Congrats on the baby! Gardening in between diaper changes isn’t all that bad actually. It helps you get rid of that post-baby blues. My now almost 3 year old son was born on May 9th. That year I rushed to get the garden planted before he came. I could barely walk around with my big belly but I got all my plants in the ground a week before he came. We had few cold days after that so plants didn’t do too well in the beginning but they bounced back after the weather warmed. I kept running to the garden every free minute I got that year and appreciated and loved every minute outside. Now he’s almost 3 and his sister is almost 5. They love to “help” around in the garden.
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I was told by my kids years ago “Those pepper plants aren’t your kids”.
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My oldest daughter seems to resent how much time I spend on fruit trees, but we really are doing it to feed them, and perhaps even give a few a living.
A few years ago we lost a set of triplets at about 26 weeks. It was when I was on bed rest early in the pregnancy that I first started learning about grafting, and we did the first few grafts in the weeks of recovering right after.
Every graft grew, and I remember being so thankful for my other children, and the projects like grafting that gave me other things (besides the babies) to look forward to.
Our orchard was a long time dream, that is finally starting to resemble the vision.
I understand the impatience, and enthusiasm, but I love this time of year, and the warm days that mean the growing season is just around the corner. 
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Anne you should consider a move to Washington state, west side that is.
Lizzy, you have to tell us what you’re grafting now. 
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You may be right. Can I substitute Lingering colds and sinus infections?
I love the sun and family too much to move.
Just can’t work very long in the sun here in coastal VA. Love it at the beach, but not when I’m gardening.
Yes, that would qualify as worse than short days anyway. But the end (of winter) is in sight. Sharpen that grafting knife and get planning.
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Yah, the end is in sight, grin…just not today. We had a storm from late Sunday to early Tuesday. They got our road open Tuesday lunch time and Wednesday was good. Today, another storm…
Hubby has gone back to bed, work is delayed at least till noon.
On the other hand, I don’t really hate winter. No mosquitos, no blackflies 
I hear you on the sinus trouble, with houses all closed up and dusty indoor air, it’s not the best.
Still, lots of wood down cellar and the the radiators are huffing out lots of heat.
Seeds are up for next year’s rootstocks, grafts are swelling their buds in the pots on the kitchen table .
The snow birds (snow buntings) are getting a bite just outside the window as I type.
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I too dislike hot direct sun while I’m working. My complexion leaves me prone to skin cancer just like my dad.
@Quill I’ll be posting what I’m grafting in the What scions will you graft in 2017? thread as soon as I can sort out this jumble of scions!
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What! Oh I’m so sorry, that must have been just terrible. Devastating to live through. I can say their souls are in a good place.God bless you. He gives us these challenges for a reason. Still, it’s not fair. That just hit me like a ton of bricks. Thank God for your other kids, and makes me realize, I have nothing to complain about. Anything I have you need in your garden, it’s yours.
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Thanks for the kind words, and generous offer Drew.
It was quite like a ten week rollercoaster ride, and it was a tough time.
I dispatch for the volenteer fire dept in our small town. Many a day running a emergency call, or hearing about what some other soul is going through, has caused me to stop and give thanks…and count my blessings. I figure most of the times, even when life is rough, it could be worse, and we can be thankful its not… and if it’s SO bad we cannot imagine it being worse, then we are probably living through the kind of thing that makes other people count THEIR blessings when they hear about it. 
The people I really feel bad for are athiests, because I cannot imagine life without faith.
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I’m not a religious person, But I have some faith, my faith is in God. I’m afraid through experience I have no faith in religion. I will not participate. That is for another discussion.
We also have a volunteer fire department for Russell Island. I have fought 2 fires, and my wife has 2 saves on the island. Since it is a summer place, things are different and we must rely on our residents and not government services, as their are none! No water, no roads (they decommissioned them). We maintain the roads now. My wife is an ER nurse and former Emergency services manager. She had to administer CPR twice now, on the island. Thank God she is 2-0. Both survived! We care for the medical equipment we use on the island, such as defibrillators and the like. My wife in the county of Macomb has worked with the United States Air Force and Homeland Security in case of a major attack. Planning lines of action by local hospitals in case of a mass terrorist attack. Practice runs were done with hired actors to play victims, and military helicopters bringing in patients, it went so well the Air Force gave her an accommodation as have the Warren Police for her work saving wounded police officers. So we are service oriented people, we try to make our community safer.
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I found that to be so true when our son was murdered and also when my mother was killed in an automobile accident. God gives grace at the time we need it, but not when just imagining what if such and such were to happen.
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It was this time of year I lost a baby boy at full term. Coming home from the hospital empty handed was the worst. Sometimes we have to go through things for the treasure that is in it. I’ve since had 3 healthy children…and many other blessings from God as life just rolls on.
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@joleneakamama, @JustAnne4, @northwoodswis4, I am so sorry to hear of these extremely difficult and heartbreaking things you have been through! And glad you have found some peace nonetheless. 
As a side note, it was when my mother died under distressing circumstances that I started gardening, and started planting fruit trees and blueberries. It was nice to be able to put some effort into the future!
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It sounds like we have a few things in common.
I’d say that you folks live your faith, and put it into practical action. Your wife must be a blessing to all who know her.
We try as a family to help our neighbors, and community, wherever we can. We have found many who dont go to church, posess as much kindness and goodwill as those who do.
We would prefer to live where people relied even more on each other, and less on government programs. There is more accountability in that model, and the benifits are hard to measure, but very real. There was recent talk at our fire dept. of doing away with volenteer dispatchers, hiring it done instead, but so far we all feel being involved personally is worth the time spent. In a rural community like ours, GPS is not as efficient as knowing where you are going, and sometimes the difference is a matter of life and death. When the ambulance crew takes an hour to find the house, an EMT there with oxygen can save a life.
The advantage we have found to not claiming a religious denomination, is that we can be on good terms with people of all (or almost all) denominations. The downside is most of them seem to have hopes (at least in the begining) of converting us to their particular church, because of course each one has the purest, truest, most accurate understanding of how to live a righteous life. (With all appropriate sarcasm, and sincere goodwill toward the well meaning people)
That saying “Deeds and actions speak louder then words” comes to mind, as well as a poem my dad likes to recite that goes like this.
I knelt to pray when day was done,
And prayed, “O, Lord, bless everyone;
Lift from each saddened heart the pain;
And let the sick be well again.”
And then I woke another day,
And carelessly went on my way;
The whole day long I did not try
To wipe a tear from any eye.
I did not try to share the load,
Of any brother on the road;
I did not even go to see
The sick man, just next door to me.
Yet once again when day was done
I prayed, “O, Lord, bless everyone,”
But as I prayed, into my ear
There came a voice that whispered clear:
“Pause now, my son, before you pray,
Whom have you tried to bless today?
God’s sweetest blessings always go,
By hands that serve him here below.”
And then I hid my face and cried.
“Forgive me, God, I have not tried;
Let me but live another day,
And I will live the way I pray.”
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It sounds like you found peace too Lizzy.
I read another member’s comment recently “Gardening is cheaper then therapy.”
Life is sure better when you’re looking forward to something.
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