What I have been up to………
Well here I am up to my eyeballs in “chore season” I call them “CHORES” because this part of the work schedule is the one that I dislike the most…. The arm and back breaking work with your arms extended for long periods of time trimming all the hedges with the electric trimmer and the plug constantly coming out of the connection because of the vibration (not sure which is worse the old-fashioned pre-electric or the electric). then the cleaning up not only with the raking but also getting down on all fours and making sure I got everything including the leaves, weeds and debris hiding underneath.
Pruning all of the rose bushes, (that’s a good one as well) I guess they don’t like getting cut….. I get attacked from all sides by their thorns! At times they attach themselves to me so that I feel trapped….it’s almost like being in a war, for crying out loud! Some get imbedded in my fingers. I think they talk to each other and devise a plan of attack….They see me coming with those pruners in my hand and are ready for me. But then comes June,they are pretty happy to have gone through the pruning and I guess I am as well at the sight and smell of their beautiful fragrant blossoms. (but then of course I am at battle again all through the summer trying to save them against the destroying beetles, (they are Disgusting with a capital D!) and the diseases that try to attack them) NEVER-ENDING ! And roses are ferocious feeders and drinkers! Time & $$ !!
Then there is all the mulching ! thank God I have a motorized cart these days or the use of the tractor to haul the mulch back and forth all over this place! I can’t believe I use to do so much of this without them in past years. But I still have to shovel it into the wheelbarrow to get it into many places The part I dislike the most is being on my hands and knees (and combating the stinking flies that are all over you, in your ears, your nose your mouth, well you get the picture?) for such long periods of time to do the “prep” work before putting down the mulch then carrying all those many loads of debris to my dumping site. Oh I forgot, there is also all the edging that has to be done before this takes place in the lawn areas. The feeding/fertilizing is not too bad except for the weighty manure bags which gets spread around the strawberry patches, currant bushes, rhubarb, peonies and on certain flowering shrubs. Oh the thrill of it all !! The trips to the nurseries to load up and load out all the supplies. Oh and a lovely experience is to be in a hot car with bags of manure which have torn open. That is a real treat!!
I can remember seeing a neighbor of mine in one of our past abodes, by her poolside gardens, looking beautiful,all dressed in dazzling white with dazzling white sneakers…can you believe it?! Gardening! Here I am in tattered, frumpy, stained, torn and dirty pants, old, t-shirt, either a dirty old baseball cap or one of those rice-paddy type straw hats on (so my hair does not get dis-colored),I look real cute (not) as a matter of fact I remember my parents coming to visit once and didn’t recognize me and if someone comes to deliver something they think I am one of the guys, a groundskeeper. I wonder why that is? Ha, ha !
I could go on and on and on with a list of all the other “chores” that have to be done on this “high-maintenance” property (right down to the lake-front area and in-between). Seems like everywhere you look, every nook and cranny needs attention. (and it’s not like I haven’t tried to think of ways to make it less-maintaining) it’s just that kind of place. You would think that I would be more fit looking after this season? Must be my age. Hey ! Do I sound like I am whining and complaining?? Nah.
Then there are the hours of being on all fours doing the planting, OUCH ! My back and my legs are screaming at me the whole time.
(of course if I was 50 lbs. lighter and younger? Would certainly be a different story) In saying that, I can actually remember those days…..there was no stopping me, the digging, the cobblestones, etc. etc. Paul would have to turn on the lights so I can see outside or blink them off and on to try to get me inside. I could whiz through this whole property without a complaint-even got into the wooded area to clean it out. So…..here I am at 63 and some things haven’t changed much…..where the heck did all of this arthritis come from anyway? I am sitting at this computer trying to avoid going outside to finish trimming the hedges around the rose garden and picking up all the huge piles from yesterday.
I think people who are not familiar with gardening most likely do not realize all of the “prep” work that is required, they only get to enjoy seeing the finished product which I guess is what most gardeners are blessed with as the fruits of their labor….the satisfaction of seeing that enjoyment on peoples faces when they are in those gardens. And there are times that I can look out of my window or sit at my deck and really appreciate that first great bloom in the month of June. So beautiful! And the birds ! They sing to me all day, especially the little wren.
But still…..the gardens are always beckoning me, “Come out, come out wherever you are”……..I simply cannot walk these gardens or grounds without seeing something that needs tending or weeding of some sort.
Well as I said, there are “MANY” other things I have not mentioned but hey, I am lucky and thankful to have this work to do and a body though worn, still able to do much of it, (though more slowly)…..and so now that I have” vented”…….I do have to go out and finish the trimming of the hedges and the mulching, etc. etc. etc.
Wouldn’t it be a dream if you could have a couple of professional gardeners that you could just tell what you wanted and all that was required of you was to wear a pretty outfit and hat and just go out and water the garden or pick flowers? WOW ! Oh, dream on…..dream on. Isn’t there a Disney song that says, “Dreams do come true?”
From my garden to yours………HAPPY GARDENING !!!!!
p.s. did I mention that I am allergic to bees ?!
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