Corny

I would expect to find a stone in a field of corn, but . . .

Well, you get the picture.

Window Garden

When I had to stop being a stay-at-home mom, and had to go work in an office, I mentioned to the Erratic Genius that I missed the hours of gardening that I used to indulge in while he and the Word Wizard dug for dinosaur bones, ran through the sprinkler, made mud messes, and entertained me endlessly with stories, laughter, and made-up songs.

Soon after he created a faux stained glass window garden for my office (see picture) - he was only 8 years old.

(Sadly, when my office was relocated to another building, I had to leave the garden behind - the sun had baked it to the glass. Notice the four leaf clover.)

Dirt Pirate

I was commenting to a friend that one of the differences between gardening in the country and gardening in the city, is the kind of treasures that are found in the process of digging.

In the country I regularly found miniature shells, broken pottery and glass, antique glass bottles and glass stoppers, ancient blunt headed nails, and even rusted old tools.

In the city, so far, I have found a used condom (not pictured), an unused condom, pop bottles, beer cans, a lipstick, and a new spoon.


That is, until last Sunday...

I found what appears to be an old broken bottle neck and a newer piece of a china cup.



Did my friend hide those in my city garden to surprise me?

Cosmic Cosmos

Years ago, when I lived in the country, in a small log cabin, I was given a package of mixed wildflower seeds. This was the start of my love of gardening.

Amongst the many beautiful flowers that grew from those seeds, all in a tangle of erratic brilliant colours, one in particular caught my fancy - the cosmos*. When fall came, just before the first frost, I collected, segregated, and dried the seeds from my wildflower bed.

Come spring, I purposefully planted all the seeds of my favoured flower, the cosmos, at the entrance to my cabin to create a wide frenzied patch of soft varied pinks and deep brilliant magenta. They flowered from early spring until late fall. They were stunning and they were admired by all who visited.

One day when Papa was over, he stood in front of the flowers staring at them for a while before commenting, "Did you know that those were your grandmother's favourite flower?" I had not known that.

Years later when I traveled to the small island that my paternal ancestors had first settled on and cleared for farming, I was pleasantly surprised to find that everywhere I walked cosmos grew in abundance. They bordered yards and driveways, were interspersed into tamed gardens, and were scattered wildly in fields.

Then, not so long ago when I lived in the suburbs, a dear friend painted cosmos on a watering can for me (see picture). Needless to say, I was thrilled. I had never told her about my love of cosmos. Amongst the dozens of varieties of flowers in my garden, she had picked the cosmos to paint because she felt they reminded her of me.

It has been a while since I grew comsos, but yesterday I planted eighteen cosmos plants in my garden. I can't wait until fall to collect the seeds, so that next spring I can grow a huge crazy patch of them.

*"The word Cosmos is derived from the Greek, which means a balanced universe."

Loving Welcome - Elder to Youngster

I was recently introduced to an elder. I have not known her for very long, but she is already someone I love dearly. She is fiery but sweetly honest about her feelings and her opinions. She invited me to visit her at her country home last week-end,

"Come and have a tour of my garden, and then I'll feed you supper."

The minute I walked in the door she ran to hug me, and dragged me across her entrance into the kitchen to show me something on her counter. "Look," she said enthusiastically, "look how pretty these Johnny Jump-ups look in the container you gave me at Christmas." (picture 1)

We sat down in the living room and started conversing, but before long she jumped up and again dragged me off to her kitchen.

"Here is a basket for you, here's one for me, now come along - we are going to go harvest some herbs and vegetables for you to bring home." She commanded. (picture 2)

All while chatting and walking, she picked herbs, peas, rhubarb, zucchinis, onions, hot peppers, and asparagus, and she encouraged me to pick along. We crushed herbs between our fingers and inhaled deeply, we nibbled on bits of this and that, and she pointed out flowers and trees. I was in heaven!

I am always in awe when someone I barely know makes me feel so loved and welcome into their home and heart.

Zippy Retort

I wanted to trim the grass with the weed whacker, but I couldn't find the outdoor extension cord. So, I ran into the house and grabbed one of the indoor extension cords. They are all the same, right?

"Ha, there we go," I muttered feeling ingenious as I plugged in the cord.

Before I could fully force the male connector into the female, I shot two feet back as the outlet let out a freaky spark enhanced,

"ZZZZZZZZZipZZZZZZapZip!"

Can anyone tell me what the hell that electrical outlet was trying to tell me?