Because I was in the yard

Rob's been out of town the last three days, visiting family.  That left me here with all my chores and all his chores and the dogs and the cat.  When he's away, I stay busy by choosing a project and then throwing myself into it.  This time, it was working in the garden.  I took Friday off because I needed a "me day" and over the three days, I worked out a lot of frustration and stress.  

I've been growing strawberries for about 4 years.  At the end of the first year, all my plants had died.  This year, over winter, I was eating occasional strawberries that had been grown in the greenhouse, so my skills have improved a lot.  I'd been growing them in large hanging baskets but we cut all our trees last year and I lost my hanging spots.  This year decided I wanted to try something different.  I'd seen this idea on a TV gardening program, probably Central Texas Gardener.  They made theirs out of a pallet.  I didn't need something as big as a pallet and couldn't find a good one anyway, so I took some scrap lumber from Rob's stash and built my own.  It's made of cedar and hardware cloth and a lot of staples.  Rob could probably have made it in a couple hours, but it took me most of Friday.  The gaps and spaces you see are where I've put new root stock I picked up a couple weeks ago.  So far, they haven't made any pretense of growth and I really should learn my lesson about buying bagged root stock...guaranteed to grow means something different to the company that sells them than it does to me...in two weeks,  not one of them has even a hint of green.  I'll gladly eat my words if any of them come up but I'm pretty sure I won't need to.  I get caught up in the excitement of gardening and I keep giving it a try.  I may end up having to buy potted plants, but I couldn't find any the other day.  The recent freeze must have bitten them back at the garden centers.  Anyway, I think I'm going to like this.  It lets me grow a lot of plants and can be leaned back at any angle to catch the best sun and yesterday was a VERY windy day and it didn't fall over, so I'm feeling pretty good about my construction.      

I put together a bowl of herbs.  This is going to sit on the table on the deck where it will get good morning and late afternoon sun and I think it will do great.  Parsley, sage, thyme and basil.  20 years ago, I didn't have good luck with herbs and I gave up trying, but my skills have gotten better and I think I can do it this year.  

And, a bowl of succulents.

I spent most of Saturday continuing to clean up the flower beds and planting some plants I'd been saving.  The thing about gardening is that it's never finished.  I could work out there all week long and there would still be things I wouldn't get to.  And, I'm okay with that.  The more I do, the more I want to do and the more perfect it gets...well, it's not perfect and doesn't need to be and that's half the pleasure of working out there.  It's a reflection of me and my chaotic brain and the battle between impulse and restraint.

Sunday was about clearing out the greenhouse and planting what I'd been saving and tossing things that didn't survive winter.  It was so crowded that I couldn't walk around without taking plants out, so a lot of tools and pots got stuck in wherever I could find a little space.  But, it's all cleared out now and the big pots are out in the yard where I'll spend the week watering and getting the soil saturated again. 

This is what it looked like before.

I also cleaned out my garage storage.  The garage is mostly Rob's domain, but I keep my tools and larger kitchen countertop appliances out there and I'd made a mess.  I believe in everything in it's place, but I'm not a practitioner.  I would dig for an infrequently used tool and when I put it away, I just put it on top of the pile so when I went after a frequently used tool, I had to dig it out too.  (I'm typing this in my studio and just looked up and that's exactly what's happened in here, too so I guess I'll be "spring cleaning" in here soon too.)  Anyway, I should be able to find things again...and I filled up the trash can and the recycling bin and turned our small goodwill pile into a small mountain.  

I feel very peaceful today.  

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I wanted to share a couple thoughts.  I stole them from people that think like I do but express themselves better.  

Everybody have a great week!  Despite being busier than heck, I volunteered for a project at work.  I don't know why.  I saw that none of my peers was going to step up and help, and I guess I wanted to set a good example.  They don't volunteer and then when it's time to discuss who gets a raise, they complain that they don't get a chance because I take on all the projects.  But, I keep telling the new kids that they need to build their brand and they are figuring it out.  My last mentee just moved on to a new role at the company and she gave me big credit for inspiring her to do more and grow.  That's what makes the extra work worth it.  

Lane