There's something tremendously satisfying about pulling old wallpaper off a wall, shelf paper off a shelf, weeds out of a garden. I spent most of the day doing all of those things while helping my daughter and son-in-law prepare to move into the house they just bought, but now I need to give my back a rest while they tackle the next round of work.
A few weeks ago I asked them what they liked best about this house, and my daughter lauded the flower gardens and space for a vegetable garden while my son-in-law said, "I'm looking forward to coming home at the end of the day and having fix-it projects to work on." They will both have their wish.
The previous owner must have been crazy about gardening, because the house is surrounded by flower beds packed with irises, columbine, hollyhocks, poppies, roses, yucca, lavender, mint, hostas, and a whole host of other flowers. Unfortunately, the previous owner has not been able to maintain those gardens for a while, so they're all overgrown and jungly; we spent a good three hours this morning clearing ivy, mint, and weeds from one large flower bed.
For weeks the young people have been growing vegetable plants in pots in their apartment, and last weekend they tilled up a plot behind the house and planted their vegetable garden--before they had even signed the papers to purchase the house. The closing was delayed to await some necessary documents, but there's no delaying tomato plants.
There's plenty more gardening to do and plenty of fix-it projects too--painting rooms, tearing out wallpaper, pulling up carpet, repairing steps. I look around and see a lot of work, but they have a vision of the finished product. I'm just happy to have the opportunity to help make that vision a reality.
3 comments:
In the sweat of their wotsit shalt they eat thingy, as it were. Work ahead, but the garden's bones look good.
D.
It's that kind of work that turns a house into a home.
How exciting! Congrats to both of them! Betsy
Post a Comment