While I was fully occupied pondering said changes, my daughters hatched a scheme to show up with the two eldest grandsons and do some spring cleanup. Now, don't get thinking this is any kind of a regular thing, it's the first time EVER they've done it. Maybe they confused my pondering with doddering.
On a beautiful, sunny Saturday, in came daughter #1, you all know as Farm Girl, and two of her boys and daughter #2, City Girl, and her little girl. They were dressed for action.
Let me tell you, folks, it's just plain weird when the kids take over your space. I thought we'd do a little raking, maybe take care of the burn pile and have a nice visit.
Instead, I think it was a lesson in ~
I hooked the wagon to the garden tractor and told the grandsons I'd be back to haul the stuff away when they had the wagon filled. Grandson #2 hopped on and drove it away himself. What! Oh right, he's 18 and drives a car.
Where did my baby boy go? He asked for a bottle of water. Te he. Grandma doesn't do plastic water bottles. I gave him my pink thermos. And then I took a picture of him with it and posted it for all to see. ~
This boy, by the way, is a brilliant pianist. You can imagine how thrilled I was when he risked those pianist hands by firing up a chainsaw and cutting down some scrub walnut trees. The only thing that topped it was his brother the artist risking his hands with an axe!
Only an artist shows up in skinny jeans and John Lennon sunglasses for this kind of work!
Has time been marching on without me knowing it? What possessed me to follow those poor boys around saying things like, "You have to clutch to change gears on the tractor" and "Careful you don't hit your leg with the chainsaw"? They live on a farm for Pete's sakes. I'm sure they know how to do this stuff.
At least Stella is still a little kid. She may live in a city, highrise condo but she had the time of her life playing with the cats and feeding the chickens copious quantities of treats. I wondered why one chicken was following her around all day until I saw the empty container of sunflower seeds.
That City Girl participated in this yard cleanup is amazing! As she told me she'd, "rather spend 17 lifetimes in Nelson Mandella's prison than own a yard". I'm not even sure she's exaggerating.
I think my girls are discussing forcing me into an apartment here. Or, maybe they are taking me directly to the nursing home. ~
What did I learn from all this? Hmmm
I learned that you sometimes have to reassess your situation and see if it's time to make some changes to make life simpler. Not nursing home changes; just the kind of changes that streamline things a bit and free up some time.
I learned that I don't like being told what to do. Surprise! That just may be why I've always been self-employed. I should probably work on being more receptive to suggestions.
I learned that I love my kids and my grandkids and I'm very lucky to have a family that will take time out of their busy lives to give me a hand. Farm Girl has her own chores to do and six kids to raise. City Girl has a baby at home and Stella to care for. Both drove over an hour to get to my place and delayed their drives home to handle another difficult situation for me. I'll talk about that in another post.
At the end of the day, I said to myself, "Well, welcome to another crossroad in life, Maureen". The next day I plotted out the new, smaller vegetable garden. Who knows, I may like this bend in the road.
I may even get myself one of these. ~
Thank you kids! Love you, even if you did rip out some of my Ivy.
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