I got invited out to a friend's place to help with a bit of gardening. Her hubby was away for the weekend and she needed help in clearing the garden out for the new seedlings currently taking up most of her living room. I know her garden and although it's not that big, it meant a lot of bending over. My son and I, along with my son's friend James (who came to spend the weekend) went out Saturday with a promise of a delicious dinner, a comfy bed and a yummy breakfast next day. Another of her friends (Willow) came out in his van to pick us up. Just as we got all settled in for the drive (it was an hour drive to get out there) it began to rain slightly.
We arrive at my friend's without any trouble, but by this time it was now pouring rain out. We still went out to work in the garden anyways since my friend does have hot shower and a washer/dryer. She had eighteen 4x4 beds that not just needed weeding, but the grass in each bed was so overgrown it was up to my chest in height (and I'm a tall lady here at five foot nine)! The roots were down so deep we had to get the pitchforks and claws to twist them out... and even then we still only got down the first foot or so down. In fact one of the claws handle actually broke!
We only got 4 full plots mostly dug out that day and 2 half done (those ones had annuals in them so we simply had to weed around the new plants already there). Due to both my friend and I having major back problems we eventually had to stop as our backs were now screaming and refusing to co-operate so we quit work and went in. We pulled off our now thoroughly soaked clothing (which got tossed straight into the washing machine), cleaned up and bundled up in extra clothing (I forgot to bring extra jeans but the boys were smart and brought a set of everything including socks and undies LOL). No worries though as my friend's hubby had extra track pants I could fit in.
Dinner was interesting. It was supposed to be spicy chicken, but... her slow cooker decided to live up to it's name and it was not done... even though the thing had been on for 8 hours straight! So she decided to pull out some pork chops and try to thaw them out. That didn't work either. My friend then gave up and fed us all the other foods that was supposed to go with the chicken and planned to feed us the chicken for lunch the next day. We had a very, very yummy lentil dish (it was supposed to be a soup but it turned more like a porridge in texture LOL). It was awesome! I'll be getting the recipe later and I'll post it here later.
Along with that, Willow brought his very delicious chick pea salad, with cucumber, feta cheese, black olives and diced tomatoes! And finally, we had a slightly spiced diced potatoes. All in all a very yummy dinner! After dinner my friend brought out a bottle of ginger wine that was so nice... everyone except James (who is only 18 so not legal to drink) had a glass. We then sat down and watched a few episodes of Doctor Who (OMG those weeping angels are sooooooooo creepy)! We all later settled for the night (the boys shared the pullout couch while Willow and myself to the 2 spare rooms). The boys giggled and spooked each other with recollections of the creepy angels from the show before eventually dropping off to sleep.
The next morning the rain was still coming down, though not as heavy as the previous day. After a bit of a wash-up we went out to the kitchen to find a very delicious looking homemade porridge with bits of fruits and nuts. There was raw sugar, cream, and raspberry syrup to add if we so desired. And I had a very lovely chocolate orange tea!
After breakfast we dressed and went out to finish up in the garden. We managed to only get another 5 plots done before we had to again stop due to pain. That and both boys were now sniffling and coughing. My friend was concerned about them catching colds so we all went back inside. She was rather pleased with our progress and was grateful for what we did get done. While we tossed our wet and dirty clothing into the wash she pulled out the chicken we were supposed to have last night and we had that for lunch, along with more of the wonderful chick pea salad and herb flavoured Triscuit crackers (roasted tomato and olive oil flavoured... very nummy).
After lunch with our clothes washed, we dressed and with many hugs headed back out with Willow to head home. Although we did a lot of work that has made me sore for days, I'm looking forward to the promise of fresh veggies from the garden (and herbs too). Both boys though are sore and sniffly, so they have now been sent to bed after taking some cold meds. I'm now off to my bed as well!
Hugs to all!
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