Three bedrooms, a mudroom/bathroom, and a garage (plus a basement). I am SO excited that work has started because, for one, we need the space, and two, it took a long time and a lot of work on my parents’ part for the permits, contractors, materials, and all that to be finished, but it’s started!

I’m pretty sure our house is going to feel like a castle once it’s finished. But since we have eleven people in our family, two dogs, and company often, you do need a castle, right?

All my younger siblings took turns driving the excavator that was used to dig the whole–I opted just to watch, but they had an absolute blast.

Before the hole could be dug, the whole area behind our house had to cleared, meaning cutting down around 30 huge pine trees. The guys who did it had it finished in two days, and now there’s just a whole lot of brush that needs to be taken down.

Anyway, the addition is a very exciting part of what’s going on and I’ll definitely be sharing more as the project continues!

the garden

Earlier this week, we planted our garden! As of the time I’m writing this, we just have the melons, squash, and cucumbers left to plant. I was worried we were getting it too late, but we’ve had more than a few cold nights so it should be all right.

We chose to do raised beds, and we used a few of the logs that had to be cut down for the house to build them. I love how rustic they look!

We filled two beds with corn, and the rest with regular tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, peppers, carrots, peas, and lettuce. This planner and website were really helpful for doing it so if you’re looking for some square foot gardening resources, check it out!

I also started sunflowers in the house last month, and now they’re growing like crazy! We planted them at the end of our driveway, along with some other wildflowers. I can’t wait for them to bloom!

A friend gave us these herb seeds so I decided to try to use them. I love the scent of lavender and since they have such beautiful blooms, there didn’t seem to be any reason not to. We’ll see how it goes! (This photo isn’t of the lavender, but of other flowers because there didn’t seem to be a point of taking a photo of just seeds/dirt.)

Mom also planted tons of flowers in both pots and in the ground. I can’t wait to see all of them bloom!

memorial day

For memorial day, we had my grandparents over for hamburgers and chicken sandwiches! I didn’t take any pictures from lunch except for these cream puffs I made (they were amazing!) but I love how aesthetic and summery these look.

After grandma & grandpa went home, a few of us went to a nearby greenhouse where we bought some plants and petunia food for all of Mom’s flowers.

Lots and lots of beautiful flowers! The rest of the family went after I had my tea party and bought flowers from here, while I stayed home with my bestie and cleaned up while blasting music. Good times. 😉

When we came home from the greenhouse, we worked on planting the garden. Our cousins were going to come over for a fire/s’mores but they ended up having other plans so we just sat and ate hotdogs and watched the younger kids play badminton.

ponds & explorations

Last Saturday, we visited the 140 acres that Dad owns about 12 minutes from us. It was so fun and great to explore after not having been there since the fall. I posted pictures from there once before, in this post, but it is so green and bright there now!

The other kids went down and explored the creek, while I took pictures of the pond and Mom & Dad discussed plans for the property.

These photos seem so aesthetic and they remind me of the story I’m brainstorming right now. (I can’t wait to share more about it in the near future!)

A few more photos of this lovely place. . .

now, it’s your turn!

I hope you enjoyed reading about what’s going on in my life and seeing the pictures! I’m going to be gone on vacation next week, but I’ll still be sharing the first chapter of my historical fiction project. Before you go, I’d love to hear from you!

What was your favorite picture? What’s going on in your life? Are you looking forward to summer?