An excellent weather day called for finishing up a sewing order first thing, bolting down some leftover pizza and hurrying out that back door into our messy canvas of a backyard. I got so much done, but one wouldn’t necessarily know that just looking, so I will enumerate my accomplishments. My muscles and I do feel accomplished today.

• Many, many forsythias unearthed, including one which I named The Mother, and which would not go without a fight. I plunked my baby elderberry (seen in the compost with the fence behind it) into her former home.
• Also removed: Almost as much ivy, which was thankfully more amenable to being ripped from its earthly home. That bare-looking soil under the stairs was covered in ivy. That was a fun place to crawl into. I planted fern babies there instead.
• Planted ferns among the black cohosh along the shady side of the garage, and also in Saoirse’s back corner magnolia rhododendron fort. (I have SO much to learn.)
• Plunked 36 viola odorata into the front grass.
• Placed Saoirse’s two dwarf hairy penstemon plants at the top of the slide.
• Isn’t my assistant gardener the sweetest?

At one point I came in for a glass of water and flopped onto the living room floor for a quick rest. When I got up, I had this amazing sense of newness and gratitude, and that “I can’t believe this is my life” (in a good way) sort of feeling, which was all the more surprising and welcome considering how grumpy I felt this morning. Gardening is really healthy stuff, huh?