ART JOURNALING TOOSDAY

it’s ART JOURNALING MONDAY! and the story about a “crime scene”.. bwahahaha

Hiya sistahs!

Hope you had a great weekend with lots of creative time and lots of kidlet time celebrating mother’s day.  We had an eventful weekend.. but yesterday was THE BEST and I will tell you why… you ready? (it’s a long one)

Every year I decide that I need to start gardening.  In our last house I had ZERO motivation as we had a “walkout” balcony and had to drag ourselves through the basement to get out to the yard.  needless to say, we never went to the back.

In this lovely house we are now in, we have a beautiful little backyard and I vowed that I would make it BEAUTIFULLER.  So my family decided to take me to Home Depot to pick out some stuff.  Please keep in mind  that I have ABSOLUTELY no green thumb nor a talent to make plants grow.  In fact, I kill them.  EVERY SINGLE YEAR.  Every year, I vow to grow an herb garden.. easy enough right?  not for da BELLA.. they are dead within a week and my kids and husband all remind me of that and laugh their heads off.  NICE AY?

But this year I was DETERMINED.  I must mention at this point that we have TONS of weeds in our garden and I wanted to get rid of them.  PRONTO.  So last week I started pulling them.. the leaves came out but I was never able to get to the root.. and they were EVERYWHERE and they HURT ME with their prickly leaves.. grrrr.  So yesterday Ryan bought a weed puller thingy to try to get them out.  Keep in mind that my whole life I was surrounded by flowers.. my mother is an amazing gardener and you can’t even speak to her on her gardening days because she is so absorbed.  I never understood it, to be honest.  So yesterday I called her and asked her what to do for weeds.  She went into this gardener’s jargon on and on and on .. and all I got from the conversation was Miracle Gro, Mulch and cedar chips… so I kept repeating these 3 things in my head until we got to the store.

Once we were there, we bought all of our tools.. flowers, urns (which I plant every year and they die in 22 seconds).. we chose them all carefully.. bought a watering can, a hose.. you get the idea.  So while Tyler was playing hockey, Jayden and I would plant.

We got home, we poured the dirt into the urns, we planted, we watered and we both felt exhilarated.. really. to use your two hands and anticipate something growing that you planted!  Phenom! (unless I manage to kill these also)… I kinda appreciated this gardening thing… like I can do this.. I’m cool.. I think I have a green thumb!  So excited..

here is one of the urns I planted.. the other one is identical 🙂  The urn is kinda cool.. has a wickery look to it..

we had a GREAT time…

And then.  I spotted the WEAPON

yes this was the weeding tool that Ryan just left on the ground and went to take Tyler to hockey practice.  I look at Jayden and I asked if Ryan tried to use the tool.  She admitted that he did and he didn’t understand how to use it so just threw it down in exasperation and left..LOL.  So I decided to pick it up.  And look at the long part of the tool and sure enough I saw directions with pictures on how to use it.  So I look to the left.. I look to the right.. and I shove that baby into the ground on top of the weed and pulled it all out INCLUDING THE ROOT.  It was the most beeyootiful sight.  I couldn’t believe I did it!!  Now keep in mind, that i didn’t know that there was a simple knob to push down to release the weed and clean the blades.. so I kept bending down to clean it up.. but no matter… I WAS OBSESSED.

here are my weedy VICTIMS.. just lying there...

the actual crime scene

tried my best to hide the EVIDENCE.. the VICTIMS

all clean under the tree

 

Jayden was calling my name.. I HEARD NOTHING.  I became the WEED KILLER.  I was PUSHING that baby into every weed I saw..I was SWEATING like a pig.. and got cramps… actually I have a great description of my experience.. from an email I wrote my mother last night.  Keep in mind, I had to take some content out as it was too explicit for my audience but I think you can kinda figure it out 🙂

Here is the email to my mom.. actually  I sent her a picture of my plant.. and this is what the response was..

The urns are beautiful. I really like them.  The red leafy plant is

> called coleus. It does well in the sun. Can also go very big in the

> ground, maybe the urn will contain its size. The pansies need sun , I

> also planted today the whole day. I bought two large baskets of peach

> begonias and in the ground I got tuberous  begonias which come in

> brilliant colours, need sun and shade. Geraniums do well in urns,they

> are sturdy and now I found white and red hybrids. You will need to get

> “miracle grow”. Good luck with planting and water! WATER! WATER!!!

Pretty innocent right?

OK here was my email after I did all my weeding and planting

MY EMAIL TO MY MOTHER

Yes I got miracle grow potting soil and the additive.  I also bought the weed puller which Ryan couldn’t figure out and he left.  After Jayden and I planted, I took the weed thingamajig and actually read the sticker with PiCTUREs on it and became dangerous.  There was nothing more satisfying than pulling out a root the size of my arse..  my house…. The feeling is equivalent to popping a zit, peeling glue off your hands or eating a gigantic cookie without the fear of weight gain.

By the time I pulled 3 weeds, I was hyperventilating,  sweating, and almost passed out due to dehydration from the extreme exercise.  I had to take a break.  I then resumed this exercise and Ryan showed me that I didn’t have to keel over and pick the weed out of the knives.  He simply showed me to pull the handle and out dropped the Ginormous root!  I then started The murder scene again and without realizing that all my sweet innocent neighbors were out, I let out “inappropriate”  moans every time I pulled those ^&*&^%  from the earth.  Ryan had to shush me whilst sweating and shoving that thing back into the land of milk and honey.  It was pure bliss.

I now  have a garden that literally looks like 6,567,998 squirrels and raccoons have destroyed it, but I , the ignorant gardner, will have a night of sweet dreams, sore muscles and thoughts of a long root being pulled out of the ground *sigh*… I now “get it”

 Ps.  All the plants I potted were designated as partial shaded plants.  I’m very hesitant to put the mulch because that will remove me from my job as the weed whacker Hmph

Here is my mother’s response:

I totally share the sentiment. I had such a good belly laugh because it took me 2 years and 3 engineers to figure out this wonderful tool. I now hide it in the corner of the garage and you can appreciate how much I love you if I wanted to very CAREFULLY wrap it into pink tissue after lovingly cleaning it as if it was a very expensive object, and lend it to YOU  my favourite daughter .Happy gardening and I leave you with the following thought  which one day, many years from now you will share with your daughter:

MIRROR, MIRROR ON THE  WALL

  I BECAME MY

MOTHER ,AFTER  ALL!   (for starters, gardening)

 

Yes, that is the type of relationship we have.. but I thought that captured the event pretty well..LOL

what I didn’t include was that I called myself  a WEEDBUSTER, held the tool pointing like a gun and started humming the tune to ghostbusters.. LOL

“I ain’t afraid of no WEED” (ok that sounds really bad)..LOL

So that was my event yesterday..

Now for AJ monday!  Sorry for digressing..

Here is my wooden board.. which STARTED as a background.. then I couldn't stop (are you getting the theme here? LOL).. so I ended up finishing the piece.. but I did take closeups of my marks and scribbles!

now for da sistahood

Here is Beth's page

Here is Cindy R's page

Here is Dolores' page

Here is Violet's page

I hope you enjoyed my jaunt and my story..LOL.. Honestly.. I think it is one of the funniest things ever but you may just have needed to “be there” to appreciate 🙂

Next year’s AJ theme— grab stuff that is on your table and just stick it down in your journal… scraps.. papers.. bills receipts.. stamps (to stamp).. basically use what is out in front of you and let’s see what happens shall we?

Don’t forget our sketch for Bellarific friday this week

Mwah to da sistahs who LOVE to PULL da WEEDIES and who ALSO love to Art journal 🙂

mwah mwah mwah

oh and here is a song that I LOOOOVE and blast out loud and know all the words to.. I just heard it in the car today and thought I would share… I think it may now be my gardening song :).. enjoy and sing at the top of your lungies!
 

 

Em

 

12 Comments

  1. Lori M says:

    Now you will need to learn about dead-heading. It will go perfectly with your crime scene!

  2. Robb_eeie says:

    Hi Em ~~ thanks for the good chuckle~! Your Mom’s response is priceless, however, I rather enjoyed your *arse* comment too (sorry I don’t know how to cross it out like you did). I hope you’re going to try and contain yourself with your dangerous weapon, as you know those yellow-flowered weeds shall return, in a smaller format, day after day ~~ you are going to be a raving mess out there 😉 Hope Ryan can contain you :)~ XoXo

  3. Violet says:

    …and another gardener is born! I have that tool and I love it. I hate dandelions and it is my job to keep them out of the lawn.

    If you, are your readers, have weeds in patios or driveways here is an inexpensive, safe way to get rid of them.
    Mix 1 gallon of vinegar with 1 cup of salt and then add 1 Tbls of dish soap (you don’t want suds, just add the soap and swirl to mix). Spray on the weeds – dead in two hours.

    Violet

  4. paula says:

    I think this should have been captured to put into one of your gajillion books for a memory. I, myself have just a simple pronged tool that pops weeds out easily. That contraption you bought…I have never seen such a thing. OMG, I guess I never realized how garden challenged you were.
    Just a little FYI, your post on AJ monday says next ‘year’ instead of next week. Are you turning this into a yearly post? Or are you giddy with garden fever? lol

  5. Dolores says:

    I loved your gardening story, I hope you will have many beautimus blossoms from your urns. They look gorgeous already.
    My garden was green with weeds so my dear hubby sprayed them for me since it wasn’t planting time just yet. I’m so hoping that takes care of lots of them because I planted today. Took me all day as I have rather a large garden.
    Lots of neat journaling pages this week, can’t wait to clean up on things with next weeks theme.

  6. Vera-the maaa says:

    I really feel that you understood the joy of having your hands in the earth,the pleasure of feeling the sun on your face, the smell of the flowers, the birds coming to watch what you are doing, in other words the simple beauty of being alive.

    I also loved the picture of you and Ryan, he is such a wonderful person. Needs no words to see his feelings towards you. I love you both…. almost equally. Maaa.

  7. DianaY says:

    Hooray, you got the gardening bug! and its pretty satisfying to get rid of weeds and have beautiful flowers instead. Have we ever done a flower themed art journal page yet?

  8. Pinky says:

    Hi Em – great story! I totally get it. I have one of those weedbusters as well and am THRILLED when that big ol’ root comes out – it makes me giddy. It gives me the feeling of “Take That Suckah, not on my lawn” Now what you must do is spread some grass seed on that lawn and water it like crazy. The thicker the grass the harder it is for weeds to grow. Spread the seed throughout the spring and summer. Perhaps after every 2nd or 3rd lawn cutting. It really does work. The sad thing though is then you won’t have as many weeds to bust with that great tool. Enjoy your flower urns – they look beautiful!

  9. jhaann says:

    oh that gardening victory was a great read….your mother is so great…
    my mum is failing with Alzheimer and i’m missing her “funniness” more and more.
    thanks for laugh and The beatles song had my feet taping

  10. Lisa T says:

    *Must * get * that * weeding * tool! Thanks for sharing – I’d never seen one before.
    Your urn looks beautiful. I have confidence that you can keep it alive. We know you can do it, Em!

  11. wes26ca says:

    I’m also trying to get into gardening more this year now that I am “early” retired. That and golf – we will see which improves the most! I now have herbs growing on my window sill in the kitchen – unfortunately I don’t often water OR use them… guess I should cook more!

  12. lindaH says:

    I have had NO time for AJ monday, becase I, like your mother, am OBSESSED with my yard. it hasn’t seen the love for the past couple years and I’m DETERMINED to get it back looking glorious. I see you have some bricks there…this past weekend I spent 8 hours cleaning crap from between mine and filling in the gaps with dirt and moss…i’m OBSESSED with moss! good luck with the gardens! i think this should have been a project life page!

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