Argh.

Either the garden bench hadn't aged well in the hot Texas summers, or I don't know my own strength. I could just cry.

One of my summer Texas projects was to sand, paint the metal and protect the wood on my garden bench. My meditation garden is my retreat, my gift from James and the girls. It's one of my favorite places to sit in all the world. And now I've gone and ruined it.

This morning, as the girls are off for a visit with their dad and half sisters, I was tackling the garden bench project. Sanded everything, used a metal scrapy-brush thing on the metal bits, brushed it all off with a clean paint brush and was in the middle of putting painter's tape on the wood so I could spray Rust-Oleum on the metal parts.

As I tipped the bench backward (to easier reach the underside of the slats, I thought) one of the back legs broke off.

I'm devastated. My beautiful bench! How will I sit and enjoy the fountain now? All the lovely birds at the feeders! It's not like we have the money to just pop out and buy another one. The girls are flying back to Boston in a month, I've got to drive back to meet them - and all that costs a bundle, not to mention all the other expenses this summer. Sheesh. I should have waited until James was home on the weekend and asked for help.

I even took a "before" picture becaus I was so excited about this project!

Argh. Bah. Feh. Humbug. Pbbbbbbth.

Garden Gifts - August 18, 2007

A few years ago, my husband decided to create a little garden on the kitchen side of our house. The fence facing the street had been at the back corner of the house, but he moved it forward to the front corner.
Next, he put a picket fence across from the back corner of the house to the side fence, with a gate in the middle. Then he built an arbor, a sturdy one not like the flimsy ones you get at garden centers.
Then he took me on a shopping expedition at Plant & Garden World. All my favorites! We planned, set things out, and started digging.
On my birthday, my parents gave me a bench. James and the girls went out and bought a beautiful fountain for me. We already had a bird bath, and all those went into the garden too.
James and the girls worked hard to level out the ground under the fountain and birdbath, getting it just right.
As you step into the garden, the Carolina jessamine vine curls around the arbor. The Indian hawthorne is to your right, covered in pink blossoms in the spring. Next is a big gardenia, which has several fragrant white blossoms right now. At the back is the Sweet Olive, then on the left a big Mexican Fire bush, which the hummingbirds and butterflies love.
This summer, James and Celia found a little bush in our pine grove and put it into the garden just in front of the Fire bush. It's got little white blossoms and tiny fruit which starts green and turns deep orange. We don't quite know what it is, but we like it.
Next on the left is my Mountain laurel. It's slow growing, and small for now, but it will be taller in a few years. In the spring, it has clusters of purple blossoms that look a bit like grapes and smell like grape Kool Aid. :-)
Finally, at the front left is the crowning glory of the garden - a huge bottlebrush. As I write, the hummingbirds are zooming around like mad, sampling every bright red blossom. They zip from the Fire bush in the back yard, back to the little garden to the bottlebrush, then to the Fire bush in the little garden, and then zoom off again. Makes me laugh!
This summer I've put a hummingbird feeder on the arbor. We filled the other bird feeder with seed and hung it too. The squirrels try to get in, but this one closes when they put any weight on it. It's just for the birds!
When I sit in my meditation garden, I can see James' tree farm in the pine grove. He'll be able to quit his job some day, and follow his dream with those little trees.
I will miss my meditation garden. It was a gift of love, and I know I am cherished because of it. I will miss the peace I find in my garden.