The Gardener's Tail (woof woof)

I told you yesterday that I went shopping to combat the boredom and the disgust that winter is so darn long here, and that I would share with you what Irv is doing to pass the time away until the thermometer hits a reasonable temperature.....he gardens.

Last year, Irv decided to start some of our flowers and vegetables from seed. We had a kitchen table covered with trays of seedlings in various stages of development. It was fun watching them grow. He had tremendous success with green beans! He was so proud of them. Slowly he moved them to the deck to get some sun before he transplanted them into the garden.

One day Wrigley was outside and Irv had run to town to get something. I went to the back door to call her in and I looked at the deck and all I could say was, "Oh shit!" Irv's beautiful beans plants that were so tall and so strong and so healthy looking.....were now laying all over the deck and the yard. Little peat pots were shredded everywhere and dirt was scattered from one end of the deck to the other. The yard looked unreal with parts of bean plants and parts of the little pots just everywhere. How could one little dog destroy so many bean plants in such a short period of time.

Irv would surely kill the cute little dog when he got home....and even though I felt so bad for Irv I couldn't help laughing! I wish I could have seen a video of the rampage. I'll bet it was the funniest thing ever! She must have had so much fun. You can be sure he will be much more careful where he puts his little plants this year when he wants them to get some sun! (Little dogs that are left unattended, even for a short period of time get very bored and will search out their own entertainment.)

So, here it is February 1st and Irv has been busy gardening. Since he is doing this on a larger scale this year than last, he moved his project to the basement. In order to do that he had to rig up some warmth for the little guys. He hung some lovely black plastic around a big table, hung lights overhead, added a light underneath and presto, he has an instant greenhouse.

Understand, that we don't have a finished basement. It has a painted concrete floor and walls and a little rug, a tv and a couple little tables, so it isn't like he has taken over living space...it's just a basement.

I was actually thrilled that he decided to do this again this year. Not only did it produce a lot of great flowers last year for a lot less money than we normally spend on flats, but it gave Irv, the I hate winter so much and turn into an obnoxious human being by the middle of January, something to keep him busy. It also reminds him that spring will get here eventually!

I use to be the flower person in our family, but in 1998 I was diagnosed with melanoma, and since then the sun really isn't my friend. So, Irv has taken over all of the outside duties and I will occasionally find my way outside...covered with sunscreen and/or sunscreen clothing to say hi...and then I run back in the house. Well, I'm not quite that bad anymore, but I am very careful about the amount of time I spend in the sun...and trust me...it is very little.

I enjoy watch the plants grow, and it is so rewarding when you can plant the flowers outside in the yard and they blossom and look so beautiful, or your garden produces so much that you spend the entire summer giving it away!

So, now you know what old people like us do with our spare time in the middle of a midwestern winter. We shop and we garden!