Hi everyone
Today was a pretty good day for me as I do a bit of gardening and yard maintenance for people on a package
These people all have quite different needs and requirements.
I was given a new client a few weeks back and for the story we will call her Ruth ,
so the first time I went to her home , we both took a stroll through her garden which started at the road edge and went all the way up to the back of the block ,
We decided on a plan of attack that I would tackle the front garden first and concentrate on that and that l work my way from there through to the back garden,
I was warned by Ruths friend not to mention poison as Ruth was dead against using it , as many people are
the front garden was generally pretty good with a wide verity of shrubs and flowers and few small stone paths meandering through it , all of these paths were chock a block full of weeds as well as in all the garden beds .
So Ruth also wanted the driveway edge plants trimmed back to make it easier for the car to pass . I got stuck into that and then I started on the front garden ,
About half an hour later Ruth came and asked for help in the back garden with something and together we weeded out a garden bed and planted some nice flowers .
So Ruth had already forgotten my plan , and later I met a friend of hers just as I was leaving for my next job and we talked about the garden and I said to both her and Ruth that I was going to have to poison the stone paths ,as it was impossible to remove the weeds effectively any other way , I told Ruth that I can get a nice poison that won’t harm the ground , she didn’t seem to mind but I think that she may have just pretended not to hear me and then I left for my next client ,
The next time I went to Ruth’s house I was informed by my employer that no one would be home ,
so I set to work weeding the front garden and also getting the poison sprayer out and giving the paths a work over , there were so many weeds that I didn’t quite get all of them pulled but made it all the way to the back path , and when I finished l wheeled out a chockers full green waste bin to the driveway.
So now come to today and I arrived , and as usual I put on my head phones and cranked the music and went straight to work kneeling on the gravel path pulling weeds ,
I had an old plaster bucket that I was using to put the weeds in
I must have been there half an hour when Ruth appeared and we talked about her plants , she spotted and mentioned my bucket and said that it could go up into the back yard ,
I explained that it’s my weeding bucket and I’m putting in weeds as I pull them out , then she wanted me to look at a few things for me to do in the backyard ,
and after I had done those jobs I looked up and there magically in the backyard was my bucket .
I grinned on the inside and found it a bit cute and humerus,
We had a sit down for a few minutes and chatted about the jobs that she would like me to do next time I visit ,
I sat there thinking that I was just exactly like Arthur , of the old tv show Mother and son , I found that it was quite nice .
I enjoyed watching that show when I was young ,
but made me also think of what some personal carers go must go through with their clients or family members with on a daily basis ,
It also made me think that we all need to be a bit gentle and empathetic to our older generation as in just a few more sleeps it will be us ,
So Ruth then asked me if I knew where the nursery past the hospital is ?
I said sure it’s Townsends nursery , Lowis and Vicki , she indicated that she would like to go there sometime and buy some plants.
I only had to think for a second and I asked her if she thought that she could climb up into my 4wd because I’ll take her out to the nursery next time I come , and we can buy some new plants .
I’m not sure if that’s in my job description , but it should be
I think she was pretty happy lady when I left but I think our initial plan has gone completely out of the window , for now but since the front garden is mostly done we can do it Ruths way and go
higgildy piggildy from now on because I had also realised something , it’s not just me listening to music and flat out gardening to try and get the job done that counts ,
I worked out that Ruth would rather that we work together and we can enjoy the gardening and good company and slowly we watch our labours of love reach fruition and the flowers bloom all around us , and take pleasure in our efforts.
It’s such a beautiful garden and a pleasure to be there and be a part of making Ruth smile
Ps I got to take my bucket home
Cheers
Curlyg