Tonight, Abby and I will be concluding The Secret Garden written by Frances Burnett. I never read this book as a child, at least that I can remember, so it had been on the list of books that I wanted to read to the kids. What an amazing story! Abby has been riveted throughout the entire book. I realize that I'm biased since I love almost anything related to gardens, but the book is about so much more than that. Our particular edition is illustrated by Inga Moore, and the marvelously detailed pictures in this version make an already amazing story even more compelling.
I heartily look forward to reading it again with Caroline in a few years. However, I will definitely need to polish my Yorkshire accent before then. Several of the key characters speak in "broad Yorkshire" and those characters' dialogs are written phonetically. Fortunately for me, Abby has no idea what that is supposed to sound like. I really butchered it -- badly!
I worked on our own Secret Garden for several hours this weekend at the house and made some real progress moving the mulch mountain from the driveway into the flower beds. As the trees finish leafing out, I was hoping to find a suitable place in the backyard to have a vegetable garden, but it is just too shady for tomatoes (great for summer play, though!). The sides of the house are also far too shady, so it's the front yard or nothing. Although I briefly contemplated not planting tomatoes, I just can't do it. I'm a garden tomato addict. There....I've said it! So, I ended up planting the tomatoes along the walkway to the house. Maybe I'll put a few annuals in between so it doesn't look too bizarre. Even if it does look weird...who cares. The San Marzanos, Lemon Boys, and Big Boys will be mine!
Lack of sun aside, I have decided my favorite part of the yard is the side passageway that seems like the entrance to our Secret Garden. The bushes and trees planted by the first owner have grown tall and curve inward and the path is covered with aged wood chips. I've added a few hostas to the front of the path to make it seem even more lush. It's perfect.
Lastly, I'm sad/irritated/exasperated to report that the interior of my house is not nearly as tranquil as the pathway above would suggest. In the very short time that it took me to write the first paragraph of this blog entry, Caroline and Ben managed to scream at each other four separate times. For some reason, today's lunch and the Candyland game pieces are sources of extreme contention. I am so very tired of listening to all the screaming here. And, it's only Monday! Unfortunately, I clearly remember fighting with my own brother until I graduated from high school, and that is still a looooong way off. I think I'm going to go outside and stand in the pathway and take a few deep breaths. I'm going avoid looking at the rest of the yard since I realized earlier today that I have only pruned 8 of the 50-ish shrubs around the perimeter of the yard. One thing at a time, right?
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