Today I got up ... walked the dogs to the train tracks just a couple of blocks north ... then I brought them home, and hopped on my bike to ride the three blocks to the local convenience store to get my papers ... by the time I got back the coffee was ready and I had a lovely hour enjoying my coffee and toast with today's papers ...The rest of the morning found me outside trimming the hedges on either side of my front yard ... then I raked the leaves up into piles before searching in the garage for my swedish saw which I used to trim the trees across the front of the yard ... remarkably, with the clipped hedges and lilacs and the trimmed trees, the yard gained a metre of width on either side ...
I then hauled out the lawn mower ... I needed to make a jaunt to the hardware store to buy an extension cord because our lawn mower cord was no where to be found ... while I was there I picked up a couple of shelves for the kitchen ...
After I got home I mowed the lawn then took a break for lunch ... after lunch I installed shelves in the kitchen, towel racks in the bathroom ...
As the afternoon waned, I loaded the hedge and lilac clippings into the van and took them to the refuse site, then bundled the branches trimmed from the various trees, and carried them out to the back alley for pick up next week ... As I started getting supper ready, I was able to enjoy a yard that looked neat and clean, a kitchen that had more counter space, a bathroom with room for towels, and house that was feeling more homey and roomy in spite of being tiny ...
BUT best of all was the discovery I made in the middle of the lilac hedge just outside of the garage ... as I was hacking away at the over grown and untended lilac I noticed a tiny green berry ... looking closer I found several more green berried on a branch festooned with thin sharp thorns ... I pulled back the lilac and was delighted to discover and spindly gooseberry bush that had intertwined itself through out the surrounding lilac branches ... with tenderness and care, I snipped and trimmed and set the lowly gooseberry bush free and found that it was heavily laden with tiny green and purple berries ... not enough for more than a snack ... but enough to whet one's appetite for next season, and the season after when it will perhaps, with care and attention become a healthy berry laden bush ...
I love gooseberries ... pie, jam or jelly, or just picked off the bush - it doesn't matter - they are DELICIOUS ... and to have discovered a forgotten bush tucked deep within the lilac hedge was simply a delightful surprise ...
It makes me wonder what other hidden delights I may uncover as my trimming and clipping continues ... I'll definitely be more careful from now on ... I could have easily taken out the lowly little gooseberry bush and never noticed its loss ...
Like faith - sometimes in hidden little corners you find delightful things ... you just need to be paying attention ...
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