I love my backyard. There’s no place I’d rather be than in my backyard with my family. (I’d love it even more if my backyard was surrounded by more open land, instead of neighbors’ houses and garages and a popular road.) The house has many, many problems with it, but the backyard makes up for most of them. At least for me. The first summer we were here (we’ve been here a total of 6 summers now), we spent so much time in the yard that very little got done in the house. But it’s been worth it because I’ve been able to accomplish so much outside, putting in gardens that I had dreamed about for 11 years.
The yard was basically bare when we moved in, except for
an old pool that was filled with thick, brown sludge and two dead
raccoons. We took that down the first
spring. And there is a cement patio
right in the middle of the yard where we put a table set. Over the years, we’ve had to cut a lot of
trees down - misplaced ones, dead ones, dying ones, and one giant pine that led
the squirrels right up to our roof where they built a nest.
I even cut down a 25-foot-ish tree myself with a
tiny, little hand saw because it would shade the garden that we were
putting in. So it had to come down that first
fall. And I knew my husband wouldn’t cut
it down, so I did it one day. While he
was at work. After he told me not
to. 
[It takes much longer than you’d think. And I’ve paid for it ever since with shoulder
problems. Oh well, live and learn. But personally, I think it's best to do this kind of stuff when the men are gone because then they can't say anything about it. And I think they are secretly happy that you took care of it because then they don't have to. Just a theory. I've gotten more done on the days my hubby is out of town than I do when he's here . . . just because he can't stop me! Moo-haa-haa! (That's our "evil genius" cow laugh!)]
Anyway, so here we are standing in the kitchen. (You have to pretend that it’s summer because right now it’s actually winter and everything’s dead. But there’s no snow, so it all just looks pathetic.) Looking directly out the window, there is a wildflower bed, a rose/perennial flower garden, and some birdfeeders and birdhouses in the middle of the yard by the patio where we have a table, chairs, a grill, and a yard-swing. There is also a young crabapple tree that I planted about 5 years ago which is growing up nicely and shading the yard swing.
This is the wildflower bed (top picture) and the rose/perennial bed (bottom picture)
as it is right now (not very pretty):
as it is right now (not very pretty):
But here are some shots of the rose bed (walking around it counter-clockwise) from a few years ago:
(It will look different this year because I lost some roses and moved some plants. The fence that you see used to surround the pool. We decided to leave it as a backbone for the rose garden.)
All summer and fall while I do dishes, I watch the goldfinches, chickadees, and sparrows (the dandelions of the bird kingdom) flitting to and fro all through these flower beds. Chirping, eating seeds, and flying back to their nests up in the trees. (The newly-built chickadee nest fell out of the crabapple tree within months. Sad. I was so looking forward to them using that nest this coming summer.) Cardinals, blue jays, cow birds, nuthatches, and red-wing blackbirds have also raided the birdfeeders. A woodpecker even tried a couple times.
And my favorite - hummingbirds come to visit the zinnias sporadically. I refuse to put up a hummingbird feeder because that artificially-colored, pesticide-sprayed (most likely!) sugar water can’t be good for them. So I use real plants, and I thank God every time one shows up. (I wouldn’t be as adverse toward using organic sugar with no coloring, though. But it’s still not “natural enough” for me.) To me, catching a glimpse of a hummingbird is like catching a glimpse of God’s glory. It’s so fleeting and unpredictable, and you have to grab it when it comes. It’s like a whisper. And you have to just pause and listen. They’re little miracles.
We’ve also been delighted over the years to catch glimpses of falcons, hawks, wood ducks, orioles, blue-gray gnatcatchers, yellow-rumped warblers, kinglets, a snipe (didn’t even know those things really existed), turkey vultures (uuuugly!), and my son saw a bald eagle, which is very uncommon in our area. And right now, because it’s winter, I’ve been enjoying the sparrows and juncos that have hung around. It might be bitterly cold, but there those tiny birds are, huddled around the birdfeeder. This yard has been a real blessing.
I have to admit, I didn’t always care much for birds. They were always just . . . there. Uneventful. Ordinary. But as part of a homeschooling project, we built a birdfeeder and birdhouse. And I have been hooked ever since. Because there is almost nothing more satisfying than seeing something you’ve done add more life to your yard.
And that’s why I love gardening so much. I am taking the wonderful plants that God has
created and I’m mixing them together until I find a beautiful combination that
delights the senses, that provides blessings throughout the year, that draws
God’s little critters in, and that just sings of His glory! It is my hope that my garden makes any
visitor realize that we have a wonderful Creator!
Hidden among the plants are a few stepping stones that
testify about the God who made this beautiful world. 
(This is a repost from my
other blog, myimpressionisticlife.blogspot.com.
With a few updates.)
