I am asking you all for advice, please - I have freaked out! My
apologies for sending that picture of Bill's garden just now. I hope it
didn't clutter up everyone's email. Some of you already have it anyway,
and I know it's really suppose to go in the home page of the club
anyway.
But, here is the problem. It might seem trivial - but I have freaked
and am having a truly awful day.
I went over to Bill's today, after some things that are going on over
here such as Larry not going to work, his blood pressure is up, and he
might quit his job. We have several large bills, and we'd make it
okay,...but anyway, I felt under pressure, but went to Bill's, the one
with TM - to get him up.
As I went up to his door, I found the maintenance guys there just
chomping and tearing at his garden - he (Bill) lives in an apartment
community and has been there since 93 - each year they bring leaflets
around and tell people to plant flowers and they will give a prize for
the best garden.
Bill just enjoys his garden so much! That is about all he does in
life besides computering. He loves to pull the wheelchair outdoors and
watch birds and flowers. Now, today, it is bare, and was covered with
bird seed shells that I try to keep up with. There were a few flowers
that I hadn't pulled up that were still there before the "snow" that
were scraggly, but I spent one hour out there Sunday morning cutting
down the worst ones - and I had plans to go back out and work the next
pretty day and pull up what I thought wasn't going to come back up.
There was also a lot of ugly ugly mulch that the complex puts down all
the time - about 4 inches of it and it's pretty cheap looking - but I
thought I had several nice bird feeders out there.
Now, I don't know their reason---maybe they thought it looked ugly
- maybe they are getting ready to be inspected by the big owner of the
complex, or maybe a raccoon came up from the neighboring fields - I
don't know. But instead of just starting to tear everything out - they
could have called me in and told me about it.
It just really hurt my feelings. They said
"We don't care if you plant a flower but you have to take care of
it." "We can't tell a flower from a weed."
Now, even in the above picture - I know they never liked Bill's
garden, but he sure enjoys it! He plants tomatoes (two plants) and
sunflowers, and likes all different things. I know, what they do at the
Manager's apartment is to put just mulch and then maybe 8 tulips in a
row and if the tulips look bad, up come all 8, and they put something
else in a neat row. So, I know they don't like what we do.
Bill has 3 bushes out there - they said we can have those. In a
way, I knew I had to get out there and work some - I didn't like the
bird seed (sunflower shells) either - but I have to have his permission
really - he has had me driving him to the cancer center, driving for
appts relating to TM, shampooing the rug, I mean---we have been like
busy!
Here is the delema. Bill says he just won't have a garden any
more. Part of me wants to go over there today and dig up the 3 shrubs
and bring them here, take down the feeders, and say the heck with it.
Actually, I don't want to go back there. I have freaked out!!!!
Yet, that is almost Bill's whole life - sitting out with coffee,
looking at birds and flowers. It is a Cardinal Community - some of you
have those -but they sold it to another company recently---(same mgr.)
Part of me thinks I should plant again and if they tear it up, just
plant again, and again, after that. And another part of me feels like
digging it all up and giving up!!!!
I can't even think straight I'm so mad. And to top it off, Bill
told me all the groceries I got him were the wrong stuff. I just packed
up and came back home.
I had everything undercontrol yesterday, and today I'm a mess. All I
can do is cry!
Freaking out in Louisville and apologizing for the clutter to the system
(the garden picture)...please help! Even if I don't take the advice, I
couldn't think what to do except ask you guys.
Barb D.