Working on the front gardens makes me visible to passing neighbours, so yesterday I had quite a few short conversations (and a couple of seizures) in the good company of lovely people. Because this is the last garden to refresh, I was in very good spirits. I thoroughly enjoyed working while I was in the shade, but once the sunshine came burning onto my back, I worked slower and took more frequent breaks.
How proud I am of all the work done, that I remain self-reliant (for the most part) and of how good Pinecone Park looks right now in the full glory of Springtime. Soon the lawns will be baked dry, so now is the loveliest time of the year to see P.P. in all its glory.
It took hours and hours to do the front garden. It was a total mess. I was almost tempted to dig up everything and relocate the plants to the backyard. However, it looks great again, if rather sparce because it is open to the deer. More plants will. Be purchased! I’m going to get many more Heather plants for the front garden. That’ll fill it out.
By 2:00 it was 31° and I was too pooped to carry on. The front garden is in full sun. The transformation was a delight to see, but work was s-l-o-w. I thought it might be a 2-hour job, but no. It took me all day to do just the one garden. At each break, I sat at my desk with a cold drink and the fan close and directly on my chest and back.
By 4:00, I was done! For the coming 2 days, I’ll do the last garden (by the front door), stack the smaller pieces of wood that came from the local store, and wash the garden furniture. On Thursday, neighbour Dave and I will rent a splitter and work together to split my wood and some of his. Dave felled probably 20 trees, so he has a LOT of bucked wood in piles on their land.
When I quit for the day, I feel fabulous. It feels so good to stop, drink, snack and to sit in front of the fan. The entire ‘park’ is looking awesome now and I am thoroughly chuffed. And I can take is easy until Thursday when we do the splitting. Sadly, we’ll likely be splitting wood in the hot sunshine. There is no end in sight for this hot and brilliantly sunny weather.
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The Internet has transformed how we live. I see my doctors online, I shop often from Amazon, Google gives me the answer to any question I have, and GPS in my car is a Godsend. I send e-transfers, I do my banking, I diarize my life on it instead of in blank books, it’s a primary source of entertainment. It’s a miracle how much easier life is with it.
But, as with everything, there is the downside. Social media are well understood to be dangerous tools. Social media has provoked a lot of bad press, but I have never seen it blamed for Trump and his ilk. When I worked for a federal minister, he swore an oath of loyalty. He never said a word not preapproved by the Privy Council, the Liberal Party, and the PMO (and sometimes the Minister of Finance). Now, with Twitter, Trump and others like him, have a universally accessible voice. Life and politics have changed forever.
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I’m excited about today. I’m going to refresh the Fern Garden. It’s a ton of work, but it is in the shade all day, so I won’t be as uncomfortable as yesterday. I love the Fern Garden. When I landscaped this place, every time I came upon a Fern amidst the weeds, junk, vines and garbage, I saved it, and I planted them all in a dark corner of the yard. I’m going to plant more ferns along the walkway and around the bases of trees. They are lovely plants. They’re so wonderfully sculptural.
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