May 30th, the last day of the month. It’s another warm day though it is not quite as hot as the previous few days. There is a breeze and there are clouds. These days, I have to do my gardening in the morning or in the evening when the sun has gone down. Some days I’m working both ends of the day. Otherwise there will be no veggies or flowers. There’ll be nothing but weeds. For me that’s a sign of mental health problems. So I put on my big girl’s pants, pull up my socks and buckle up my shoes. I got out my trowel, pitch fork, hoe, whipper snipper and got to work.

First I finished planting the raised bed in the front. Half of it has been planted with kohlrabi and a couple of cucumbers. I finished filling it with celery. It is a good companion for the brassica family. A butternut squash filled in the emplty corner. I gave the whole bed a good watering. The grass has shot up in the heat. And those hateful creeping bellflowers are thriving in massive clumps all over the place. The new batteries for the whipper snipper are working great for whipping them and the grass down to the ground level. I was a sweaty mess at the end of it.

After a little rest and quenching my thirst, I packed my equipment in the car along with some bedding plants and headed over to my father’s. I was going to plant my mother’s front flower bed today, no matter what. It was not an easy task as they were really dry and overgrown with weeds. After some digging and hoeing and weeding, I planted some wave petunias and marigolds in one bed. I gave it a good soaking. Then I tackled the bed on the other side. It was tougher because I was hot, sweating and really tired by then. But I was determined and got over half the bed dug and cleared. It was good enough to plant half a dozen or so Chinese edible chrysanthemums. My father came out to watch but I had no spare energy to visit beyond a few words. After another thorough watering of everything I planted, I came home and crashed.

It is nice to have the time to myself, not having to talk or care for anyone. I can just wilt in peace and not think of anything or anyone. A water melon would have been nice but lacking that, a nice big juicy ambrosia apple was good enough. When I thirsting for something cold and wet, it is hot and dry.