Things I also do...

Today I supervised my sister while she worked in the garden of the house she and my brother in law just moved into. It has many neglected, overgrown bushes and trees that need to be trimmed and sawed and chopped and whatever else can be done to them. In the process of removing some of this neglected greenery, other beautiful things came to light as big surprises. Ferns that were very mature and also full grown hydrangeas in bloom.

 

That garden has not been taken care of for decades and I know my sister has been eager to start making it look a bit more decent. There is lots of work left to be done and she is going to need all sorts of help to finish it. Some of the trees are very big and crowded together and it's going to take a lot of muscle power to trim them or to even take them out.

 

Because of my bad shoulder, I did not even attempt to help her, knowing the damage that I could do by trying to saw or chop anything. I did feel very tempted because the job looked like a lot of fun and it was very obvious that my sister was enjoying herself. We both should have been gardeners.

 

Today, more than any time, it was clear how much alike we are and watching her at work was like watching myself. She went about the job in exactly the same way I would have done and had the same ideas at the same moments. Having said that, I don't think we should ever try to do the same job at the same time, but I think one of us should always be the supervisor and the other one the laborer. I, being the oldest one, should always have the former job.

 

My brother in law was busy building a section of fence and a gate on the side of the house so their dog would not be able to escape, although he is a very good dog and really makes no attempt to. He wants to stick close to the people he belongs to and see what sort of interesting things they are doing. He knows me well and we go through an extensive greeting ritual when he sees me, just like Tyke does when I come home.

 

Speaking of Tyke; I have to go walk him and then we both have to eat dinner. I am very tired from all that supervising and will go to sleep early tonight.