A Perfect Day!

Tuesday was a perfect day for yard work. At 10:00 am it was an ideal 16°. I love that temperature for workdays because I don’t get soaked in sweat — manly as that may be.

Frustrated by the horrid sight of my lawns, I cut the lawn of my edible garden and large sections of the backyard with the weed whacker—my former lawns are more weed fields than lawns. I think I’ll scatter some wildflower seeds on one section of lawn that has never worked. But I will wait to see what occurs naturally now that the backyard is getting so much more sunlight after the felling of 8 trees in my yard and in David and Ursula’s yard.

I am obliged to take breaks, and I am careful to take in electrolytes. Progress is slow, too slow for me, but it is constant. I keep thinking about hiring someone, but I doubt I’ll do it. I like working in the garden and I am proud to be doing all the work myself. I’m really looking forward to doing a lot of planting this year. I want to plant a lot of ground cover in the gardens and fill holes with larger plants. 

I return to work refreshed after each break. There are weeks of work to do on the gardens and lawns, and then I have all the wood to split and stack that Joe left for me. With all the physical labour and the care that I’m taking on how much I eat, I am sure to be trimmer and fitter by Summer’s end. 

I quit working at 3:00. It got too hot to work (25°) and I was getting a mild sunburn, besides it was spa time. I was pooped but I was also very pleased with the progress that I’ve made on restoring order to Pinecone Park. I’m going to buy a lot of plants. I’m spending my tax return. My two most important gardens—one beside the courtyard; the other the largest garden in the showplace position—are thin and need more plantings. 

I love maximizing the garden. I have given up on the lawns; I just mow whatever grows and pull the weeds that have needles. If it’s green, that’s good enough. The grass did not grow back in the former Wasteland. Right now, it’s abloom with mushrooms. It is going to stay naked. It’s where I’d have a duck pen, were I to get ducks. But I decided against more pets and more work.

I forgot how wonderful gardening is. I love having something to do every day, and I love being active and off the couch and out of the reading chair. The next two days are going to be fine; I’m going to get a lot done.

The best part of yesterday was having a radio outside. I was listening to the CBC and the day was devoted to Gordon Lightfoot. It was wonderful hearing all his songs, tributes and exerpts of his interviews. What a guy!

Then there were the photos all over the Internet of the Met Gala. Just what I needed, exposure to scores of images of The Insipids.