I was just a young girl who hated doing yard work.  And we had a huge yard.  My earliest memories are of pulling some weeds and raking leaves on mostly non-rainy days.  An occasional worm or spider would take me by surprise and leave me apprehensive to complete my assigned task.  I hated the creepy crawly things, but I loved the wheel barrow rides my dad offered after the leaves were disposed of.  I also helped my mom in the garden they had planted.  I didn’t like that either, but I did enjoy picking and sneakily eating any raspberries and blueberries I could find.

As I got older, I learned how to use power tools like the weed eater and lawn mower.  I’m still a little emotionally scarred from from whacking off the tail of a snake with the weed eater.  An accident, of course. I still feel a bit guilty.

The lawn was daunting.  It took a solid 3 hours of straight pushing to mow.  The mower would spit an occasional rock at my leg and sometimes I had to stop and run away, arms flailing, from an angry bee.  I am still grateful that grass in the PNW doesn’t grow year-round.  When I moved out, my dad bought a ride-on lawn mower.  I swore I’d have a rock garden in the future.

Fast forward …let’s say a few years…and I am now a married lady with a house of my own and a yard to accompany it.  After living in apartments all my adult life, I was excited to give some of my potted plants a permanent home.  I also missed the fresh outdoor scent and the sun or clouds or even a bit of rain above.

We have a front yard, a back yard, and a lower, wild, forest-like yard.  All together it’s about 1/4th the size of the yard I had growing up, but it feels about 5 times the work.  Work I actually enjoy now.  With garden gloves so I don’t have to touch anything creepy crawly.  I still run from bees though and I’ve developed the habit of swearing like a sailor and freaking out when I notice a spider in my path, or on my glove, or anywhere near me.  The struggle is real, but I’m up for the challenge now.

When we first moved in, we inherited a hose from the former owner and a rake from my dad that I used a long time ago in a yard far, far away.  It’s a bit rusty, but it bolsters my confidence and reminds me that I used to do yard work and what I didn’t know how to do before, I can certainly learn now.

With my rusty rake in hand and Lowe’s just a few miles away, let the garden adventures begin!