Who Would Have Thought

I spent today working in the yard, planting veggies in the garden and flowers around the house.  I loved spending the time outside in the warmth of the sun, the heat of the day.  When working inside all week, breathing in the fresh air felt good.

Not surprisingly, I bought too many plants for the garden.  It's not a very large garden so a couple tomato plants, cukes, lettuce, and squash would have been plenty.  But I ended up with 3 tomato plants, squash, zucchini, cukes, lettuce, and acorn squash.  Oh well, extra to compensate for any plants I may end up killing.

I like my little garden though and it reminds me how Dan built this for me last year about this time and that makes me smile.

But planting the vegetable garden doesn't surprise me.  I also planted some flowers--in one area in the back of the house, in a window box, and in three different planters.  And as I was arranging the flowers in the planters, I got a good chuckle because this is certainly "not my thing".  Ed always did the flower boxes and they always looked beautiful.  I recall one year I attempted to do this and the poor flowers just looked rather pathetic.  I just did not have a knack for it.  Last year, I planted flowers in one container and then bought a couple hanging baskets and containers already beautifully arranged.  I certainly didn't need the extra pressure last year of trying to do everything.

Not sure what possessed me to attempt planting flowers this year.  But I bought them and before I knew it I was out in the sunshine with the potting soil, the wheel barrow, watering can, and the gardening tools.  I took my time planning out how to arrange the flowers and then carefully transplanted the flowers to their new summer home.  The one thing I observed that was different than in previous attempts was that I took my time.  I didn't rush it as a task to simply check off my list.  But rather, I took time to plan, to arrange, and to step back and assess.  And I laughed at myself and couldn't believe that I was actually enjoying the moment.  I certainly never enjoyed it in the past.  I enjoyed Ed's end result but the work was, well "work".

Last year I was perfectly content in resigning myself to the fact that I will simply purchase those beautiful arrangements from the store.  Who would have thought that I would actually be planting flowers and taking pride in what I was doing and enjoying the task.  I'd like to think Ed was smiling down on me.  I certainly thought of him often and thanked him for teaching me through example.

Two small flower urns near the stairs.

The garden has been planted!

Another planter with annuals on the back deck.