Regardless of this little fact, I decided I was going to put in a flower bed out front. Now, let's understand one thing. Of all things I am, lazy must top the list. I do not like yard work. I like my house. It's nice and cool when it's warm outside. It's warm inside when it's cold outside. I can putter about all day long doing what makes me happy. It's a grand thing. So when I decided to put in a flower bed the one thing I knew was I wanted something totally maintenance free. I have a lot of friends that, for whatever reason, love to get up in the morning before God is even out of bed and slip on their gardening gloves and spend a day pulling weeds. God love them, they're wonderful, but it's just not my cup of tea. So when I say a 'flower bed' my thoughts were immediately bulbs.
Bulbs are perfect for the lazy gardener. They don't die over the winter, they just take a nice long nap. I'm actually kind of jealous. You don't have to dig them up and put them in the freezer like you do in south Florida because they'll go into hibernation all by themselves when it gets cold in the winter. A trip to the store in early spring to grab six bags of mulch to toss on top and voila! In no time they pop up and everything is beautiful again. I love bulbs!
So this is what started my brilliant idea last week of a flower garden. How back can it be right? Grab a shovel and dig up the dirt, throw some soil in there, drop in some bulbs and cover with mulch. Pish! Anyone can do that!! Why in the world do landscapers get paid so much money? Crazy I tell you!!
Well, as of two hours ago my opinion has changed. I now believe that landscapers should be making at least as much as doctors. Why you ask? Because they also save lives. The lives of naïve home owners like me that think, 'I can knock this out in an hour'. Uh, no, doesn't work that way. For starters, trying to dig sod out of Tennessee clay takes an act of God. That clay packs down like concrete and digging it up is very not fun. Now, if I'd listened to my husband (yeh, right, that was going to happen) he would have told me this since he's been the one that has dug up all the sod and weeds and roots and trees and shrubs and everything else in this yard for the last seven years. He turned a yard that was left alone to grow as it so chose for 15 years into a lovely lawn. Sure, it's got it's bare patches but I figure I can just take that sod I pull up and plug those. So I get two chores done for the cost of one. Score! Hahahahahahaha......................not!
Allow me to be the first to tell my gardening friends that I stand here, with my yuppy suburban housewife tennis visor removed and I bow to you. You are tough cookies! On my first day I got the outline of the flower bed up. I went inside and wondered if that grass would grow well if I just shoved it right back in that trench. Seriously? That was just lining the bed? I don't think I want any part of this! But that stubborn woman that lives very deep in my brain rebelled against my weary old body and said we weren't giving up. I'm not a fan of that stubborn old woman, especially at this particular moment! As a matter of fact, I may ask her to return my friendship card!
But I pushed on. We had rain a lot the last week so every time I went out I was only able to get a very small area done. Finally today was nice. And it's a funny thing when the weather is nice. I had to run to town and stepped outside and thought, 'gee, what a lovely day. Low 80s with a really nice cool breeze. I think today I'll finish that flower bed'. Well, let me tell you, after sitting in the Grammy Van and running my errands and coming home to start the flower bed, it didn't take me more than 10 minutes to decide it wasn't cool enough and that breeze needed to be kicked up to high! I understand the way the body works; you move and it creates heat. Yeh, got it. I know it will be a huge wonderful thing in winter, but this is NOT winter. So now, I do not like this plan my body has created. Not...........one..............bit!
Lucky for me my youngest daughter and her husband and their two babies came by when I was about half way done with the bed and way past done for my body. Bless her heart, she immediately came over and helped me out. Now, I also did discover a wonderful little tool today that helped too. The pick ax. It is now my best friend. If I win an all expenses trip to Hawaii, my friend Ms Pick Ax is going to be my plus one. I can do ten times the work with that sweet baby. Between that and my daughter, we were able to knock out the rest of the bed completely! By the time we were done I was sitting on the ground barely able to move or breathe, but by golly, it's all done! I need to go to the stone store in Cookeville and grab some more larger rocks to finish off one side, but for the time being the smaller rocks are there and it's working. Tomorrow I'm sure I won't be able to lift a fork to eat my eggs, but as I lay near comatose in my bed, whimpering like a beaten puppy, I'll have a fine view of the flower bed that's finally complete!
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