Rocks & Dirt


Rodeo and the cats playing hide & seek

Once the Trolls and I returned from our epic European trip, it was May Long Weekend. Or, as I like to call it, gardening weekend. A dear friend took care of my seedlings while I was away, and it was time to get down to business. I had a greenhouse to fill with tomatoes and peppers. The raised beds needed to be planted. The soaker hoses and drip irrigation needed to be laid out. The hammock was calling to me! And so the rest of May and all of June was spent in the happiest of seasonal routines.











The Canada Day long weekend lies between two very important birthdays, my Mom's and my youngest son's. We often visit Medicine Hat because of this. It was a fairly chill weekend, with not much on the agenda. However, there was one important task, to visit the memorial statue honouring the Germans from Russia immigrants, which included my paternal grandfather's family. It is on display in front of the Esplanade - the art and cultural centre in Medicine Hat. Right next to it is a historic house, with gardens open to the public. 





Giant outdoor chess set across from the Esplanade

Now, you wouldn't think that wandering through a garden would be a life altering event. You would be wrong. Keep in mind that Medicine Hat is hot, dry and windy - prone to drought. This garden was completely done in rock, with islands of flowerbeds. Gavin took one look and exclaimed, "Mom, can we do this at home? No more grass!!" (we are all allergic to grass)

Even my friend's kids came to help!
We all earned slushes that day!

Now you know what we did for the next three months of our lives. Dug sod, shovelled dirt and hauled rocks. Dusted off geometry skills (not well enough - turns out the volume of a cone is about half of the volume of a cylinder - and I ordered twice the amount of soil I needed for the herb spiral!) That's what I get for being impatient and doing math equations when I'm exhausted and dehydrated!

  
 We collected landscaping stones from a friend's rock pile. I really came to appreciate my boys' unique talents during this project. Donovan didn't grab just any old rock. He chose the prettiest rocks and kept the sizes uniform. When it comes to design and style, he's the one for the job! My friend's father in law was slightly startled to find us there, when he came to cut the hay. (no one told him we were coming) Her mother in law, on the other hand, said "Please take allllll the rocks - from the field!"



I spent a wonderful afternoon at the the greenhouse with a friend, choosing the perfect plants to border the sidewalk. In theory, they will each mound to create a nice low hedge. The front yard has quite a slope down to the street, so the tallest plants are in the back. I'm hoping for an interesting visual effect when they are mature.

I have always loved the look of a spiral bed. This little mountain will have mostly herbs in it. (cone, not cylinder - basic geometry, Adrienne!!)


Gavin and I can now add bricklaying to our resumes! He's the boy to go to for precision work. He wouldn't move on to the next brick until the last one was perfect. Quite a challenge on a slope with tree roots and rocks in our way!


We finished up on the weekend of my birthday, the end of September. The rest of the job will have to wait until spring because there is harvesting and canning to do. That weekend also kicked off 5 months of arts and culture!


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