Dream Gardening

I am a dreamer.  I've said it many times.  One would think that would be something I'd outgrow but evidently not, because I still find myself day dreaming about all the great accomplishments I am capable of doing.  For instance, my dear Daddy was a great gardener.  There wasn't any thing he couldn't grow.  When I was a child our backyard could have been a show case for Better Homes and Gardens magazine.  Dad spent hours in the winter drooling over seed catalogs.  Early spring well before the last frost Dad and Mom could be found sitting at the kitchen table with Dad's garden plan drawn to exact dimensions and seed packets scattered around them in deep discussion of what was to be done next.  The whole neighborhood knew of his green thumb and one by one came by for a tour mid summer when his garden was in it's glory.

When I bought my first house all by my lonesome self some 17 or 18 years ago I dreamed of having a beautiful country garden like my father's.  No, I take that back.  Mine was going to be even lovelier if that was possible.  I went right out and bought every gardening magazine available and spent hours like my father drooling over the shiny magazine pictures of gardens all over the U.S. of A.  When I had my first family barbecue I proudly took Dad on a tour of my backyard explaining in great detail the plants and landscaping designs I had envisioned.  Dad being Dad pointed out to me that I was over planting and I would not have the time to keep up such a complicated plan.  No way was he going to burst my bubble.  I went right out and bought seven trees (3 fruit to feed the birds), 10 bushes (2 with berries to feed the birds), more annuals and perennial than I can count and 3 grape plants (also to feed the birds).

Half died before I could get them in the ground.  I had no idea it took so much hard physical labor to have a beautiful yard.  The first two summers I slaved over the yard no matter how hot and miserable I was.  Then as with most of my scathingly brilliant ideas, my enthusiasm fizzled out.  Two of the seven trees died several years ago.  Two died this year and are waiting for me to cut them down and put them to rest.  Only three of the ten bushes have survived.  Actually the yard is a wasteland to weeds.  I have come to appreciate weeds - except poison ivy.  They do not require constant attention and actually produce lovely flowers.  The grandchildren think Grandma grows the very best wishing flowers - they believe their wish will come true if they can blow off all the white puffy seeds from the dandelion with one blow. 

One would think I had learned my lesson after that complete disaster but no the dreamer in me will not be squelched.  Last summer I decided I needed a small pool under my little apple tree.  I thought I'd never get that hole dug.  The hole eventually got dug and a plastic box was set inside the hole.  I never did figure out how to set up the water pump necessary to keep the little pond from becoming stagnant.  Yes, you are right.  I now have a green slimy nasty water filled hole in my yard with signs around it informing the grandkids of its potential danger. 

The summer is just beginning.  Being an optimist I am once again dreaming of how I am going to fix up my yard.  Don't give up on me yet.  I'll keep trying until they lower me in my grave.  Hopefully I have a lot of dreamy summer days ahead of me.

The journal page featured here is probably one of the easiest and quite possibly the most fun of the journal pages to make.  I simply went through my collection of pictures cut from magazines and glued them on the page to create a collage.