"Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands........" 1 Thessalonians 4:11

Friday, January 3, 2014

A tired and tattered scarecrow

watches over the barren space of the garden, waiting for the next planting season.
Not even a crow is interested in stopping by to test the scary moves of such a worn out
garden guard.

Underneath the quiet frozen grounds............
daffodil and tulip bulbs wait for the warmth of the sun to awaken them.

The pond fish barely move, in the cold still water.
 
Although all is quiet and still.............I find it is a great time to do outside work that I have had planned for a while. I finally finished making a path that leads to the pond.

I used various broken pieces of old cement and stones........... and mixed it with my own cement stones that I created over the past summer/
 


Since it is a pond path, I incorporated fish that I fashioned out of cement...........

I also pushed seashells into the cement stones I made........these shells  my children and I gathered on our beach vacations so many years ago when they were small.
Now I can remember those sweet times, each day as I walk out to feed the fish.

If you remember, I posted about planting and growing loofah sponge seeds. In the early summer, they looked like large cucumbers. Now they have completely dried.
I rubbed and peeled off the brown skin............

and underneath..........was a loofah sponge!

Inside of the sponge are the seeds. Just tip over and gently shake out and now you have a fresh loofah sponge for your bath..............with seeds to plant for next year!
Have you ever grown these?
Although it is cold, we have sunshine...............
at this time I know that a lot of you are underneath a heavy blanket of snow and extreme cold temperatures from the storm Hercules.
I hope this finds you all safe and warm during this period.
Hope warm sunshine shines it's way to your door soon!

9 comments:

lil red hen said...

Fun!! It's mostly too cold here to be out doing anything except the necessary chores. I've never seen a gourd like this.

Debbie said...

I just learned something new. About loofah sponges. I assumed they came out of the ocean. You're a wealth of knowledge Kathleen, and a very talented one.

Debra said...

I did grow some years ago. This year I grew some bird house, bushel, and snake gourds. They are out on pallets curing.
Your beautiful path is sweet-especially with memories thrown in!

peggy said...

We always had those sponge gourds when we lived in Kentucky. I might try them again this year. You have worked really hard on that path. I love paths.

Connie said...

I love your concrete work, Kathleen. I've never grown those sponges, but I think they are so interesting and fun.

KathyB. said...

I love your path to the pond ! It is cold here, but our neck of the U.S. is relatively mild compared to the east coast. Cold & damp with freezing temps at night and days with temps hovering around the 40's. Perfect for outdoor clean-up and tending to livestock. But we do like a good snowfall every once in awhile.

Loofah, now that is something we need to try. I did not realize it was a gourd. See how much I learn from you ?

Hill Top Post said...

The days are growing longer, bit by bit, so before very long your garden will be filled with beautiful blooms.

Sherri Farley said...

It's snowing a blizzard today, too cold for me to venture out! I love the path to the pond, especially the cement fish. Very creative. I knew you could grow loofah gourds, didn't know they would get so big or that they had seeds.

Elaine/Muddling Through said...

You are getting a lot done. I've not grown the loofah gourds, but I did grow the birdhouse gourds one year. Your path to the pond is wonderful - a real memory walk.