Green and growing . . .

It smells green.  Yesterday was such a nice day, it had my neighbours out mowing and weeding and trimming and planting and all things yard and garden.  We were visiting Jim's mom so our yard was neglected yesterday, but while I was walking Ella to school this morning, there was a slight mist falling.  I can't really call it rain, but there was wet and it was fresh and it made the yard work from yesterday take on a whole new smell.  Green.

There are piles of cut grass on a few yards, bags of yard clippings at the ready in others.   The little trees and shrubs are pushing forward with spring.  Buds are appearing on the branches and they are working hard to get their little leaves out to see the sun that will be coming.  I love spring.  The promises it brings.  A renewal of sorts.

I have rhubarb in my garden.  You might be thinking, why rhubarb?  My mom make the best rhubarb custard pie.  I will eternally suck at making pie crust.  I have tried and failed so many times, it never works.  But I can make the filling and the kids love it on ice cream.  It's a special little rhubarb plant.  It started sending shoots out about three weeks ago and is now about 12 inches high.  It's from my grandma's garden.  Grandpa dug it out for me a few years ago and it's doing so well in my back yard.  All red stems and glossy green leaves.  It's one of the first fruits that you can pick.  We used to get into grandma's patch at home and try to eat it before it was ready.  One of the most sour experiences you can have.  Or we'd pretend we were fabulous ladies waving our grand fans (the leaves were bigger than our head and they made excellent fans).  Most of the time grandma would just chuckle, sometimes we'd get a finger waggle.  It was just too irresistible to stay out of.

 Spring brings growth spurts.  In the little plants and in my children.  I have been pulling lighter pants out of their closets and they are not fitting.  I could wait until summer, I suppose, and then they'd be capris.  Doesn't really work like that though, so that's too bad.  Shirts, too, are too short.  T-shirts that they were wearing in October before it got colder no longer fit.  It's almost like their little bodies know it's spring and they grow.  Since January, Ella has grown almost three inches.  I am blown away by this because she's always been so little for her age and now all of sudden she's in catch up mode.  It means that I will be having to buy her longer pants and doing a whole lot of taking in at the waistband.

So with all the green and the growing I am excited about all that's to come.  I am grateful that I have a little garden and my kids get to help get it ready and watch it grow.  How great is that?