Thinking while gardening is a natural thing for me. I get lost in my thoughts as I pull weeds, dig, re-plant, pot up, water the plants, etc. A lot of the time I’m thinking about the task at hand, but more often than not my thoughts wander into strange scenarios and beautiful visions of paintings I’ll paint of all the wonderful sights I see in my garden.

Birds call to each other, paying me no mind and these days the cicadas are screaming their 13 year roar. I putter around and look at everything almost every single day this time of year. I don’t want to miss a single bloom. As I walk, I talk to myself, Zoey (my K-9 companion) and to my plants. I talk to the frogs, toads, butterflies, caterpillars, ants and every thing else. I scream at the squirrel as I discover the destruction it has left on whatever it chose to devour or simply pull up seemingly for the fun of it.

I’m a live and let live kind of soul but this squirrel is pushing my limits. Just yesterday I found one of my gorgeous plants I over-wintered in the greenhouse tromped on and chewed up. Adding insult to injury, the little bastard didn’t even eat any of it. He just chewed it off and left the branches to die on the ground. Zoey, the poor thing, just isn’t as fast or apparently as clever as this devil squirrel.

An urn with squirrel teeth marks on the handles.

A week ago, I was outside pulling weeds while down on my knees and I hear a commotion under the deck. I’m at the top of the steps and I hear what can only be Zoey scrambling to run after the little monster (claws trying to get traction on the patio blocks). Then, here comes the squirrel in a flat out run… right for my face. He barked not expecting to have me as a hurdle and I screamed not expecting to be attacked by a tree rat. Here comes Zoey tearing through my flower beds rounding the corner of the greenhouse. Oh no, my new seedling plantings. (!!!!)

It all happened and was over in probably less than 5 seconds. The squirrel then had the nerve to look down at us from the black walnut tree he was in and bark and chirp in anger. Grrrrr. (said Black walnut tree is pictured in the first photo along with the corner demon squirrel and Zoey rounded.)

Sometimes I think of a squirrel free yard… ahhhh… that would be nice. I could grow the plants that I really wanted to on my deck without worry of him eating them down to the dirt. He discovered he has quite a penchant for the fancy sweet potato vines that I love so much. And the purple wandering jew, and the petunias, and and and… *sigh*.

Today I tied up tomatoes, planted a few to replace the ones that I somehow killed and then potted up some seedlings I’m growing. Ahhh… this is my happy place. All the while I dream of my garden finished. I think of all the garden parties I’d like to have with friends and my art collectors over to see my muse (my gardens).

Pfffttt. Who am I kidding?

If I didn’t have winter, I’m not sure I’d get any painting done at all. I do have a deadline of next week to get a painting done… I’ve got time, but the plants won’t wait. Nothing like procrastination, huh? But I love it. I absolutely love to tend plants and think of all the different paintings they can be the stars of. I will never stop caring for them or thinking of new designs with plant, flower and color combinations.I treat my gardens like my canvas and my plants are the paint.

I’m sure if I die in the warm months, hopefully a long, long time from now, they will have to pry out a trowel from my wrinkled up old and weathered hands. And I will die happy.