I had plans for today. Big plans. Lots of laundry, clothes sorting and changing out the girls’ clothes for new sizes and seasons, kitchen cleaning (including floor scrubbing), sewing, blog posts that have been languishing. But it became very clear after breakfast that none of them were going to happen today. All the tasks on my to do list were inside tasks and Sophie was determined to be outside.
And so it became a backyard clean up day. I pulled weeds out of what look like they used to be flower beds along the back of the house, revealing what I think might be lilies of the valley. I also pulled out bits of shingle, nails, bolts, wires, glass shards, plastic pieces and large wooden splinters. The detritus of roofing and siding projects that were never picked up. Bella helped as much as she could. Sophie watched from the swing and then when she got tired of that I put her in the wagon and pulled her along beside us and we moved from spot to spot about the yard. She was quite content to play in the wagon and be near us as we worked.
When we’d done a decent job of the beds near the house we went roving all over the yard picking up all sorts of debris. Lots of broken glass, pottery shards, plastic bits, and shingles by the shed in the back. I also found a grilling fork, part of a rotten net in what looks like it might have once been a strawberry bed (a few little strawberry leaves poking their heads up among the grass, weeds and rocks) and plenty of food wrappers bottle caps and other trash. And Bella’s favorite discovery of the day: a hot wheels car.
I felt a bit like Mary Lennox in The Secret Garden finding all sorts of hidden treasures half strangled and buried in beds that have long since fallen apart. I just wish I had a knowledgeable Dickon to guide me in my gardening endeavors.
My daffodils are still shining brightly and I think the tulips next to them will bloom soon. In the front the azaleas are starting to open and another shrub (whose name I once knew but have forgotten) with little white flowers is blooming and the roses are shooting out leaves.
It looks like, thanks to my outdoorsy girls, I might be spending more time in the garden that my natural inclinations would generally lead me to. Maybe all the plants won’t die.
