Is There A Dr in the House, or Where is Dr. House?

          My shoulders & upper back ache, along with the backs of my thighs. I have a red flush on my face, and my biceps hurt. When I try to move, my body shouts in disbelief that I'm actually making it work.  Should Dr. House be called in? Is this the beginning of a string of ever worsening symptoms to some life-threatening disease with a name longer than supercalifragilisticespialadocious? Will they need to take every test imaginable, drain me of blood for testing, and use all the newest techniques and machinery known to the medical world while consulting with the best diagnosticians that can be found?  Why am I hurting so badly?

          OH, that’s right.  I began the spring gardening yesterday!  Finally, I get a day of sun, warmth and no wind when I’m off work. It was magnificent.  I pulled all of the covering out of the herb bed, and after removing the dirt scattered by Mr. Guayo’s digging, I found that the thyme, rosemary, lemon balm, and oregano definitely made it through the winter and are greening up.  Possibly the marjoram, but not sure on it yet, as felt like roots were tight, but no greening. Now I’ll just have to plant parsley and cilantro in there, and it’s good to go!

Last week after the snow melted, I checked the garlic and low and behold beautiful new green sprouts everywhere! So I watered the garlic and then cleaned up the herb garden.  Roy helped me pick up, carry, and set up 5--40 pound bags of garden soil into a couple of the raised beds that the previous owners had built and which actually drew me to this house. I filled two large half wine barrel planters with a potting soil/garden soil/compost mixture after drilling holes in the bottoms for drainage. While I had the drill in action, I went ahead and drilled holes in the dish drainer. Why? Because……it didn’t drain right!  Guess they didn’t get the concept of dish ”drainer”?  
Once the soils and amenities were in place, I planted shallots, dug up and weeded one of the other raised beds, and filled in the holes where Guayo the digger dog from hell had dug out around the septic clean out and a couple of the large pieces of flagstone.  I refilled them using a mixture of soil and cayenne pepper. Hopefully that will deter him from further digging. (Report from 2 days later...didn't help a bit with Guayo nor for deterring the javelinas from digging in my Star Gazer Lily pots)

          Roy and I went to Home Depot and picked up 6'x3' fencing and I made sure it was in place around the herb garden and the new plot with the shallots planted. I’ll have to fence in each of the 8 raised beds already in place, just to keep the little pup out of them. And more beds are in the planning.  I also got carried away and purchased Big Boy and Early Girl tomatoes, pole beans, and yellow sweet peppers. Then I remembered it was the beginning of March and these particular items couldn’t be planted outside until after all fear of frost was gone. Now common gardening knowledge is not to put out warm weather plants until after Mother’s Day, or at least May 1.  So we now are babysitting plants for 2 months…outside in the sun for 6 hours a day, then back in to stay warm.  Oh well.  Plus now there are 72 peat pots with the seeds of red, yellow, orange, purple, and white bell peppers; cherry tomatoes, and jalapenos. This coming week, more yellow pepper seeds will be planted…yellow peppers are my favorite!  Plus if I get too many, I’ll give them to friends, or sell them!

          I see these beautiful gardens, overflowing with neat rows of vegetables, verticality in tall plants with colorful under-plantings, and arches filled with blooms and greenery. They entrance me and I would love to build one, plant by plant, structure by structure, until each spring I have blossoms, birds, food, beauty, and a place to sit and enjoy—after I pull weeds, trim, and tie! I think I’ll send in a plea to Jamie Dhrurie in The Outdoor Room to come over and make this happen for me, because as sore as I am today, I’ll be dead before I get it to look like those photos in magazines!

          But the gardening is done for a few days as a new cold front and possible storm is on its way in. As the clouds thicken, the temps drop, and the storm moves in, my body reacts accordingly…the aching joints and muscles that come with every change in barometric pressure have me taking acetaminophen and/or ibuprofen,  The unusual symptom is right jaw TMJ pain.  Not the usual weather-related joint pain, but something new and interesting. Hey, maybe it will get bad enough to stop me from chewing.  One can only hope. Or  maybe I've been clenching my teeth while I'm digging, hauling, hoeing, and working to make my garden a miracle.