Digging and Watering

I succumbed to the pressure.  

Grandma Suzi, is the water warm enough today?  I'd been using the excuse that it was too cold outside to turn on the hose, but the details were apparently unclear to my young listeners.  But the sun was out and they were so eager..... I'm a sucker for a hug and a pleading voice.

They line up outside the garden fence, holding JannyLou's colorful Dollar Store watering cans, as I stand on the other side of the fence, hose in hand, trying to avoid their feet and their t-shirts and their faces as they jostle for position.

Always willing to pause to pose, 

the regulars in the garden were eager to get to the real work at hand.

There were weeds plants growing along the garden wall which obviously needed some love.  

Not everyone was into the water.  I've enlisted the garden scholars in digging a deep and wide hole to house a new citrus tree.  Dumping the soil that's been excavated is an issue, but the little wheelbarrow helps when it's time to move the dirt.  Once again, digging soothed their souls.

And then there was the combination of digging and watering.  The young man in the center of things looked ready to defend his choices, certain that making a mud puddle would be unacceptable.

He was surprised when I laughed and said that I didn't mind, as long as you are having fun.  They were back at work before I finished my sentence.  

They were making eddys in the water before the thirsty ground sucked it down.  Refills were always on the way.

Then the holes began to be created in the pathway.  They were having too much fun to stop.  The ground was a muddy mess.  I had hand rakes looking for a task.  Thus, a plan was born.

Dig a hole.  Use the rake to scrape the dirt/mud back into the hole.

Jump up and down to fill the hole, adding more and more mud until it's level with its surroundings.

That kept them busy until the whistle blew.  My garden was left relatively flat and walkable.  My tree hole was deeper and wider.  Most important - every one was happy.