I’m sorry for the lack of posts last week, my husband had some health issues which landed him in hospital for a short stay. He’s fine and will fully recover and posting shall resume this week barring any more craziness.
I have long had garden dreams that were put on hold to dedicate our large backyard to the children. Over the years we have had an above-ground pool, a trampoline, a huge swing-set, and a zipline in addition to the various balls, nets, games, sandboxes, trucks, and a couple of playhouses without which a suburban childhood is incomplete. Right before the pandemic hit the pool needed a lot of repairs which the kids told us not to make, they would rather go to the beach. That turned out to be a bad decision because the beaches were then closed for two summers.
But I digress.
A storm and several trees falling took care of the trampoline and zipline and the swing set disintegrated with the dignity it earned over twenty years of joyous use.
Finally a clean slate. The children were no longer children and I could have some gardens.
Our first attempt at a large garden was a complete disaster. It was lockdown time and we were a little stir crazy so I just jumped in without much idea of what I was doing. Have you ever heard of the book The $64 Tomato? It’s a hilarious book, well worth the read until you live it. I wish I had managed to get one tomato, I would have happily absorbed the cost to have something go right. I planted corn, beans, tomatoes, potatoes in fancy mesh things, all kinds of herbs and I don’t remember what else. The garden began to flourish and one morning while serenely sipping a cup of coffee I looked out the window to see about ten squirrels feasting on my tiny corn cobs. My idiot of a dog looked at me like I was nuts when I sent him out there to bark at them, the 120 lb monster is afraid of his own shadow, let alone ten tiny rats with fancy tails.
They must have put the word out because, within a few days, the garden was decimated. The only thing they didn’t eat were the weeds. I still have those.
I gave up on the veggies and planted flowers. I have a wall of hydrangeas and some lovely rose bushes.
This year my youngest son who is fifteen has discovered his passion for woodworking, tinkering with engines, and building things. It’s been a real joy to see him teach himself new skills and put them to use. He rescued a power washer from someone’s trash heap and fixed it, he’s building a motorbike (I’m not thrilled about that one) and he has completed a lot of projects around the house for me. He also acts as a handyman for a few older neighbors, earning a bit of cash here and there.
Hang on, there is a point to all of this.
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