Thursday, May 20, 2010

Gardening with Henry, and much praying going on...

The other day, Hank went to check on the little flower seed he had growing in a pot on our dining room windowsill. Suddenly, we heard the sound parents are so very used to:

*small crash*

"Uh oh..... Sowy."

I knew that he felt bad about it, and he had been so excited about planting that little seed. So, yesterday on my way home, I stopped off at Home Depot's nursery, since I had a gift card. I picked up a kit for a small potted herb garden, and a potted cactus.

Major caveat: Your Catholic Librarian does *not* have a green thumb. I kill things. I don't mean to! I think I kill them with love. "You look like you need more water even though I just watered you 10 minutes ago. Here you go..." This actually also goes for pets, and is part of the reason why we have none. Just ask Mike about the fish. I was forever obsessively cleaning their tank and worrying over them. "Honey, I think Ignatius has fin rot! Do vets see Beta Fish?"

So, I figured with a cactus, much harder to kill. The instructions say to water only very sparingly and only when the soil is completely dry. All they need is some sun (well, that is a bit of a problem around here) and occasional watering. I spotted one sporting an orange flower. Orange is a color that simply isn't appreciated enough. I love orange. "Do you want to go home with me? You *do*? Ok." *beams*

I arrive home, and Hank is all excited about the herbs. Mike looks at my new friend, the cactus, with much suspicion.

"Hank, don't touch it! It'll hurt you. Why did you get a cactus?"

I explained my theory and he wasn't impressed. I popped it on the kitchen windowsill, and it immediately caught it's spiny things on the kitchen curtain and prevented it from billowing out with the open window. This furthered Mike's displeasure with it's existence in our house. Arching a brow, I accused him of being an Anti-Cacti - A cactus hater :) *I* like the cactus. Hopefully, it won't croak.

After dinner, Hank and I glommed onto the herb kit. It came with a stand, 5 pots, 5 "dirt pellets" (kind of creepy) and 5 packets of seeds for cilantro, chives, basil, parsley, and thyme. We had to soak the dirt pellets in water. Hank loved this part. Before I knew it, he had dumped in enough water to flood the kitchen, and scarily enough, the pellets waited a beat, and then slurped the water down as if they were alive. I think this is why I don't garden much.

We mushed up the dirt, popped it into the pots, and arranged the seeds, covering them with a bit more dirt. We have them by our dining room windows. Crossing our fingers that they grow. I love fresh herbs. Cilantro = fresh guacamole. Yum.......

This morning dawned as a beautiful spring day. Before I even got Hank to school, I received a call on my cell from my mom, with grandmother updates. I talked to her on my way in to work, so I wasn't able to pray my usual morning rosary. On my walk from the parking lot into my office, I whipped out my new Our Lady Star of the Sea chaplet and prayed that. It's so, so perfect for a shorter window of opportunity for prayer, and it soothed me greatly. It fits in my hand nicely too; more portable than a full set of rosary beads. I'm planning to visit my grandmother this afternoon at the hospital. After she has her surgery, it's going to be a long haul between her recovery and all of us pitching in to care for my frailer grandfather. One day at a time.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Thank you for commenting! I read and appreciate every single one, and I will respond to each one personally!