The Flower Child has Stifled the Earth Mother.

     We dug a garden. 27X10 feet, for all the veggies I was going to grow and nurture and can and feed my children with, thusly saving money, encourage nutritious eating, foster responsibility with tending this magical patch of wonderment. We dug it, but we didn't plant it. Between the constant rain, my schedule, and general direction of life lately, we haven't gotten past planting peas. (Which are all doing beautifuly, by the way. I do wander between the raindrops occasionaly and check on them.) So now, I have this enormous hole in my back yard, and nothing in it. It isn't even asymetrical, like my other flower beds. Just a boring rectangle strip of dirt, where the swing set used to be. I am a failure,  my children are not going to learn responsibility, and their poor little bodies are going to have to suffer through veggies bought at the store and Farmer's Markets. I am going to hell for this neglect.
Pretty much every single thing, INCLUDING, to my absolute distress, my biggest vice, chewing gum, that one  eats, or serves food off of - is going to kill you. In a slow and painful death, guaranteed to cost outraged taxpayers money somehow, and put a further strain on the economy. Sleep through THAT thought.

It is  too late to plant veggies, I am actively looking for a few per diem and part time jobs, and,  do not have the time to tend and harvest this garden, let alone can anything. Maybe next year. I can decontaminate my water, make safe pottery, grow my own food that is chemical free, and save the world. Right this minute? Mama does the best she can, and tries not to cringe at all the horrors we are serving our families, which is posted with gleeful regularity on Facebook and splashed across the free presses. Short of living in a cave, and going back to the Pioneer way of living, I have to work with what we have.

     All this being said, I still have a strip of dug up lawn to deal with. The options are as such :

Let it grow over, and absorb back into the general lawn.

Leave it until next year, and try again.

Use it for Joe's Boot Camp Birthday party next week, by digging it freshly and adding lots of water, making it into a mud pit.

Turn it into another perenial flower bed, adding herbs and a seating area.

So much potential!!!!!!! I have been wanting to play with a new area and let my imagination go wild with it. And, how amazing is a mud pit for a large group of 8 year old boys? So much fun. So, that is what will happen first.
And then I will still have a large mud pit in my back yard. With all the other options. At the end of the day, I love my flowers. I like to just sit outside on my patio and soak up the peace, while I look at my flower beds. Which, while not Better Homes and Garden's quality, make me happy. And the kids love to run through the garden next to the patio.
Just wandering around the backyard pulling weeds and admiring my plants is one of my greatest pleasures. So, selfishly, I am turning the almost veggie garden into another flower bed.

The ideas have been tumbling around in my head, and were confirmed by a sign. I was scrolling through Craig's List, looking for an inexpensive chandalier for my bedroom, and happened upon a bathtub. Hmmmm. They can be absolutely the tackiest things ever, if not done correctly. I looked up images of  'bathtubs in the garden' online, and had to wince at some of the pictures I clicked through. But, What if I turned it into a little garden pool with some sort of fountain? How nifty would that be? Put some landscaping around it, some stone pathways through the entire garden, build some seating, maybe a trellis arbor with climbing roses, mix lots of herbs in, lots of perenials, add some fun odds n ends - this has the potential to be a really nifty thing in a few years.

Ah ideas. Right now, it is still a strip of dirt. And, this chick still needs to find the time and energy to make it happen. And, I am hoping the bearded guy that continues to stick around, can run any neccissary electricity needed for the bathtub/pool/pond/fountain.
Kinda wondering what the story is behind the identity concealing beard. He is probably a mountain man on the run from the illegal liqour stils in the hills of the South. I don't ask too many questions. It makes me less of an accomplice that way. And, I will take the labor when I can get it. I imagine the relief of not having to think about scraping the house will be great for Bearded Man.

That's the big excitement now. No alter fires, no kidnappings, no car wrecks. It was a blessedly calm-ish week. Take care till next time!