Close Ups

This is one of our experiments this year.  My husband likes to plant things and started really early with veggies and flowers.  The only problem was that our dining room/hothouse was so encouraging, that the plants bloomed too fast and it was too early to put them in.  So we resorted to Plan B:  Take the rest of the flower seeds and throw them in the ground and see what happens.  

To help the new plantings out, we put in some petunias, and rosemary to fill in some of the gaps.

To my surprise and delight, the nasturtium, marigolds and something else which I can't quite identify yet, have stuck their heads through the ground and begun to grow.
This, in spite of the very thick, clay-like soil.  I have been encouraging them by watering them, and weeding around them whenever I water.

I call it "My Little Girl's Garden"

  

My other favourite part of the garden is 'my little'girl'.  My daughter gave her to me a few years ago for a birthday present.  She is so pretty.  The bow in her hair is perfect.  She has a very sweet expression on her face. 

Soon after I received her,  the puppy got at her.  He loved taking her out of the garden and dumping her wherever he felt like.  I rescued her from many places on the lawn, on the porch, on the sidewalk.  Usually when he was playing with her, he took a few bites out of her while he was at it.  Now, if you look closely at her you will see that the little fairy she held in her hands is gone.  Her fingers are mangled.  Her feet have been buried in the clay to hide the fact they are no longer existent. 

When you stand far away from her, you can't tell.  

I think she is a metaphor for life.  Look at people in your work place, at your church, in the grocery store, at the drive-through and you aren't close enough to see the batterings they have encountered.  Get closer and there are always places in their life that have damage.  Then, treat them with care.  Cover up their wounds with TLC and grace.  And they will enhance the garden of life.