Bulb Planting & Fall Challenge

Today was a beautiful day, the sun was shining, and the weather was perfect for planting all of my bulbs that arrived yesterday.

I have wanted to get bulbs in our garden for quite a few years, and have only planted a handful since moving here five years ago. I decided to plant some of my favorites into my front yard. I got a nice selection of blue & blue purple flowers, I also got a bag of Rainbow mix tulips, as well as some very pretty branching tulips that are a red orange color.

I got the whole family to help with planting so it would go quickly. The boys made quick work of all of the digging- we have very clayish soil that can be very difficult to dig in, Sarah helped me get the bulbs into the ground.

We planted Grape Hyacinth and A couple of English bluebells under our tree, and we planted a big round bed of all the blue/purple flowers- English Bluebells, Mountain Lilies, Drumstick Allium, Grape Hyacinth, and "Fantasy Creation" Grape Hyacinth (which is a new one for me, and I am excited to see grow). We also put groups of the rainbow tulips and branching tulips around the front garden. I also bought one Iris- "Men In Black" Iris -which looks like it will be a very dark purple- Irises are expensive bulbs, so I figured I better just start with one, plus that way it will be extra special to watch it bloom.

Planting bulbs is a bit of an exercise in faith and patience- it requires some money up front, and a good bit of planting, and then a lot of waiting and faith that they will pop through the ground in the spring. I very much look forward to seeing what comes up this next spring under our tree and in the front garden.

For dinner I decided to serve some of the acorn squash from our garden- here is how I like to prepare it. First I slice each one in half, and clean out the seeds. Then I set each half in a baking pan, and put a pat of butter in each half.

Then a heaping tablespoon of brown sugar in each half.

Then I bake them at 375 F. for a little over an hour, until squash is fork tender.

I am always overzealous with the sugar and probably should have put in a little bit less, but they were still very tasty along with sausages, sauteed onions & sauteed mushrooms. This is a wonderful and easy way to prepare squash.

Now for Week Three of the Make your Home a Haven Challenge that I have been Participating in at Women Living Well's Blog, I would encourage you to check out week three's challenge post here.

This week our challenge in the home is to find one area that needs work organizing, and buy something nice, like a basket, to help organize it. I just finished a nice fall clean up of the Master bedroom, and got all of our Fall/Winter clothing out and put away Spring/Summer clothing. As well as got rid of old and non fitting garments. I love how clean my closet is. The rest of this week I will be working on my office- this is my problem area! I will be organizing my bill center and mail area, as well as catching up on files.

The second half of the challenge for this Week is a spiritual challenge- to work on Repentance.

The Verse that was shared is:

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1John 1:9 (NIV)

This week I will be thoughtful about sins in my life, and praying and repenting about them.

Last weeks spiritual aspect of the challenge was to work on being more gentle, this is something I am still focused on working on. As I was planning my Sunday school lesson this week, one of my tasks was to create my classroom rules using verses. I chose a couple of really nice verses- this is the one I chose as my class's Memory verse that we will be working on this month.

Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. - Colossians 3:12 (NIV)

I loved this verse as a classroom rule, and also thought it went along well with last weeks challenge of learning to be gentle. I had the kids glue a printed out copy of this verse onto a fall colored small sheet of cardstock which we then had fun decorating with glitter- I made one too for my fridge- so our family can learn it along with my Sunday school class.

Did anyone else plant spring bulbs this fall? What is the area of your home that needs some organizing?