How does my garden grow?

 After a weekend away at the beach, my soul is restored.  I am ALWAYS aprehensive about my feelings regarding the spring season, but never before has my garden been so full of life, growth and promise...  

This morning the pups and I took a stroll all over the property so they could run wild and explore - this is a place that always makes me stop and smile, as I take it all in.  Such simple stuff I tell you, but I'm so grateful for it all.

I see my children in every corner of this garden - I see their muddy little footprints everywhere - and the footprints of their friends.  I see my husband taking in the view while he has his quiet time, and I feel the love and friendship we've enjoyed here.  I can hear my little ones chasing butterflies and chickens, and oooh'ing and aah'ing over newborn baby chicks.  I see them shrieking each time they see and identify a new bird, find chameleons, and the times they've seen our visiting buck.....and I love the way they (still) run from bees - lol!  

They have played, prayed, explored, laughed, cried, hurt, hunted, rested, and grown up in this garden.    

 I have tried, in vain, for as long as I can remember, to sucessfully grow tomatoes....I won't bore you with the failures I've had, but tomatoes trees now grow with reckless abandon, in all the places they *shouldn't*:-)))....but each time I pop a cherry into my mouth, I'm amaaazed, that they're HOMEGROWN!!  This one particular tomato tree is LADEN - none of us have EVER seen one so full of fruit???....just shows you, when it's meant to be, it'll be where it's meant to be...:-)   

I feel like the trees watch over us here.  Some parts of our garden are neat and orderly, while others rambling and wild.    

 This year the mango tree has produced her first fruit.  Just last night our boy was saying how much he loves "wet" (fresh) mango...I'm holding thumbs that he'll soon be able to pick them straight from the tree:-))

 My hydrangeas are starting to shine....i've missed them....they provide colour and love in the home every time I step inside...

And these little pink blossoms remind me how much i still love, love, love PINK.

Spring

Our first few days of spring have brought no suprises...hot sunny days, inbetween days where the mist belt makes you feel you're somewhere magical, like in a fairy tale:-)......i have always LOVED watching the MIST make its way across our nature reserve...like little clouds floating off on their way to somewhere else.....The downside is I'm really going to miss the dry sunny days of winter, where you could PAINT.....AND PAINT AND PAINT, furtniture.

My DH asked me over dinner a few days ago, if eventually everything in our house is going to be painted white......i thought about it for a second, and before I could answer, my eyes fell onto my raw wood shabby linen shelf, and widened without me even knowing it......he shrugged and said....."I guess that's a YES then".....but seriously...what's a shabby chic lovin' girl to do:-)

I'm taking today off from a heavy month prior, to actually take in the wonders of spring in the quiet .... to lie on the porch and smell the jasmine, whilst I sip my tea and listen to the sounds of nature...even if just for a while...

I just luuurve birdfeeders.....thought this one was just too cutesy and original.....so need to find one that's "monkey proof".....

A NEW MOON and season

Spring this year has been very kind to us. We have these glorious days of sunshine, our sneak preview of what we think will be a lovely long summer, and then we have days where the air is fresh, and somehow so still - maybe because the lawnmowers aren't going 'ten to a dozen' - LOL!...it's on days like this, like today, that you can clearly differentiate between the calls of birds and insects around you, and the garden, covered in drops of fine rain, seems brand new and brilliant.

As much as I loved the warm, dry, sunny days of winter, I am so enjoying the freshness, the newness and the growth that we call spring. No wonder it's called spring - you can't help but get caught up in it all. It makes me for one want to change things, fix things, start new things, and SPRING-CLEAN.

Below are some of my favourite pics taken this season, so far - maybe not the best technique, but i love them anyway:

Dom in the lounge at Hebron Haven - Midlands.

A stroll down a country road in the evening - i loved watching the kids run ahead - wondering what they were so excited about....just running, and being kids i guess.....

Our Bri...always happy in trees. This beautiful old soul provided hours of entertainment for all the children at the lodge....

Sabrina at "Solitude" in the Dargle Valley.

A touch of colour.

Sabrina, Melanie and Dominic at Hebron Haven - Midlands.

Dominic and Rachel playing cards at the Springside Nature Reserve.

Warren, Sandy, Nick and kids strolling amongst the cows near the river at Hebron Haven.