Hard on the back, good for the soul

Pulling vines up by the roots leads to sore muscles. But it feels so good to look at an area that was previously overrun with ivy, briars, and vines cleared out and almost ready for planting. I know I've posted about my struggles with vines and grass in the past. I've decided to stop fighting the grass. If it lives, so be it. If not, we're going to start looking to alternative ground coverings. I'm a little anxious about something like periwinkle, ginger, or lily-of-the-valley. I don't want to have eradicated all the vines in my yard just to have something else take over and get completely out of control.

The ivy on the other hand...oh, it's on. Full out war mode here. The ivy, vines, and briars are going down. I will win this.

I've been dedicating an hour a day to yard work. The side yard beside our kitchen is almost completely cleared of overgrowth. Next week will see that I start foxglove to put in that space. Our sunroom overlooks the area between our kitchen and our neighbor's yard, and it's perfect for a shade garden. Right now, I'm looking at a combination of hostas, foxglove, and astilbe. There were a few other plants I considered putting in that space, but aside from foxglove, I haven't made any final decisions about that flower bed.

I'm pondering whether or not I want to start a vegetable garden this year. I love fresh tomatoes and bell peppers. I think The Boyfriend would die and go to heaven if we had an abundance of yellow squash. Fresh sweet peas. Cucumbers for uborkasalata. Sauce tomatoes. It all goes off without a hitch in my head. In my life, I would be fighting the squirrels for every morsel.

Speaking of the squirrels, I'm pretty sure I angered a large portion of the neighborhood squirrel population by digging up all the vines in our side yard. I've never seen so many pecans buried in all my life. The Boyfriend and I need a trained hawk or something to control that particular population. The neighborhood cat is doing a lousy job.

Clearing out the vines has been good for my spirit. I won't go into detail, but it's given me a lot of time to think about the nature of our relationships with each other, as human beings. No profound metaphors from me, but it's been a good place for me to clear my head. It's filling the space left by running. Hopefully I'll feel well enough to start running again next week, but even if I do, I think I'll keep this habit of spending some time each day gardening.

A final comment: Earlier today, The Boyfriend tapped on the kitchen window to let me know it was time to come in and get ready for work. He caught me at the exact moment I had discovered that I was going to be able to uproot some briars. After giving him a smile and a thumbs up to let him know I was headed inside, I grabbed the briars by the root and pulled with all my might. After a couple of good tugs, it finally came out of the ground, sending me tumbling over backward. Immediately, I sprang up, smiling triumphantly, holding the mess of briars up for inspection by The Boyfriend. He looked mildly alarmed at first (it must have looked pretty bad to see me go head over heels) then smiled. Overjoyed, I dragged it to the street, tossed it on the pile, and went inside for a most satisfying lunch.