Foto finish-My Garden

I took this picture this afternoon.  This is My garden but it is in my parent's back yard.  There is not a lot of color at the moment as most of the perennial plants have not yet bloomed.  I say it is My garden because it was reborn during the time I lived with my parents while I was recovering from cancer surgery and going through chemo.  Mom and Dad had wanted to restructure this as it had just been a raised terraced bed in a hill with plants all mixed by size.  So mom dug out all the plants and dad killed all the chickweed that was left.  They asked me what they should do so I drew up a plan.  Sometimes I wonder if this garden was a way to direct our energies in a positive way during a very hard time.

   Anyway my design really looked like the picture above, with the path down the middle.  Because I was going through chemo my sister nurse forbade me from touching dirt and plants.  So I supervised. My parents mixed in compost and turned it over, covered it with landscape fabric and brought in a load of stone and mulch to create little beds to surround the plants with. 

See the stool in the top picture-a large rock on end with a wood top set in on a rod in a concrete base.  Dad made that for me to sit on. 

When recovering from surgery I would make slow walks around the yard and down to the dock.  Mom and Dad's one cat Friski at the time, would walk with me. 



Friski in her favorite position.

We would rest at the stool and Friski would roll around upside down for me to pet her belly.  Then we would continue to the dock where we would sit by the lake and feed the piranhas (voracious sunfish).  I was like clockwork that the fish would feel the vibrations of my feet on the dock and start swimming frantically looking for bread.  Then after a while we would walk up through the middle of the yard resting on the bench by the pond.  Friski and I would look at the gold fish.  It was my secret garden.  I love it and still walk that way when I go to the lake though Friski is gone and now Jazzy-Girl walks with me.  I still always have to sit on my stool. 

See more Foto Finish-Garden pictures here.

Keep dreaming...Colleen

One of three stepping stones I made from left over concrete
 and a bucket when we created the garden.  I painted my name and nails and added colored rocks.