The ritual returns – life in the garden. HodgePodge By Charlie Hodge
I know she’s in there because I hear her rustling away.
Snip, snip, rustle, clip. Everything goes relatively quiet for a few seconds as she slips and clips with her new snippers amidst the trimmed newly dead wood. Suddenly she gives the plants a quick shake, tearing loose victims of her carnage. She repeats the assault, methodically snipping and thinning more branches before exploding free of the raspberry patch, one hand thrust high in the air, choking a handful of recently murdered branches. All of that followed by a successful sigh as she turns to the cat for applause.
Obviously Tez is comfortably sitting on her garden bum pad in the middle of the raspberry patch with Scaredy Cat, the amused, veteran garden friend. Scaredy stretches out, rolls in the dirt, talons clinching pine needles and dirt, mutters a weak squeak of approval, rolls over and blinks. Tez tells her how beautiful she is. Both are happy.
I do not let them know I am behind them. Tez continues her thinning and picking of raspberries, which she happily rustles among while babbling away with Scaredy like she is playing with a young child.
It’s a ridiculous ritual which will play out time immortal as long as there is a Tez, Scaredy, and a hunk of dirt somewhere. Some call it gardening.
For the Hodge house it is joy. Our healthy pastime which sometimes results in food, often in fun, and likewise fellowship. We personally find no greater way to relax or reduce stress.
Welcome to spring.
It’s been a while coming yet thankfully it’s arrived (or technically does next week). All around the House of Hodge all the important signs are showing.
Chainsaws are resonating around the city as spring pruning takes place, flower bulbs and chutes of flowers are poking their head through the dirt and left over leaves, and most importantly, Tez has donned the sweat pants, sweater, and gloves and is working her butt off in the yard while I drink a coffee and analyze the yard work ahead of her. I have succeeded in mastering the excuse of my now full-blown emphysema as justification for little physical work. Actually, being grounded (so to speak) by my dead lungs frustrates me to the max.
There is nothing like spring to shake off the winter doldrums.
One of the most critical aspects of any yard and garden is the careful planning and study that precedes it.
Tez and I see ourselves as calculated, veteran, experts in our ability to take lots of time to carefully analyze and plan our yard each year. In fact, if not for our meticulous dedication to landscape procrastination our yard work would be completed weeks ahead of when it normally is. We have ‘doing nothing’ down to a fine art.
Still, someone has to actually begin the physical work somewhere, and this year it seems Teresa is way ahead of the curve. Gosh that girl can work.
Not only has she planted seeds indoors, in the greenhouse, and in the yard but already done major yard cleaning and garden prepping.
The harsh storm that blew in Sunday knocked several large branches off of trees in our yard – which the neighbour’s chainsaw will help us eliminate. Teresa is already planning her chainsaw attack. She is such a hardworking trooper.
Of course, the real sign that Spring has arrived will likely take place this weekend when Tez and I plan and then decorate our annual Easter tree. An old outdoor Christmas Tree has become our theme tree and we adorn it appropriately for the various seasons and special days – Halloween, Valentines Day, Easter… Depending on the event so go the decorations.
Soon the tree will be adorned in Easter eggs, pastel-coloured ribbons and ornaments, and even a few chicks and bunnies. Neighbourhood kids think it is funky.
Hmm, I just read that in early May there will be an International Naked Gardening Day. Since my birthday is May 6 I suppose gardening in my birthday suit could be an option – however I am sure there is (and if not there probably should be) a bylaw to stop me from running around my yard with nothing on but a watering bucket. Somehow it would just not seem fair to the neighbors to have to see such a sorry sight.
Yup, spring is here and it is going to busy. Makes me wish it was summer already.
Hello and welcome sunshine.
