Mother's Day Growth and Meet Wolverine.

First and foremost, happy Mother's day to all the mothers out there and as well to the men who have survived it for I am sure you are just as "happy" that it's over and the pressure is off.

Mothers love hand made gifts from their children, especially those that remind them they are 6 foot tall and 38 pounds (see two posts ago for the full story). However, this Mother's day has not only found a place in my heart, but also in my mind because it made me remember something I tend to forget.

As all parents of small children know, it's rare that you can go out to a meal and not have someone comment on your children. Today when we went out for breakfast, an inordinate number of people old and young, men and women, came to our table, patted me on the shoulder, commented on the children and wished me a happy Mother's Day. I reciprocated in turn when appropriate and left breakfast with a smile and a glow around my heart. As we ran our errands and walked up and down the aisles of the stores, more and more people issued the phrase with a smile. I began to initiate the Mother's Day wishes as the morning wore on, saw the effect of it on others and mulled it over.

I didn't know these people from Adam. They didn't know me. Today wasn't like the Thanksgiving or Christmas season where everyone greets everyone until the phrases have little to no meaning to them. Today, I was greeted with endearing eye contact and a salutation full of sentiment for they, themselves, were all mothers or those who were remembering their own mothers fondly.

We are all in this together. I tend to forget this at times as busy as life gets. Consequently, it is with a warm heart and a thoughtful glance that I am wishing you all a happy Mother's day.

Then, there's Wolverine. I haven't known him long, but he's most likely only going to look out for himself. When we were in the hardware store today, I lost sight of the boy and found him with a plant in hand talking to one of the clerks. He had found a Venus Flytrap and the clerk was showing him how it closed up when it was tickled. He was fascinated and so was his father. They bought the plant but no amount of pleading on his father's or my part could convince that boy to name the plant "Audrey"; we all settled on his idea of "Wolverine" because of the spine like feelers on its edges.

The bean the girl planted at the "master gardener's" fair and the lima beans the boy brought home for Mother's Day from school are both sprouting. I'll need to find something to do with these soon.
I pulled the rest of the bolting onions to make way for the watermelon and found this oddity. The roots on the watermelon I was transplanting were very shallow...is this how watermelons should be? I'm worried they won't root well.

I also planted a yellow pear tom (my favorite) in the side box.

The beans in hanging baskets are starting to wind their way up the planter and onto the hook. Sooner than later they will be sprawling on the deck like I had envisioned.

The purple beans in the side box are about to flower, the eggplant has its second flower and the peppers are holding the spent flowers and you can see small peppers emerging. I hope they stay healthy and don't drop off like the others have. The SSpeas are getting larger daily and the okra in the pot seems to have the beginnings of flower buds on it as well. I think I'll be able to pick my first three or four Tuesday or so. I pulled all but two of the lettuces since they looked like they were trying very hard to bolt. Over all, it was a good gardening day.

The morning comes early. Particularly on a Monday. Sweet gardening dreams.