Report from the jungle

It is hot. And humid. While I'm not enthralled with it, my plants sure seem to be. They have jumped up several inches just in the last couple of days while it's been rainforest-like here. Hooray! My little back garden has tomatoes, peppers, lettuce and sugar snap peas. I have 3 front gardens; one has larkspur, portulaca, cosmos and sweet peas. One has foxglove, lavender, portulaca and something else I planted and can't remember the name of - it's a tall slim stem, with a purple spiky flower at the top, sort of like a clover but a bit more sparse. And the other has foxglove and portulaca. Along my back fence, I have planted some morning glories for privacy, as our property backs onto a alley which runs behind the university stadium. There is quite a bit of foot traffic through the alley - people out for exercise, people cutting through to reach their destination more quickly, kids loitering. I also have some sunflowers planted out there as well. Yay! Within a month or so things will be really jumping. :)

Life has been a little harried here lately; DH took a job in Westport as a head chef, but yikes. It wasn't for him, for many reasons; not the least of which is that it was an hour commute one way. He didn't stay. Today, however, he has his first "real" job through his personal chef business, booked through his website by someone who found him on Google! Yay!

Money has been tight and it's been a bit scary with B not having a steady job. Somehow I'm not that worried. I don't know why - I should be. I mean, yeah, it's there in the back of my mind, but I'm not freaking out. Maybe I've become desensitized to it; it's pretty much been the story of our lives for a good 18 months or so.

Kids are great; C is a little pissy with the humidity (like me) but that could also be because she's 3. J only has a few weeks left of school and then he'll be off for the summer. He's really looking forward to his time off. I don't think B is sharing his enthusiasm, though. :P

And as for me, I'm doing okay. I have just completed a week of holidays, which were really nice. Spent lots of time with B and the kids, and just relaxed. Slept in late a few days and enjoyed the week. I have been invited to join the board at the non-profit organization where I volunteer, as well as joining the Human Resources committee (hiring new staff, dealing with current staff), and that's quite an honour. :)

Emerging

I've had a rough time of things this spring. I have troubles with anxiety and depression, and though for the most part I keep it under control, this late winter and spring have been really difficult.

I'm so glad the warm weather is here. Mother's Day is the day after tomorrow and that is my traditional "gardening kick-off" each year, although this year I had some bulbs come up, since I actually got my butt in gear last fall to get some tulips, crocuses and grape hyacinths planted! The tulips are beautiful orange, and the grape hyacinths are, of course, purple. They look absolutely gorgeous! The tulips have just come into bloom and the others have just started poking their little purple bunches out. The crocuses were white and yellow and I have to admit, they were a bit of a disappointment. They were really tiny. I hope they do a bit better next year, being more "established" than this year.

I have several hundred kilgrams of dirt and shit in the back of my car. Literally. Six 30 litre bags of black earth, 3 20kg bags of sheep manure and 2 30 litre bags of organic compost. I am building a raised vegetable bed for the back yard. Well, more accurately, Brandon is building it and I will maintain it. It's going to have latticework up the back so that I have (a) some privacy from the neighbours, and (b) a place to grow sugar snap peas! I have six tomato plants which will be ready to be hardened off and transplanted within a week or two. I have a bunch of beautiful little lavender plants started; fox glove plants; and one of my favourites, larkspur. They're so tall and showy; and prettier than delphinium.

I never could have imagined, when I was younger, that I would enjoy gardening so much as an adult! My parents always had a HUGE vegetable garden and I would have to weed the long rows of onions, carrots, tomatoes, etc. and I hated doing it. Now that the gardens are mine, even weeding is enjoyable. I just love to putter around. Granted, my gardens are probably 1% the size of what my parents have, but I'm still a newbie. With a tiny yard, no less. I am making use of what little space I have. I love the work involved in helping beauty flourish.

Life has the potential to be so drab, if we let it. Spring, summer and fall colours do so much to brighten our lives, and knowing that it happened at my hands, makes my enjoyment increase almost immeasurably.

I have nervous tulips

Okay. What is with the weather? It's April 12 - and we've had more days with snow this month, than days without snow. Last fall I actually got my arse in gear to plant some bulbs (tulips, crocuses; I think maybe some hyacinths? I guess I'll find out), and they have poked their heads up, but every time they start to stretch up a bit, they get snowed on. They're scared to grow; and, frankly, I don't blame them!

Last weekend I put up a little green wire fence around my bulb bed, as I noticed people walking through it. My attempt was half-arsed at best and the fence had fallen over within a few hours. My neighbour, with whom I share a walkway and the flower bed, has been good enough to put up a nice little white plastic one to keep people out. Thanks, Brad & Jenn! (Yeah, not that Brad and Jenn, obviously)

Hubby and I have a date night tomorrow night. Woot! We desperately need it. I think we're going to go see Blades of Glory and then hit a restaurant.