Pretty Pickers!

It may not be the sun-drenched fields of Provence, but the rolling countryside of northwestern Virginia is just as scenic and the lavender pickers are much prettier and much, much more pleasant, I'm sure, here at Blooming Hill! The lavender harvest continues with help from two very special young ladies, Alyssa and Brianna, both raising money for their church youth mission trip to South Dakota this week where they will work with and get to know boys and girls on a Lakota Souix Indian Reservation.

Alyssa and Brianna, with names as lovely as those of the lavender plants they are working on, appeared at my front door at 6:00 in the evening, last Monday, all smiles and very polite, ready to work.  Two sweet and gentle breaths of fresh air, that allowed me to take the night off from picking lavender and turn my attention to watering, weeding, making cuttings and other garden tasks that often take the very back seat during the month of June and into July when the lavender must be harvested.  Why hadn't I thought of hiring these two before?...I really can't say!  However, I'm sure, lavender fields in Provence could not compare with the beauty and peace that graced my own sun and shade dappled lavender field that evening with the presence of Alyssa and Brianna making divinely, fragrant purple-hued bundled bouquets. 

Working  into the dusky evening, their smiles never wavered and I didn't hear a single, "How many more do I have to cut before I can quit?" And, they made the most wonderful bundles with no effort at all!  They were "purple-perfect," ready to be hung and dried with no further primping from me...what joy!

No scowls or grimaces, just two pretty girls enjoying the buzzing bees, the warm summer evening and the task at hand, content in the knowledge that they had raised enough money through this, as well as housework, babysitting and yard work at other peoples' homes in order to go on a church mission trip to, yes...help even more people.  Such pretty pickers with names to match...Alyssa and Brianna, you are simply delightful.  Safe trip, thank you very much and I'll see you again soon to pick lavender at Blooming Hill. 

"She who works in a garden works hand in hand with God." Douglas Malloch