green thumbs

Anyone who knows my Mom knows she is an avid gardener. Her yard is her playground. So last night (Friday) I was chatting with Mom about her garden because she mentioned she would be planting peas today. Since I was staying at her house for the day I asked if I could help, and she didn't hesitate to say... No. It was funny. She even smiled sheepishly as she said it, like she was kidding. But she wasn't. Dead-serious no. She definitely has her way of taking care of her yard, so her rejection wasn't offensive in any way, just funny.

When I said good morning to her today she (*GASP*) had changed her mind--she let me help! What a shocker. I had the greatest time learning how she does things (seriously, letting me help was a big deal). The weather was gorgeous, we had a good chat about different things, and I got dirty. Love it. I had so much fun getting rows ready and putting down seeds. While waiting for the next row I cleaned out winter mulch leaves from her strawberries. Hmm... Can you say pleasant?

Life is good and I'm not trying to rush it at all, but I am seriously antsy for my own yard to play in. For now I'll be happy watching my calla lilies growing soooooo tall in my room, and Monday I'll be potting up some pampas grass seeds as an experiment. Nature is such good therapy.

One of the garden volunteers at the Timp Temple shared this quote, and I just love its perfect truthfulness:

"A gardener's work is never done--and therein lies the pleasure. Happiness stems from always having something to do, something to love, and something to look forward to."

Sigh.