Saturday, August 2, 2008

"All in a Day's Work"

I am old  tuckered out tonight. I spent over five hours working in the garden today. It was brutally hot. I almost abandoned the idea of working outside today, but when I got started, I just couldn’t stop. I had several projects that I have been needing to get to and just went full tilt.

One of the first projects that I worked on was re-potting some plants that I had bought  at a buy one get one free sale. I think the brutal temps have forced the vendors to get rid of as many plants as they can. And because I am a  idiot “Plant Whisperer” now, I just think that I have to take home all needy plants and nurse them back to health. I have turned my planting table into a “Plant E.R.” These are my medical clothes:

 

 Here are two of my patients: One came back to life a little after repotting and water. The other one, well, we'll see what happens.

 

A second project is the continuation of the flower section of my Chill Center”. I really would like toturn it into a nice little area that I can go to think, write, and maybe even read a little. I just love to go and look at the flowers, view their progress and think of ways to improve it. I am still trying to figure it out, but for now, it has gone from this:

 

 

To this:

 

 

 I hope to periodically add some more flowers, and hopefully the ones in the long boxes will start to grow.

 

 

My third project was to put together my raised bed. It was very simple, but until “my” brain can decipher the instructions, it is just like a foreign language to me. But….once I do comprehend what I see, I am good to go. Here are the various stages of this project:

 

 

 Now all I have do is to is fill it with the soil and put in the plants. I might have to find another space to place it in the yard. It is suggested that it be placed in an area that gets at least 6-8 hours of sun per day. It is also suggested that this place not be near trees which it will be if it remains in this spot. I will have to re-configure a few things before I put in the soil.

 

Using the manual screwdriver to put in the screws with hands still sore from hours of sketching, coloring, cutting fabric swatches and freshly cut from yard work yesterday was no fun. I went inside to get the battery-operated screwdriver only to find that both rechargeable batteries were dead. When I asked about the batteries,  I was met with a very condescending, cavalier attitude. I was tired, and hot, and had throbbing hands. Cavalier and condescending were a dangerous combination with which to approach me. Rather than go farther with it, I just went back to the manual screwdriver. I figured ten to twenty is way to long to be away from the kids, the dog, and the garden for pre-meditated assault and battery.

 

I also washed linens today and hung them on the line. As I worked, thefreshly washed scent from the linens was incredible. The smells brought back so many memories of my summers spent with my grandmother when I was younger. Every Monday was wash day and one of my favorite sights were the white sheets hanging on the line. I can smell the bleach and detergent just thinking about it. Line drying is absolutely one of my favorite things. Because I am country as hell  it brings back so many fond memories of the times in my life when I was able to be a kid and felt safe.

 

I love the many lessons that I learn from spending so much time playing in the dirt. I don’t know if anyone else remembers the commercials back when “Do It Yourself Home Perms” were popular. Well today, I almost stumbled (stumbled being the operative word here) upon another “Do it yourself” entity. Mine would have been called: “Do it yourself Hysterectomy” courtesy of these:

 

 

You don’t wanna know.

 

Overall, it was a good day, and the tired that I feel is a good tired. I worked on projects, saved plants, built a raised bed, hauled soil (with assistance) and worked with various tools. After a nice meal, and a nice hot bath, the only tool I want to see now is the one that will open this:

 

 

Till next time…

 

                     

 

 

 

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh you had me howling during parts of this journal entry. You are too too funny "plant whisperer". You did get an amazing amount done today and it shows. You deserve some relaxing time now in the "chill center". I look forward to the next entry.

Anonymous said...

Congrats on today's progress! The bed looks perfect and the chil center is coming along nicely. A do it yourself hysterectomy?!!! You must have really needed that bottle! LOL! Cheers! FM :-)

Anonymous said...

Just fabulous.  You are doing an amazing job.  I love watching your progress.

I know what you mean about the smell of linens hanging out to dry.  I hang my clothes to dry and I wouldn't have it any other way.    It's wonderful

deb