Spring

It is spring. Normally that doesn't mean a lot to me as one season is pretty much like another other than for what I might choose to wear.

This past month, however, has been extremely stressful an expensive for me, and expensive is also stressful. My daughter is currently serving jail time for drunk driving. She has allowed her sometimes violent girlfriend to remain in the house, and while said girlfriend has been good it's one of those shoes to drop situations. Her ex is getting remarried and that caused stress. Since she and the girlfriend cannot drive, I've been doing a lot more of that as well, though they have been reimbursing me for gas.

The money thing is just ridiculous this month. It started out with my car needing $750 worth of repairs and an oil change. Then my hard drive went out and my printer put its little electronic legs into the air and expired. I had to buy a new security suite for the computer.

In the mail came my yearly renewals for my car insurance and also for my Costco membership, both at the same time.

Next I had to get new glasses. Another $250+ down the drain since I need special lenses and stuff. That is cheap by the way compared to what I usually pay, but the insurance took care of a pile of it.

Yesterday my sister tells me she's been in an accident and needs $1800 to get the car fixed so she and two of her kids can continue going to work. Today the medical place calls and tells me replacing my CPAP machine is going to cost me $146. I'm just monied out. My stress levels started hitting critical range.

So yesterday I went out and spent $60 I really cannot afford. Why would I do that, you ask? Well, I need some relief from the stress. For me, that means gardening. So I bought some plants (8 I think), some dirt, a weeder for dandelions, and a few packages of easy to grow seeds. The weather here is bright and sunny and in the 70s. So this morning I went out and with help got the herb garden tub moved where it belongs. Then I murdered an entire bucket of dandelions. I dug up everything in the herb garden, tossing what was dead, being nice to what survived. Then I added nice new dirt and replanted the good ones along with the three extra ones I bought yesterday. I also realized I needed gloves about the fourth or fifth time I had to dig dirt out from under my nails. I also need grass seed to compete with the murdered remains of the dandelions. Then I emptied out one of the porch planters so I could plant pansies. I have this pretty new planter full of blue and white pansies.

Today's gardening is over and I feel much more relaxed as a result. So what's next? Well, tomorrow I will make a run to get the gloves and the grass seed. I'll also fill up the pots I bought (really cheap on sale) and will plant nasturtium, sweetpeas, and a wildlife blend of seeds. I have a leftover big pot from last year. That gets some columbines. After that I am almost done for this time. I'll plant two bulbs I have in the house, and see if they grow as well.

In a couple of weeks the main garden goes in. We're being a bit more circumspect this year and will mainly grow stuff we do does well in our climate. Next year, and yes I'm already planning, we will have spring bulbs (planted this fall), and then late summer and fall bulbs (planted later in the year). And my daughter has promised I get my lilac bush before the end of the year.

Gardening relaxes me. It is exercise with a purpose. It doesn't make demands and doesn't talk back. It just does what you want sometimes. It gives me a feeling of accomplishment like nothing else I know of. Best of all it forces me to go outside into the sunshine.

I have to go now. I am taking the dogs to visit my daughter. The garden has begun.