A Neighborly Visit

Sunday morning was sunny and sweet. We had a lovely time catching up with our nearest neighbor, Joyce, who walked over with her little princess, Jaycee, bringing us a surprise cream cake. We hadn’t had a good chin wag in a while. They were all sick or working, with little time to chat. We had been sick too and have barely come out of it still. So, I made a pot of plum and boysenberry tea to go along with my naughty breakfast of a slab of cream cake that John served me.
Eventually, after hitting every subject we could manage to remember, we all went outside. It was my first time in certain decimated areas of our back garden, that I hadn’t had the heart to see up close. And it was worse than I could imagine because our wall of trees that gave us such magnificent privacy was completely removed, leaving huge swathes of what looked like a warzone left near our largest pond, which had been so sheltered from the road. This part of the property isn’t on our plot but it is right behind what was a very special little area that John created with wit and whimsy. Now it is exposed to the roadway.
Then there is the chook house area that has also been affected by the removal of rows of poplars and some very large and beautiful pines. That has let in more light to the garden nearby but has also taken away so much of the charm. Fences are still down and huge trunks still need to be carted away and smaller trees still need to be turned into firewood since they’re still lying on the ground outside in the back garden areas. Many pathways have been obstructed. Many pathways and plantings need help to survive the onslaught of what’s fallen on them.
I’m not sure if we have the tenacity to complete this clean up since there are so many places that have been destroyed. Perhaps a crew of helpers could get us over the line. I’m just not sure. But there was a bright spot to our garden walk and that was the large frog pond that John made a few years ago. We could hardly see it now that the grasses have grown so large and full around it and the surrounding grass has not been mowed in weeks because it’s been too wet. This whole part of the garden is constantly soaked as it’s the lowest spot we have. But after approaching the water with Sassy the doggie on a lead, we spotted 4 of the 6 original goldfish John placed into the water and have they grown! Surprisingly too, since he hasn’t fed them all winter and they still survived the awful weather. And after he sprinkled some fish food, they all came up to the surface, posing for my camera. I particularly like the orange and white splotchy one. Quite stunning.
In the end Joyce suggested that she’d help us clean up the mess in the back, saying that she’ll bring her mulcher for the small twigs and branches that we could then put on the ground to clean up a few pathways. And we can let her have some of the firewood that she can cut up with her chainsaw, as Jake, our son, made a rather artistic wall using the logs that he cut up on top of the larger ones the loggers cut for us, and we certainly don’t need any more wood for our fire. Towards the end of the visit, I took Jaycee into my room to show her some jewelry as she showed me her new clip-on earrings. And I gave her a necklace I haven’t worn in years that’s perfect for her. She is a very girly little girl and is usually dressed as some kind of princess and it suits her. So, whenever I have something sweet that I’m giving away, she seems to end up with it. I have 4 grandsons, one is grown up and with a son of his own (my great grandson) and the younger ones wouldn’t want what I give to her and even though we’re not related, she really has a special place in my heart.