Transformations

I've been struggling this week with what to write about.  After starting three different posts and then not liking the direction they've gone I've decided to take some wise advice and just pick a really broad topic so that everything can be made to fit into it.  So here it goes.  Transformations in the last couple of weeks...

First, the gardens.  I have spent the majority of May in my gardens.  A dear friend (that's you Deborah!) brought up the subject of edging gardens last fall.  I never even knew that one was supposed to edge a garden until then.  Having the time this spring (sort of), and after looking despairingly at the weed invasion in my perennial gardens, I decided to jump on the edging bandwagon.  This was not a decision to take lightly as once you are committed to edging part of a garden, you have to do the whole thing.  And once you edge one garden, it's impossible NOT to edge the others.   While edging, I also tackled the vast majority of the weeds.  My gardens are by no means weed free, but they do look substantially better than they do before.  Speaking of gardens, we've got much of our large vegetable garden planted, and only two more 12 x 12 plots to double dig.  Hopefully all will be dug and planted by the end of the upcoming long weekend.

Which brings me to my second transformation.  My poor hands.  As I do every year, I started wearing gloves when I garden.  But I hate not being able to feel the cool, damp earth, and I have much better control of what I am weeding or digging with my bare hands versus gloved hands.  So until I find some type of gardening glove that is like a second skin, I will continue to garden with naked hands.  Which means I generally have dirt encrusted in the grooves of my fingers and of course under the nails.  This was really only a problem back in May 2006, a month before I got married.  I went to the day spa to have a trial run with the nails and my esthetician (that's a really hard word to spell correctly!) made me promise that I would take the month off from gardening.  I don't think I did, but at least I wore gloves.   So to remedy the chronically dirty hands I allow myself a long soak in a tub each night.

Which brings me to the third transformation.  Children.  I share my tub with a "Little People" castle and many plastic "guys" (and dinosaurs).  I also find that the only shampoo downstairs is Cowabunga Coconut.  Our coffee table has a veritable young adult library spread across it, and the back steps are always collecting something that belongs to Bud. And it's all good.  This past weekend I went to visit a high school friend and her family in the Boston area.  She has a two year old daughter.  Where there used to be beer and music and card games, there are now juice boxes and diapers and nap times. I also happened to stop by another dear friend's home in the Berkshires on my way back to New York. She has a three year old daughter.  I always loved her decor--sort of a French/African theme with lots of different textures and interesting prints.   I hadn't seen her since right after her daughter was born and the house had been comfortably, tastefully and lovingly transformed into a toddler's haven. 

Finally, the last transformation of this week regards more babies.  My nephew, whom I last saw in person when he was a week old, now looks completely different at six weeks old.  He has lost all of his hair, has filled out tremendously, and loves to smile.  At least he still has his elf ears!  It was startling to see the change.  How quickly newborns grow up!

Enjoy the spring showers and the bountiful sunshine!