Caleb heard me coughing through the night and lost his mind again.
I've been gardening a LOT. The poppies are blooming. The onions survived, as did the radishes. I somehow wound up with fifty extra tomato plants after burying a rotten tomato in the ground one night on my way out to see what was coming up. Better compost than garbage and there's room for a few odds and ends but the tomato disappeared and the seedlings shot up and the jokes about Irish gardening persist. Irish gardening is that you throw a handful of seeds toward the dirt and eat whatever ends up growing and yes, I planted an entire row of potatoes this year.
I was really excited about the poppies though. Two years ago I planted a sad little leaf and it did nothing until this spring. In February it quadrupled in size and then BOOM. It has five huge bulbs and one of them blew it's cap earlier this week and revealed a gorgeous papery red flower I can't help but visit fifteen times a day. This beats vegetables by a mile. I transitioned half the vegetable garden to perennials due to the sheer workload of a garden that size and it's gorgeous now. Full English with Irish planting.
But Caleb doesn't want to hear about my allergies. He holds his hand against my forehead and looks worriedly into my eyes.
You need to take a day off. We'll snuggle in and watch movies and get some takeout.
Ah. A Date.
No, a rest-day. Every time I see you you're like a hummingbird. You need to stop or this could get worse.
I don't think allergies can increase in severity any more than they already do for me. Same time every year. More if I'm touching the tomato plants.
They could help you, you know.
Or you could.
He smiles abruptly. Perhaps I could be your personal gardener.
Oh! That would be fun. But only if you wear really tight jeans, no shirt and be slippery-sweaty. Did you know gardening is a better workout than anything el-
Anything else? Yes, I've heard that. So what do you want to do, direct me? And I'll look after the physical part? He's still smiling.
No. I need to get dirty and dig in the ground or I'm not right in the head. You can move the rocks when I find them and wield the wheelbarrow.
But otherwise?
Stand around shirtless and look handsome.
Shouldn't you be shirtless? God knows, we can't keep you in clothes.
No I burn too easily. Naked is for nighttime.
Ah. A new mantra.
It isn't new.