I hope everyone has kept well since my last posted musing. As the isolation rules start to relax and businesses reopen, most of us can start to enjoy some of the activities that we had to stop. I do so miss the hugs with the grandchildren. I know this is a petty thing compared to what many people endured, but I also missed my regular massages. I will be celebrating later this week by having a massage and a pedicure!
Our family said goodbye to cabin life after 39 years of owning a cabin at Wakaw Lake, Saskatchewan. We simply couldn’t look after it and the acreage too, particularly given the 8-hour trip each way from home to the cabin. It was the right decision to make, and I certainly don’t miss the long truck trip or the maintenance required when we got there. We fondly remember all the good times we had.
So, instead of working at home and then working at the cabin, we have expanded working at home. The more I’m at home, the more projects I see that need to be done! I decided that it was time to trim the potentilla shrubs. Most mornings I was out trimming. I discovered all kinds of things under the long-neglected shrubs! Finally I counted the shrubs as it seemed never-ending: 40. The good news is that those shrubs should be okay now for a couple years.
Next I decided that all the thyme except that up in the crevices of the rock garden had to go. I recall planting exactly three thyme plants about 15 years ago which morphed into a solid mass of thyme. Although I like the looks and the smell of thyme, hours are needed each week just to dig/pick the grass out of the plants. So, I dug the thyme out by the roots and planted larger perennials such as daylilies and Autumn Joy sedums which I hope will cut down future maintenance.
Just when I thought I had the rock garden the way I wanted it, I looked out last evening from the basement walk-out to see a young mule deer contentedly chewing its cud and dozing in the evening sun laying right on parts of those new plants!
The joys of gardening never end, and I do know better than to plant anything that isn’t deer-proof. But, I still do plant some delectables! A doe loves nibbling on the petunias at the gate. My neighbour saw her delicately biting off each petunia! Later, I caught her--the doe, not my neighbour--with a white petunia hanging out the side of her mouth from the large pot on the laneway. When I shouted at her to leave my plants alone, she just turned and looked at me with her big doe-eyes.
Gardening has certainly become the rage, and many of us struggled to find seeds in the spring as many stores and garden centers were totally sold out. I hope that people continue to garden even after all this COVID stuff is over—if it’s ever over and not just replaced with a mutation or another virus. Although I grump and complain about all those hours weeding, trimming and digging, I do love to play in the dirt and I know gardening is good for me in so many ways.
Although I miss hugs with the grandchildren, massages and having lunch with friends, I have found the time at home the past three months rewarding in many ways. I even managed to get three photo albums completed and some family history work done. Needless to say, I still have bins and bins of treasures to sort and put in albums and online from family history, but at least I got some sorting done. The rest may have to wait for this coming winter as the weeds grow faster than I move these days.
Best wishes everyone—please give me a call or send an email if I haven’t had a chance to talk with you recently. Until we get a chance to meet again either in-person or online, keep trimming and weeding.
Our family said goodbye to cabin life after 39 years of owning a cabin at Wakaw Lake, Saskatchewan. We simply couldn’t look after it and the acreage too, particularly given the 8-hour trip each way from home to the cabin. It was the right decision to make, and I certainly don’t miss the long truck trip or the maintenance required when we got there. We fondly remember all the good times we had.
So, instead of working at home and then working at the cabin, we have expanded working at home. The more I’m at home, the more projects I see that need to be done! I decided that it was time to trim the potentilla shrubs. Most mornings I was out trimming. I discovered all kinds of things under the long-neglected shrubs! Finally I counted the shrubs as it seemed never-ending: 40. The good news is that those shrubs should be okay now for a couple years.
Next I decided that all the thyme except that up in the crevices of the rock garden had to go. I recall planting exactly three thyme plants about 15 years ago which morphed into a solid mass of thyme. Although I like the looks and the smell of thyme, hours are needed each week just to dig/pick the grass out of the plants. So, I dug the thyme out by the roots and planted larger perennials such as daylilies and Autumn Joy sedums which I hope will cut down future maintenance.
Just when I thought I had the rock garden the way I wanted it, I looked out last evening from the basement walk-out to see a young mule deer contentedly chewing its cud and dozing in the evening sun laying right on parts of those new plants!
The joys of gardening never end, and I do know better than to plant anything that isn’t deer-proof. But, I still do plant some delectables! A doe loves nibbling on the petunias at the gate. My neighbour saw her delicately biting off each petunia! Later, I caught her--the doe, not my neighbour--with a white petunia hanging out the side of her mouth from the large pot on the laneway. When I shouted at her to leave my plants alone, she just turned and looked at me with her big doe-eyes.
Gardening has certainly become the rage, and many of us struggled to find seeds in the spring as many stores and garden centers were totally sold out. I hope that people continue to garden even after all this COVID stuff is over—if it’s ever over and not just replaced with a mutation or another virus. Although I grump and complain about all those hours weeding, trimming and digging, I do love to play in the dirt and I know gardening is good for me in so many ways.
Although I miss hugs with the grandchildren, massages and having lunch with friends, I have found the time at home the past three months rewarding in many ways. I even managed to get three photo albums completed and some family history work done. Needless to say, I still have bins and bins of treasures to sort and put in albums and online from family history, but at least I got some sorting done. The rest may have to wait for this coming winter as the weeds grow faster than I move these days.
Best wishes everyone—please give me a call or send an email if I haven’t had a chance to talk with you recently. Until we get a chance to meet again either in-person or online, keep trimming and weeding.
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