He's baaaack!

Yesterday we made some progress on our landscaping project. The beautiful home that the Lord provided for us three years ago came with mature landscaping. That was a new paradigm for me and Jill as a couple. We have both had previous homes with mature landscaping, but for me the last four homes I have lived in were brand new, and it was up to me (and Jill in the last two) to see that they were landscaped. So, having mature landscaping seemed like a blessing, when we moved in here. 

Well, there are good things and not so good things about mature landscaping. In our case, there were four rhododendrons and a hydrangea planted in the foundation bed in the front of the house. Now, if you know much about gardening, you will realize that these are plants that, while slow growing, can become rather large. In fact, our mature plants had grown large enough to cover a good bit of the windows in two of our bedrooms. Our yard maintenance man is a wonderful guy named José. José would do anything to help someone in need and has been very helpful in keeping our grounds looking manicured and presentable. 

But José is not a horticulturalist; he is a yard maintenance man, and very good at it. José keeps the grass mowed and edged. He fertilizes the lawn and trims the hedges. And he trims every shrub into a perfect globe or cylinder shape. Unfortunately, that results in things like rhododendrons becoming very dense and compact without many blooms. 

So, as nice as the shrubs looked, they were too big for the space in which they were planted and they didn't provide much seasonal interest. So, last spring, we arranged to have the large shrubs covering the windows removed. Then I got sick and things ground to a halt. This spring, we decided to remove a boxwood hedge that lined one side of the front walk, because it seemed to close off the approach to our home, making it look uninviting. On the other side of the walk was a Japanese lace leaf maple tree that hung over the walkway, making it difficult for visitors to navigate. So, they had to go, and now we have a blank canvas on which to personalize our landscaping. 

We put a lot of thought into the look we want to create, and then we bought some plants. Then the spring rains came. We have had the 6th wettest April of all time this year. In more quantitative terms, we have had nearly double the average amount of rain for April. Now that brings us to yesterday. 

I had ordered some garden soil to be delivered in the morning. As the morning wore on, no soil arrived. So, I got busy cleaning out our very clogged gutters. Around 2PM, I called the landscape shop to check on our soil delivery. It turns out they had the order but had forgotten to schedule the delivery. A little before 3PM, the truck arrived with our order, so we set to work building some berms in the garden. 

Jill loads the wheelbarrow, while I...uh, what was it I was doing??

 

 

 

It's difficult to show 3D objects, but here are our berms.

And now (thanks for staying with me here) for the point of this rambling account. At the end of the day, I was amazed at what we had accomplished. Jill was a huge factor in getting the job done, but what amazed me is that my body was able to do so much. I am less than six months out from completing my five rounds of chemotherapy, but I am feeling and functioning as I did before I began to get sick. Once again, God's amazing design for the human body and its ability to recover from massive trauma and disease has blown me away. 

"...for I am fearfully and wonderfully made." (Psalm 139:14)