Garden Therapy

My newly tidied iris bed. I didn’t pull most of the weeds up by the roots, so they’re bound to come back quickly. But when I dig up the bulbs to split them, I can get more of the weeds out too.

Even though there were piles of dirty laundry and all the unpacking and the camping gear and a messy house and dirty dishes…. I spent the morning in the garden. When I went out front to water our new wildflower garden, I placed Lucy on a blanket little blanket on the grass and stood there with the hose, spraying the beautiful green shoots and wondering what kind of flowers they were going to produce and suddenly I didn’t want to go in to clean the house and do the laundry. Forget about trying to do any math, Bella was in a mood.

So instead I finished watering and then grabbed Lucy and her blanket and headed to the back to weed my iris bed and trim back my irises, getting ready to split the bulbs and replant some of them in the front yard. And I felt so much better because that little bed is now neat and tidy. I got fresh air and sunshine and even though all the other stuff was still waiting for me, I think it was a good choice.

In the end I did six loads of laundry today, including the sheets on our bed. I vacuumed the living room—or at least half of the living room where someone had shredded a pine cone. I tidied up the girls’ room a bit. I baked a loaf of quick brown bread. I made a pot of soup for dinner. I read two chapters of The Silver Chair. I cuddled my baby and I changed a bunch of diapers and I kissed a bunch of wounds and in all it was a pretty successful day. Maybe I need to spend more time in the garden….