20 May 2008

Quarantine

My cottage garden is very old fashioned. The old lady that owned the house was very fond of her garden and had a lot of old plants. When she died the house stood empty for more than a year and the garden was unattended. The former owner lived there only for 8 months and wasn’t interested in gardening. He had enough work with trying to make the house livable. So much work I am sad to say that his marriage broke up and they had to sell it. We bought the house in the middle of last summer and didn’t have much time for the garden either carrying on where the last owner left off and trying hard not to let our marriage go the same way. So this spring the garden was all shambles and in great need of some tender love and care. I have been working hard with cutting down hedges of sleeping beauty proportions, digging up nettles and giving the weeds a hard time.

In the process I found rose bushes, peonies, monk’s hood, delphinium, foxglove, lupines, lilacs and an enormous amount of Lily of the valley. I have been working so hard in the garden that I got a sore hip tendon. I tried long and hard not to pay attention to it and by doing so pretending that the pain would just go away. But when I couldn’t walk properly any more due to the pain I had to stop pretending… So I put myself in quarantine. Gardening quarantine! Last weekend I didn’t even allow myself to visit the house because I new that being there I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from digging or mowing the lawn or planting flowers, or….It wasn’t easy I can tell you because now is the absolute most beautiful time of the year! My youngest daughter felt sorry for me and said we could spend some quality time together instead.

I am very proud over my two daughters. They are both talented girls and the eldest (16) is very much in to fashion, great at doing make up and has a lovely singing voice. She is a natural when it comes to horses and wants to study natural horsemanship for Monty Roberts in America. The youngest (13) is the creative one. She handles a sewing machine and a drilling machine with the same forte and wants to be an inventive genius when she grows up. She got her own sewing machine last Christmas and this Christmas her highest wish was a dress form. And she got one! Now when we had some time on our hands she wanted to sew a summer party dress. Said and done. We bought a beautiful fabric and a pattern that in fact was a ball dress with a long skirt but we decided we could always shorten it. I was a bit nervous because the pattern seemed rather difficult but we were determined to give it our best shot. I cut the fabric and my daughter did the sewing. Furter down you can see the result!



My poor garden.
So sadly neglected. Everything is buried in nettles and weeds.

After some TLC.
I still want it a bit rough and unattended looking but now the peonies, monk’s hood, foxglove, lupines, and Lily of the valley has a fair chance of growing and blossom.


My daughters dress.
Not bad for a 13 year old! The dress form was a great help!



And now my hip is so very much better and my walk only has a very small limp to it! I hope to be able to do some more gardening in a near future! Or at least be able to bend down and smell the flowers…..
Hope you all have a lovely week!
Jeanette



PS My dear blog friend Betty Jo has moved her blog. Please visit the new one and take a peak at an amazing verandah and a lavender colored house.

10 comments:

LiLi M. said...

Wow what a dress, give my compliments to your daughter. What a work you have done already in your garden. Good luck with your hip!

Betty Jo said...

Oh my! Rose bushes, peonies, monk’s hood, delphinium, foxglove, lupines, lilacs and an enormous amount of Lily of the valley - what I would give to find all of that treasure hidden in my back yard. Your garden is going to be stunningly beautiful when you've uncovered everything. I'm already imagining your stupendous photos of those flowers.

Your daughter's dress is incredible. She obviously inherited her mother's talents. Both of your girls sound like wonderful young ladies.

I so hope your hip is better soon so you can garden once again, maybe just not so vigorous next time.

Thank you so much for mentioning my new blog home and for entering my giveaway. I've discovered already a giveaway is one way to generate a lot of traffic to one's blog.

Big Hugs and have a wonderful, pain free day my friend across the pond.

Sömsmånen said...

Your garden looks amazing! As does dress thast daughter made, it's a wonderful feeling being a proud mama, isn't it? Good luck with your healing.

Sömsmånen said...

Forget to say, hope it's OK if I link to your blog??

Sömsmånen said...

Hi there again - and happy Mother's Day, by the way. No, it's not too late to join the lottery! Send me an e-mail and you're in. I'll draw a winner on Monday night. I know what you mean by shabby chic....
Sorry, I see I made 3 comments to day.

Anonymous said...

Hi Jeanette, Just popping in to wish you a Happy Mother's Day! So glad you liked the pie. We have one little piece left, so I'm letting hubby have it. Everyone loved the pies yesterday, including my friend Carolyn. xoxo

karin-odlar-sin-trädgård said...

Hej Jeanette! Du verkar ha många järn i elden, tre bloggar! Ja, jag insåg att de var två nu men ändå! Och så mycket fint du skapar, jag blir alldeles andlös. De tovade konstverken är bedårande. Du får självklart gärna lägga till mig och jag lägger gärna in dig om det är okej.

Eleanor said...

Hello from Sydney, Australia!

Oh my, I'm so excited to have found you, and in English too. Thank you so much for your kind comments and linking, very generous of you.

If you like please add a little simile to a "linking comment poem" I am collecting...you can see the way it works by reading the instructions on the top right of my blog, right under the banner.

I think your daughters sound magnificent. I have a 16 year old daughter and 13 year old son. Hmmm...house, garden and marriage...all need a lot of tending...blogging too sometimes, hehe.

I shall keep visiting, thank you for your warm welcome,

Eleanor.

Eva Agnes said...

Duktig dotter på bara tretton år. Var månde det sluta med??
Tack för dina ord hos mig.
Jag hinner med bara för att jag är pensionär. men nu har jag fått problem med synen på höger öga och måste trappa ner lite.
Kramar Eva Agnes

Anonymous said...

DEAR Jeanette, I feel as if I have some catching up to do with you here My goodness, what a trooper you are, with those nettles! Good for you, for declaring a Garden Quarantine! However difficult it was, am so glad to hear that your hip is feeling a bit better, and it paid off. Oh, those flowers you have discovered sound lovely, just lovely. LOL, I loved your description of the hedges that are of "sleeping beauty proportions". You sure painted a great picture for us, but what a challenge to get them trimmed, it must have been!

Loved hearing about your two wonderful daughters. OMGosh, I gasped when I read that your oldest wants to study natural horsemanship with Monty Roberts. I've been captivated by natural methods for years, and will be so eager to hear of her progress in this field. I remember you sharing that she loved horses, but this is a whole new dimension, and am so happy for her!!! And your youngest sure does have the gift. That dress looks awesome, and she is just 13! Congrats to you for encouraging her to pursue her passions early in life. Looks like she is on a roll, with her sewing!

Better stop this novel, but saw in your comment to Betty Jo, that you got a vanilla bike from your family!!!!!!!! I am SO happy for you, and so relate to your joy in having it as you ride all the way to work. You go, girl!! Hugs. :-)