During my teenage years I never give a second thought to what was in he garden or the wonders of nature in a park, absolutely not. My entire focus was making sure my mini skirt looked the biz, along with the eyeliner as I strutted around in my beige plastic fashion boots that would freeze my feet in winter because they were really nothing more than glorified wellies!
When the years evolved and I got married and eventually along came children I never found the time to appreciate the garden, other than keeping it nice and tidy and watching the kids playing through my kitchen window while preparing dinner. I was too busy with household chores. I mean in the early days for me there were no fancy automatic machines, tumble dryers etc, just a boiler, a mangle, and a pair of hands! Only well off people would possess a twin tub, a vacuum cleaner and could afford carpets. I had linoleum flooring throughout and washed an entire 3 bedroomed house on my knees taking turns with the rooms so they all stayed clean. Needless to say my weight was no more than 8 stone in those days of never ending cleaning, cooking and washing!
It was when time evolved again and the kids flew the nest I started to wonder about the garden more and things started to catch my eye. For instance, the honey bees that buzzed around the flowers, and the little birds on hot summer days that would use the small ornate fountain as a shower that really amused me.
I started helping my other half in the garden, he told me all the names of the flowers he knew with their Latin names, I still cannot say them! I was given the chore of weeding, (I hated coming across the worms), and would gingerly move on to the next patch until the wiggly creature found its way back beneath the soil.
There was a robin that would sit on my husband’s spade when he left it upright in the middle of where he was digging. I would watch the robin sitting on the fence waiting for the spade to become redundant then it would fly over and sit on the handle. It did not seem to have any fear at all, and would stay quite near to my husband when he was in the garden.
I started to enjoy walking through the park on the way to town taking in the colours of each season. The blossom that creates a blanket in the sky of pinks and white in spring. The vibrant colours of Autumn in reds, orange and browns, then the red and orange berries on the hedges in winter sparkling from the cold days after a frost.
It is true what they say that mother nature is a great tonic, she is like a source of healing, when things are not so great, with a beauty that can lift your spirits, and it is all free for everyone to enjoy, peaceful and tranquil!
