Growing Things

Inspirational song: Digging in the Dirt (Peter Gabriel)

I want a yard. I'm not super picky anymore about where that yard is, as long as it's sizable and good for gardening. I'm tired of not having trees and grass and flowers all around me. I have a few plants trying to grab a few stray sunbeams from my apartment window, but the bulk of my green things are either at my daughter's condo or left behind for safekeeping (or outright gifts) at Bonfire Gardens. I am so desperate to get my hands dirty, today I volunteered to dig out my thickest gloves and toughest pruners, and once I find them, go back to clean up my friend's yard. She has aspen trees over run with suckers that need to be trimmed back to a chosen few. The rock bed where they grow is being invaded by the cruelest of thistles, a yellow-flowered weed we determined has little medicinal or food value, and larkspur that was invited but is past its prime. I'm planning on spending any mild days next week pulling weeds for fun. That might count as a mental disorder.

I received photos of my plant babies from Bonfire Gardens today. Everything is thriving there far better than when I had it all at Smith Park. Even the lemon tree I was certain I had drowned is faring well. Dead wood was pruned off, fresh soil was added in, and damned if that lemon isn't actually blooming now. I already miss that place like crazy, the grounds and the people, and now I'm jealous of my own plants who get to live there. The Bonfire leader and the Cowboy went on a mission for me last night, retrieving the lawn mower we left behind in the shed, when they got off work around midnight. I had to warn my realtor and the neighbors that they would be coming for it. The worst thing I could think of to say thanks for getting my stuff is them having to explain to a cop who they were and why they were there.

Still in limbo for the contracted brick house. Their structural engineer was supposed to come today. I don't know how long it will take to get an idea how much work the seller will do or knock off the price. If we can't reach a settlement, we have our eyes on a neat house in an older neighborhood that reminds me of the one in Boulder where my in-laws live (or at least how that one looked before everyone tripled the size of all the houses in it). It is comparable in price to the brick house, but it comes with a third of an acre. We will tour it Saturday, so we don't know yet how feasible it is. It's nice to have a valid option in our back pockets though.