Mother’s Day weekend was jam packed here at the Cottage. I hit two mornings of light but fruitful garage sales, made gemstone bracelets for gifting, and had a sweet little dinner party, where Sugarwings helped cook for what we call “The Council of Mothers”.
The kiddo also came by on Saturday to help with wood splitting. It’s a job I rarely have to be a part of, thank goodness, because it is very unpleasant. But it needs done, and we were short on crew. Most grandkids have moved away, Ryan is gone. Rich always paid his helpers for the afternoon, and I got out of the job since there were plenty of assistants.
But now, it’s just Sugarwings, Rich, and I to do it. Not only is it a rough activity, it’s heart wrenching to think about all of the past helpers who are no longer around to pitch in.
Finding two hearts in the sections of logs was a reminder of them.
Especially Ry.
He was so strong, tossing those stumps meant nothing to him. He never enjoyed the job, but didn’t complain about helping out. For years, he was our champion on wood splitting day.
The rest of the weekend was mostly yard work. Mother’s Day officially kicks off tackling our spring to do lists in the garden and courtyard. That tradition started when the kids were just little and would spread mulch and do other beautification projects for me.
This year, I power washed for a few hours while Rich cleaned out the storage shed. Then we set up the patio furniture, umbrellas and pots. I planted annuals and Rich got the vegetables into the garden soil.
We might have done more than a week’s worth of work in those two days, and I was feeling it. After dinner Sunday evening, I told everyone I was sorry I had to be a party pooper, but I was going to bed. When I got there, I slept twelve hours straight. Mother’s Day wore me out, especially without Ryan’s strength helping us with the heavy jobs.
But the yard looks good! He’d have been proud of it. Ryan not only had a great work ethic, he loved to see what others did. When he’d get home from cooking at the nursing home, he’d want to walk around the yard with us and compliment what we accomplished.
The older I get, the harder a full weekend of yard work gets, and a Mother’s Day of being lazy sounds better and better. But Ry Guy was on my mind and in my heart all day and that gets me through all of the jobs that need doing.
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