We go nowhere. Our house is where we spend most of our time. Like most. Each Spring, I hunt for flowers. Cheap flowers to plant in pots on both our front and back decks. It makes our house look and feel nice to be in. The least expensive I have found, and the hardiest flowers that grow in my wooded conditions here, are Impatiens. I buy a few flats of them every year, and have anxiety attacks for days about the frivolous spending. Literally, days. And I care for them that much more, partially due to guilt of the expense, and also knowing of the predators that are out there. Deer. Everywhere. Unafraid, and hungry. I spray religiously every week, a mixture of rotten eggs, garlic, and mint. It is awful, but keeps them away. And, it isn't cheap.
I ran out the other day. It has been raining on and off for a few days now. I was lying in bed last night, and I heard the dog growl quietly. I then heard a bang. It was our garbage can. I thought it must be a raccoon. Then I remembered that I had not sprayed in about a week, and all of the rain had surely washed away the awful scent on my pretty flowers, leaving them vulnerable. I lay in bed wide awake, listening to the pouring rain, and hoping that our flowers would make it until the morning.
Charlotte harvests seeds. I don't know where her fascination with plant reproduction began. She will pick seeds out of her green beans at dinner. We have an avocado plant growing on the back deck, and a lemon "bush". She saves her orange seeds, and each Fall, takes apart cone flowers and saves all of their seeds, and insists on planting them each Spring.
She saved pumpkin seeds this past October. From a pumpkin given to her at school. She waited, and waited for the weather to be warm enough to plant her giant mixed bag of seeds carefully dried and saved all winter long. On the front deck, we have an old wooden whiskey barrel. It was here when we moved in, and every year, I add about half a flat of Impatiens to it, and they get so big and bushy, they spill over the sides. I only get white Impatiens. They look so pretty, along with all of my clay pots scattered around the entry way to our home. I love pulling out of our driveway, and staring at our little house before I pull away. I love coming home to it each and every day. I enjoy watering them, and I always scatter a few morning glory seeds in the pots, which dazzle us with their giant flowers. This year I scattered some moon flower seeds in there too.
Charlotte wanted the whiskey barrel. I didn't want to let her have it. I loved the way my Impatiens look in it every year. She wanted a garden. I relented, and truth be told, I wasn't happy about it.
Charlotte planted pumpkins. And each day, they have gotten "vinier". Thicker and greener. The leaves getting plumper. I have to admit, I was getting a kick out of their progress. I joked with David that we would indeed be having pumpkins here in the Fall. I sprayed them with the stinky deer spray to protect them. To keep them growing.
David just kissed me goodbye before he left for work. He said that all of the plants got eaten last night. I felt my blood pressure rise. I knew I needed to spray them. I didn't want to spend the money this week on the concoction It simply wasn't in the budget this week. I thought they would make it through.
I don't know who is going to be more disappointed this morning. Me, or my sleeping farmer.
I ran out the other day. It has been raining on and off for a few days now. I was lying in bed last night, and I heard the dog growl quietly. I then heard a bang. It was our garbage can. I thought it must be a raccoon. Then I remembered that I had not sprayed in about a week, and all of the rain had surely washed away the awful scent on my pretty flowers, leaving them vulnerable. I lay in bed wide awake, listening to the pouring rain, and hoping that our flowers would make it until the morning.
Charlotte harvests seeds. I don't know where her fascination with plant reproduction began. She will pick seeds out of her green beans at dinner. We have an avocado plant growing on the back deck, and a lemon "bush". She saves her orange seeds, and each Fall, takes apart cone flowers and saves all of their seeds, and insists on planting them each Spring.
She saved pumpkin seeds this past October. From a pumpkin given to her at school. She waited, and waited for the weather to be warm enough to plant her giant mixed bag of seeds carefully dried and saved all winter long. On the front deck, we have an old wooden whiskey barrel. It was here when we moved in, and every year, I add about half a flat of Impatiens to it, and they get so big and bushy, they spill over the sides. I only get white Impatiens. They look so pretty, along with all of my clay pots scattered around the entry way to our home. I love pulling out of our driveway, and staring at our little house before I pull away. I love coming home to it each and every day. I enjoy watering them, and I always scatter a few morning glory seeds in the pots, which dazzle us with their giant flowers. This year I scattered some moon flower seeds in there too.
Charlotte wanted the whiskey barrel. I didn't want to let her have it. I loved the way my Impatiens look in it every year. She wanted a garden. I relented, and truth be told, I wasn't happy about it.
Charlotte planted pumpkins. And each day, they have gotten "vinier". Thicker and greener. The leaves getting plumper. I have to admit, I was getting a kick out of their progress. I joked with David that we would indeed be having pumpkins here in the Fall. I sprayed them with the stinky deer spray to protect them. To keep them growing.
David just kissed me goodbye before he left for work. He said that all of the plants got eaten last night. I felt my blood pressure rise. I knew I needed to spray them. I didn't want to spend the money this week on the concoction It simply wasn't in the budget this week. I thought they would make it through.
I don't know who is going to be more disappointed this morning. Me, or my sleeping farmer.
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