Respect the Ides of March!

Here it is, almost the middle of the month and I sense the Ides of March is fast-approaching.  The first of the daffodils are blooming, reminding me to pay respect and show regard for Mother Nature.  And, the wind is blowing as it only it can during March.  The garden shop is well under way.  So, this past Friday, I stopped to help Peter raise a board to the roof, climbed the ladder with it in one hand, rested it where I was told to, touched another piece of wood holding everything in place and a board popped out and landed squarely on the bridge of my nose. With that one swift action, a lot of blood ensued and a hefty headache developed as well and, Voila!...I was banned from helping with the construction of the garden shop, at least temporarily.  I now have a new found respect for roofers and their craft. 

Having chalked up adventures in roof-building to my resume,  I moved on to non-other-than garden power tools.  What else could I do after such an unplanned but clever move.  I gathered my weapons of choice in preparation to conquer the lavender beds by trimming, pruning and clearing leaves and winter debris.  Not exactly "easy peezy lemon squeezy" but it had to be done and the chief gardener is still working on the cedar shake roof--easily, next weekend will be devoted to that as well.  I resigned myself to renewing my bonds with the hedge trimmer and even had to pull out the heavy guns in the form of the leaf blower as fallen leaves and old pine needles from last fall are no less heavy now than back then.

Not to worry, though, my old and faithful friend, the garden cart, did most of the heavy lifting but after a-half dozen or so trips to the burn pile, my back was also reminding me to show respect for what I was doing and regard Mother Nature as a worthy boss. The 19th century author, life-long gardener and friend to Mark Twain, Charles Dudley Warner once said, " What a gardener needs is a cast iron back with a hinge in it." So true!

I broke my leaf rake and had to replace it.  Not only that, the hand trimmers also broke which caused my hands to smack into each other and I just got plain sick and tired of that real fast. I found another one at the store labeled 3 times better!  Well, if that wasn't a sign from God that those trimmers were meant for me than I don't know what ever could be.    Maybe that is why daffodils bloom so early in the spring as their meaning in flower language means respect or regard, in my case for yard work in general.  The daffodil's simple beauty does require that you should take time to stop and at least gaze upon their natural loveliness and be thankful for the blessings that nature offers right outside your doorstep.

And, of course, those darn devil deer, now perpetual dinner guests in my yard, edge closer and closer in hopes that I'm making an appetizer as a precursor to their evening meal.  Tucker, on the other hand thought they came to play and tried to make friends.  However, birds of different feathers don't flock together and the devil deer are just not interested, nor are they afraid of Tucker.  So my yard, for now currently is the dinner table for a herd of about two dozen deer.   Fortunately, for me, lavender is not one of their favorites, however deer have been known to eat whatever is available when there is enough snow on the ground.  Spring offers up lots of emerging clover which the devil deer love as well as tulip greenery...note to self...buy Liquid Fence tomorrow!

In the midst of this crazy weekend, we took the time to travel down to Longwood University to see Kevin play Club Baseball with his Mary Washington teammates.  I can't resist posting a picture of a bunch of handsome young men all smiling at me--or was it that I told them to smile at the camera--I can't remember.   Beautiful weather and lot's of sun topped off the day to help this Club Baseball team play not one, not two, but three great games, all in a row...Phew!

Anyway, the weekend is just about over and daylight savings is now in full swing.  That means more time to work in the garden and on the garden shop, when I'm allowed near that again, that is.  Oh well, there are plenty of other things to do in the meantime and a lot more garden tools to use.  Sunday evening finally and Peter just walked in, exhausted and sunburned, but in one piece, thankfully, from a long day of roofing and announced that he, too, has found a new respect for the roofing profession.  Yep--respect the Ides of March, for it cometh!