leah's Blog

Entry for May 19, 2007
May 19, 2007 | 10:52 PM PST
Tags: mother's day , gift , rugosa rose , lilac , violet , yarrow

One of my patients' mother was having a rough weekend last Friday night, so I put together a little care package of plants from my yard for her and gave it to her, from my patient, for Mother's Day last weekend. I gave her a rugosa rose baby, 3 pots with 3 stems in each of lilac, 3 pots with 2 starts in each of yarrow, 3 pots with 3 starts in each of violets, and 2 pots with 1 start in each of oriental tiger lily. My patient is 11, has a developmental level much younger, and does not speak, but I told her mother that W was upset that she couldn't get up out of the bed and go get something for Mother's Day, so I promised I would take care of it for her. W's house doesn't have a whole lot of ornamental landscaping and I wasn't sure if her mom had much of a green thumb, so I typed up a letter from W to her mother that included how big each thing would get, what to expect from it, and what sort of care it needed. Along with some more personal stuff purporting to be from her daughter, which may seem odd to people who don't work with children like this, but I assure you, they each have very distinct personalities, know exactly who they do and do not like, and express their feelings quite clearly. At times you can even tell how frustrated she gets that she can't actually speak. I've been working with her for about a year or so now and in the very beginning her mother told me how much it meant to her that I talk to her when she's awake, as some of the nurses do their work in silence, thinking because she can't speak back that it's not important to interact with her. It seems the most obvious thing in the world to me. Anyway, she cried and said she was going to frame the letter.

I worked there again this past Friday and the plants haven't made it into the ground yet, but they're looking well, all except the rose is still a bit wilted. I think the plan was to plant them yesterday. I hope they do well.

(I didn't do anything at all in the yard today other than refill the bird feeder, so a story instead.)

Entry for May 13, 2007
May 14, 2007 | 10:54 PM PST
Tags: cape daisy , mother's day , petunia , azalea , primrose , mailbox , vinca , mr k , beast , orchid , seeds

Mother's Day, slept through the alarm and just barely made it awake in time to get to church with my mother.  Snuck in just as the service was starting.  Was running so late I left the blueberry bushes and the card home, but it's not like I was dressed for planting anyway.  I'll go put them in the ground later this week.

By the time I got back home, after going to my grandparents' house with my mother to deliver a hanging basket overflowing with pink petunias, Mr K had been working out in the yard for a good long while, from the looks of things.  The mailbox area has now undergone a massive renovation.  He put one of the azaleas, both primroses, and a few of the leftover vincas from a prior trip out there.  What use to be about an 18" diameter circle around the mailbox is now nearly 10' long and 8' wide.  It still has some more room to plant things, but that's OK because we still have some more things to plant.  Of course the rest of the mulch was still in the back of the beast, so he was eagerly awaiting my return.

He's really been doing a lot out there this week.  But now we need to start concentrating on inside, because we're having company next Sunday, and we've been spending every waking minute on yard-related stuff, and that doesn't leave much time for keeping the inside tidy.  With 3 dogs and 2 cats running around, just the shed hair at this time of the year is overwhelming.

Gave Mr K's mom a pot of purple Cape Daisies for her birthday, and a hanging pot of vincas for Mother's Day.  Gave Sylvia an orchid.  I do believe that's the first time I've ever seen Cape Daisies before, and I'll be looking for seeds for next year.  They were neat looking.