It has always been in my plan that on the other side of the fountain from the back door would be a table and chairs, a place to sit and catch the first rays of sun in the morning, or any time that the house is cold and the great outdoors is warmer. That happens frequently around here. When the pool was there, the northwest corner of the yard, where in this shot you can see a Cécile Brünner rose bloooming, provided a square yard of pool decking where one might place a chair, and I did it many times.
As the months flew by, I started to wonder how I would ever force myself to trudge around stores to find the table and chairs I had envisioned. If a thing can’t be easily ordered online, I am the worst shopper.
Why would I want to spend hours in stores comparison shopping, being the Consumer of our consumer culture, when I could be the Contemplative sitting in the garden and reading, or the Creator potting up a succulent in the greenhouse, or the Friend writing a letter, etc. etc. ad infinitum.
But my Daughters came to the rescue! When two of them were here last week and we found ourselves without the men for a few hours, we first thought of being Outdoorswomen and going on a walk or hike with the children. But they could see I needed some help of the sort that women often give each other, so we became Shoppers together for the morning, and they made the whole process seem easy. When we got home they immediately started putting my table together for me.
The next day we had begun sitting in this corner spot with its view of the whole backyard garden, doing our more pleasurable kinds of work and play. And yesterday I shopped all by myself and bought some pretty acrylic tumblers and pitcher, so when you come by for a visit we’ll drink lemonade together.
Happy April!