I love to plant things. I can’t say I love to garden, per se, because I am not a big fan of the post-planting watering and weeding process. I do it. Mostly. I’m just not a big fan. I do, however, take great pleasure and pride in the beautiful flowers blooming in our yard.
One of the things on my bucket list was to plant sunflowers. Seems silly doesn’t it? It’s so simple – cheap and easy and we have the space. I’d just never done it.
But this spring as I raced past the seed display at Wal*mart I grabbed a few packets of sunflower seeds, and one sunny afternoon O and I planted them into rows in our garden.
They are so beautiful. I walk out there every day and just stare.
Those yellow bits of sunshine growing in our garden remind me of how much joy can be found in very simple things, and in pursuing your dreams – no matter how small.
Another one of my dreams was to have our own pumpkin patch. You’d think it was because I wanted to harvest OUR pumpkins with OUR child one of these days but nope – it’s all for me. I love fall and Halloween, and O presenting me with pumpkins to decorate the house and porch with makes me ridiculously happy. We’ve had the pumpkin patch for several years, and it’s time once again to get it planted if we’re going to have a good crop.
Yesterday was an unusually cool day for July in the South – mid-80’s and overcast. Perfect for pumpkin planting!
One of the things on my bucket list was to plant sunflowers. Seems silly doesn’t it? It’s so simple – cheap and easy and we have the space. I’d just never done it.
But this spring as I raced past the seed display at Wal*mart I grabbed a few packets of sunflower seeds, and one sunny afternoon O and I planted them into rows in our garden.
They are so beautiful. I walk out there every day and just stare.
Those yellow bits of sunshine growing in our garden remind me of how much joy can be found in very simple things, and in pursuing your dreams – no matter how small.
Another one of my dreams was to have our own pumpkin patch. You’d think it was because I wanted to harvest OUR pumpkins with OUR child one of these days but nope – it’s all for me. I love fall and Halloween, and O presenting me with pumpkins to decorate the house and porch with makes me ridiculously happy. We’ve had the pumpkin patch for several years, and it’s time once again to get it planted if we’re going to have a good crop.
Yesterday was an unusually cool day for July in the South – mid-80’s and overcast. Perfect for pumpkin planting!
As we got started, we worked through a small rain shower and kept on going. It wasn’t bad – we were wet, but not terribly so. We tilled up the patch and filled the wheelbarrow with loads of horse poop and leaf mulch. Then I got down “amongst it”. I am not a gardener who stoops to tend to her plants. I get down in the dirt, literally crawling through the mud and grass and enjoying every minute.
The rain started again but it still wasn’t too bad so we kept plugging away. O filled buckets with our punkin’ growing mixture and I formed the mounds.
All was well until I heard a strange noise that sounded like a large machine on the highway or maybe a new, loud piece of equipment at the business across the field from us. O’s response was “uh oh” and I quickly understood that the noise was an absolute downpour hitting the metal roof of the building at said business. And it was headed straight for us.
It was a gully washer to be sure and within 30 seconds, we were soaked. Well, O was soaked. I was soaked and completely covered in mud. And still we kept working. We certainly couldn’t have gotten any wetter, and I couldn’t have gotten much muddier. Another 30 seconds and O could barely stand up in the slippery pumpkin patch so it was time for us to surrender and retreat.
We crossed the yard holding hands and dancing to the tune “Singin’ in the Rain”, as wet as if we’d jumped into one of our ponds. It was one of those perfectly ridiculous, wonderful moments that I will remember for a lifetime.
For all of the frustrations we have about not being parents yet, it’s nice to stop for a minute and remember what a sweet, lovely life we have here together.
A really lovely life. With sunflowers. And a nearly-completed pumpkin patch. And a washing machine full of wet muddy clothes.
For all of the frustrations we have about not being parents yet, it’s nice to stop for a minute and remember what a sweet, lovely life we have here together.
A really lovely life. With sunflowers. And a nearly-completed pumpkin patch. And a washing machine full of wet muddy clothes.
