It all started with our now 2 year old grandson. I am not very schmaltzy and I never envisioned I would be utterly taken in by one very little person – haha – but it happened. Turns out grandparenting is WAY more indulgent then parenting. Who knew? Days where daycare backup was needed, events where he (absolutely adorably) sat in his wagon and charmed everyone we met while we shopped for vegetable plants at the University Extension plant sale, neighborhood walkabouts, and eventually sleepovers. And that first birthday where Grandpa agreed to make ribs for 40 people. What??? Grandma said Grandpa needed a much bigger grill for that! So here it came, on a delivery from the hardware store, in all it’s techno gigantic (to me) glory. Grandpa cooked those ribs and they went like hot cakes. And then it was time to incorporate that new grill into our patio area. Yah. But it is awesome, we use it a lot, and I love the smoky taste and even start-up ambiance. Hey, you do stuff to make great experiences, right?

So the new grill moved into the older smaller wood fired grill’s space, and I cringed a bit, but “it was worth it”. The features! It can be started from hub’s phone! Who wouldn’t love a grill you can start from your phone??? But a grill that casts a much larger shadow on the garden?

We moved some overcrowded daylilies that were now in much more of a shadow, and I made a daylily seedling bed. Seedlings need more protection, right?

I have had 4 garden season months to assess. I do not like the seedling bed at all 😂 Not one bit. It looks like a weed patch 👎 I like seedlings mixed among other more mature plants. Soooo … Enlist the help of hubs, reassess, and rearrange to fold in the requirements of our ever changing life. Weed patch (er daylily seedling bed) out – they need more sun anyways – and hostas that also need to move anyways, in, to that newly shaded area.

In a way it will simplify my life. Big, more maintenance free hostas close to the house, and daylilies farther out where I can enjoy them while sitting on the patio after a long work day, enjoying a beverage with hubs, winding down as the smoke from the grill starts up and our dog asks to come up and sit on my lap.

Yah, we can do that.

And on Saturday I will get after that clover – again 😉 But I kind of like the Linden leaves covering up the rock. Looks more natural, “path-y”, right?

Under the linden there is a wonderful garden of hostas and daylilies. The hostas are getting very mature and are encroaching on the very polite daylilies, who are saying, “Alright, here are some greens, but not many flowers for you. Get me some new digs, please. Or maybe just get that guy out of here, please.” Hahaha! I cannot decide on the message. Move the daylilies, or move one very large (5′ wide) hosta. Hubs says move the very large hosta. He may win out. But not sure what I would do with the hosta. No good shady place at the historic cemetary. Deer will eat it up north. It’s almost like I should make a new shade garden. But where?

It is mid-July, and the daylilies surrounded by the hostas in the townhouse gardens are starting to roll. An early morning walkabout is the perfect wake-up.