Yard work has begun! Tim and I have been outside on as many lovely evenings as possible. A special delight for me is the little bit of woodland area that is located between our lawn and our side fence (it runs nearly the entire length of our front and back yards). Old tree trunks, purple wildflowers, red tulips, yellow daffodils and as yet unidentified bushes all reside together in that area, and it reminds me a great deal of where I grew up in NJ.
There IS a section of this woodland that needs major clearing because it has developed into nothing more than a dense thicket of thorns -- and I have the deep scratches to show for my efforts so far! I hope to have that cleared by the middle of June, with an eye to planting some graceful bushes in that section (no thorns allowed!).
I have a thing for garden gnomes, and there are now four of them situated at random in the woodland area. To my eyes, they fit right in. Indeed, you need to walk along the border to spot them in their little hiding places.
My aunt continues to adjust to her life here, and I have taken to running up the hill to see her during my lunch break. Yesterday I took her with me to do some errands and she enjoyed the outing. I know there are times that she misses her old home and her old ways, but I also know that she loves having us nearby and that she is much less lonely than she was before. The pain in her knees has decreased significantly with her daily exercise class and she can walk much more easily than she could before. Best of all is that she is safe, with people monitoring her medications and making sure that she eats properly. I'm thankful to have these last years with her so close by, I must say. We talk about the old times as well as what is new. Although the conversation sometimes goes in an endless loop due to my aunt's impaired short-term memory, I enjoy it. And I know it does her good.
So that's it in a nutshell -- garden gnomes and all.
- Catherine
3 comments:
I like the gnomes : ) Enjoy your gardening...we've had a week of raining cats and dogs so still waiting on our landscapers to finish the area around the patio.
I wish we had some shady areas in our yard ... I think that shade gardens are just so beautiful!
I'm glad your aunt is adjusting well.
Similar landscaping work going on here,and it is a *real* workout! I empathize over the thorns. We've got both thorny vines and sharp-edged sawgrass, ugh.
This is the perfect placement for gnomes! I love them, but placing them sitting out in a bare area is just wrong. They need to be tucked among the foliage, particularly the natural, wild corners.
Do they make girl gnomes?
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