Time for the Garden

Day 47- Saturday

During the week my sister asked if G would go round and do some gardening at her house. It turns out her neighbour has complained again, this time about the state of the overgrown garden. I don't blame them, they are trying to sale their house and to have such an unkempt house next door it must decrease the vale somewhat.

As we arrive she jokes about it being a wild life garden. Well its certainly wild and it vaguely resembles a garden. I manage to drag J out of his pit to join us so it’s a real family affair today!

Frogs hiding place

As G sets up the equipment he moves an old cardboard box and I feel something wet move across my foot. I look down to see a frog jumping towards the house and the girls. I standstill and leave it to make its way to a hiding place, I quite like frogs! But my sister is the first to scream and start hoping from one foot to the other, and the girls quickly follow suite. The frog finds its hiding place and peace is restored with focus back on the task in hand.

G starts the petrol strimmer to cut back the long grass, while we all stand and watch, much to his annoyance. So he asks J to start with the petrol lawn mower and follow on after him. J enjoys this for a while, until he finds it too much effort and decides that the strimmer looks like far more fun.

J with the lawnmower

The girls also want to join in now and I point out the garden shears they can use on the opposite side of the garden. They make little impact, but they are enjoying themselves and willing to help which is encouraging and far more than their Mum is doing, who is hoovering in the doorway to the garden as if she might catch something by actually going into the garden and partaking in a gardening activity. I’d already decided that I was not going to join in, I’ve done enough in that house, I’m not doing the garden as well.

Between them they make good progress. It’s not the garden makeover you see on the TV, but the grass is cut, the shrubs cut back and the pathway is clear before the rain moves in. The girls are pleased and start jumping around the rediscovered garden.

There’s a bit more to be done and G tells my sister that she can use her usual lawnmower to run over the lawn again and to trim the edge along the pathway. We all know this is not going to happen. Another wasted weekend day at my Sister’s.

G hard at work

a wildlife garden - over the pathway