Gardening. . .

One of the things that I have been enjoying here is gardening.  We have, or I should say the landlord has, a gardener who comes every two weeks and mows and trims back the garden.  I have been puttering (easily a word I never thought I would apply to myself until I was much older) around in the flower beds.  It is really encouraging for an amateur like me to live in a climate where the plants and flowers get plenty of rain (although we are in a bit of a drought), and where a little bit of overgrown fits.  The English like their "privacy" (with a short i), so around the edge of the yard are numerous bushes and flowers and vining plants meant to keep the backyard, or the garden, somewhat private.  Here is the flower bed that I have been working on (with the help of the girls).  At the bottom is a picture of one of the pots the girls have buried--they chose their own flowers to put in them--this one is Hannah's.