Garden therapy

Many times when I go out to my garden to work it's because I am frustrated or mad.  Digging and pulling weeds gets some energy out of my system and allows me to think alone.  Sometimes I just need to work out something in my head and gardening helps that. 

I went out last night to work on the pole bed project some more.  It was late when I started, about 6:30 pm .  Late for this time of year anyway.  I got to yanking and pulling out daylily roots and sifting through the sandy soil to look for tell tale pieces of yellowish daylily root left behind.  I lost all track of time and only quit when it got too dark to see. 

My husband looked at me with a bit of dispproval when I walked inside, not because I was gardening and dirty but because he knew I had left my tool bucket inside and that without my handy cobra head tool and some gloves my fingers would be killing me today, and they are.

The cobra head tool is like a tiny sharp triangle on a long, strong curved handle.  It gets under things like daylily roots and you can leverage them out.  It saves wear and tear on the fingers.  I didn't go get my tool bucket because I was only going to work for a few minutes, but you know how that goes sometimes.   When I garden I actually get down on the ground near the bed because my knees and back won't allow kneeling or stooping.  Once I am down there and comfortable I just keep going.

My arthritic fingers really don't like cold, prying and pulling work.  I had a small hand trowel that I had left in the bed the other night but it didn't really work great on those tough roots.  So I am paying the price today with stiff, sore fingers.

I did make some decisions on a personal matter as I worked though so I guess it was worth it.  And I got to spend some time without a dog at my feet, they aren't allowed in the garden area.  Because it was breezy and chilly even the kittens left me alone.  The turkeys strolled by a couple of times to see what I was up to but they didn't see treats so they kept going.

My husband also stayed inside because it was chilly.  He sometimes drives me nuts by following me outside and then sitting there trying to talk to me as I work.  Usually when I am gardening I prefer to be left alone.  He likes to work outside in the morning, I am an evening person.  But he does like to sit and talk to me as I work.  It spoils my thinking time and since he is hard of hearing I have to look at him and talk loudly when I reply to him.

I have actually hid from him when I hear him coming down the ramp in his wheelchair.  I go sit on the ground behind some tall perennials or a bush and pretend to pull weeds in case he spots me.  If I hear him coming and I can move to another site I do.  If he calls for me I pretend I don't hear him.  Sometimes he gives up and either goes back inside or finds something to do. 

Now this may sound as if I am a mean person but I am with my husband about 24 hours of every day and sometimes the reason I am mad or frustrated is because of him.  Gardening is my therapy and I need to do it alone.