Garden-Share

The A.D.D. Gardener

I have learned to manage my ADD in most areas of my life but I have to tell you this disorder really shows its ugly head when I step into the garden.
My morning in the garden went something like this: Slip into the boots, stuff hands in gloves. . .Remember I forgot the cell phone. Slip out of boots, take off one glove. Put phone in my pocket and look for the glove I just took off. Open the door. . . . close the door. I better get a sweater. Open door again and walk with purpose toward the area I have chosen to work on today. Do a quick assessment. Realize I’m going to need the rock rake which is down the hill from where I stand. Reach for the rock rake. . .Notice a few weeds at my feet….pull them. Start up the hill again. Take pruners out of pocket. . .remove a glove to answer the cell phone. Pull a few more weeds and snip some branches.. . . put phone back in pocket and trek to the top of the hill. NO NO NO! I am not going back to get the darn rake. Decide to prune a few branches instead. . . No pruners and missing a glove again. . . .Dig in compost pile. . .find pruners but where is the glove? Need a drink of water, better pee before I go back out. . . Sit down to check emails…sister calls. . .Yes, I’ll meet you for lunch. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . push publish post!

6 members like this

< Previous Post

Comment

You need to be a member of Garden-Share to add comments!

Join Garden-Share

Contributing Gardener Comment by Sharon Howell z7NC on February 23, 2012 at 6:54am: Love it Joan, has worked for me!!! along with the sunshine, can hardly wait till it gets warm enough to get outside and play.

Thanks for sharing that cute sign.

Contributing Gardener Comment by Joan *Flower Angel*.. Z-8 on February 23, 2012 at 5:59am: I saw this an couldn't resist...

Comment by Bonnie Hannum ~ Missouri, USA on February 22, 2012 at 3:47pm: Patti, thanks for the chuckle!! Are you sure you weren't looking in on me today?! hahaha. My husband is forever asking, "Where are your gloves, why aren't you wearing them" ..."I don't know, couldn't find them" He is the best retriever, he hunts them down from wherever and puts them washing machine perched for the next day when I start my rumaging!

Comment by Patti Sherwood on February 22, 2012 at 3:04pm: It is indeed nice that we can laugh at ourselves. Regarding lists. I do well with lists as long as I can find them after I make them. I use to just make mental notes of things but that ended when I lost my mind. . . .

Contributing Gardener Comment by Joan *Flower Angel*.. Z-8 on February 22, 2012 at 12:49pm: MULTI-TASKING (((ADD GARDENERS)))...WELCOME TO THE CLUB... LOVELY BLOG PATTI AND BEAUTIFUL COMMENTS LADIES... YESSSS, WE ALL CAN RELATE... HAPPY GARDENING ! (:>)

Comment by Deborah Miller on February 22, 2012 at 12:49pm: Hello Lynette............ yes I too make lists and check things off. I should do it more often, I seem to stay focused better with lists. But it doesn't happen as much as it should! So glad I could make you laugh despite not being able to get the whole story in one setting and then sending part of it twice! AAUUGGHHHHHHHH! All the other stories are great and I'm glad to see we are not alone in our gardening endeavors, blunders, triumphs, etc.

Comment by Lynette on February 22, 2012 at 12:24pm: ...it's nice to know I'm not alone. You girls made me laugh, which is such great medicine for the soul. Yesterday I could hardly function because of depression, but today my day began with laughter...because of you. Thanks for the pick me up.

...now to drag my ADD self outside and try to accomplish something...I make lists, endless lists, anyone else do that? Have a blessed day to all :)

Comment by Deborah Miller on February 22, 2012 at 7:51am: head to basement patio. Pour a little hot water in each item, squirt in some dish soap and squirt in some cold water. Was fun making bubbles! Scrub each item and rinse. My feet got soaked in process. Scrubbed off garden chairs while there and set them out in the yard to dry. Then proceeded to hose off patio floor. Saw bug and squirted him. Washed off some stones sitting on ledge, saw spider and hosed him too. Once I was satisfied went back up for bucket of hot water with some Murphy's Oil soap in it. Feet squishing as I go..............Set pail on patio along with a couple items I think we can use for molds. Decide to get planters and such from garden shed that we can use too. Go to west garden for wagon. See last few weeds I didn't get when Al stopped in. Finished weeding, dumped tub of weeds in tall weeds to the west. Got wagon and went to garden shed. Go in shed and see mice run and one watching me from a rafter. I've got to clean that shed out and organize! I carefully step over and around things and drag out a bunch of stuff. Load wagon. See empty hanging basket on ground wondering if it'd make a good mold. Pick up and water drains out on soaked right foot. GGRRRR! Toss down. Pull wagon with one hand and carry hot pail of water with other hand. Get to basement patio and finish now warm iced tea. Unlock basement door. Scrub off our grilling table and then start washing items we want to use for molds on Wednesday. Get feet wet some more. Oh joy. Cody and Tuff take off to woods barking at something. I look but don’t see anything. Probably a chipmunk. Scrub out water tank and fill with water to set clay pots in to soak. Then notice muddy footprints on patio floor, so hose off floor again. Cody wants to stay in basement so lock door and leave him there. Drag wagon, bucket, dish soap and rag back up the hill to entrance. Look at entrance patio thinking I haven't got very far about cleaning that off today! Look at watch. 11:45 - decide time for break and lunch. Still haven't fed birds either.............. maybe after lunch............. kick off wet shoes in entrance and walk around in wet socks so they can dry. Pull out leftover Chinese food from Thursday night. Sniff it........ smells OK. Get plate and empty leftover rice, chicken and broccoli (only no broccoli left) on plate. Decide to peel and cook potatoes for potato salad tonight. Put some eggs on to cook also. While they are cooking I heat some lunch. Ate just a part of it and gave the rest to the dogs. Ate last piece of watermelon. Did dishes while eggs and potatoes finished cooking. Socks are dry! 1 PM now. It's cloudy and there sure is a nice breeze outside. Had a ice cream bar on porch. Brought in dry clothes and put away. Back to tackling the entrance patio.

Making good headway on the entrance. Moved some pots and loaded the wagon. Tipped over an upside down pail and got into a hornets nest. Got stung on my little finger on the right hand and on my left arm. Came in quickly with the dogs and ran cold water on both, will put cortisone on them and see if that helps………. DARN!

Never did put cortisone on my stings…….. decided I wasn’t letting them stop me! So went back out and worked in an area where they weren’t flying around. Hauled another load to the burn pile and to the garden shed. Will shove things in there until after this garden tour then I can clean it out to the bare walls and organize it. Moved the pail where the hornet nest was and stirred them up again, so came back inside till they settled down. Carried birdseed to feeder and set it down. Gathered and stacked larger nursery pots on the north side of the shed. Noticed the cows were reaching for water so turned the hose on for them, then went back to picking up pots……. Saw the plants I got from a nursery last night were wilting so walked them over near the hose and realized the water was running over the cows wa

Comment by Deborah Miller on February 22, 2012 at 7:51am: head to basement patio. Pour a little hot water in each item, squirt in some dish soap and squirt in some cold water. Was fun making bubbles! Scrub each item and rinse. My feet got soaked in process. Scrubbed off garden chairs while there and set them out in the yard to dry. Then proceeded to hose off patio floor. Saw bug and squirted him. Washed off some stones sitting on ledge, saw spider and hosed him too. Once I was satisfied went back up for bucket of hot water with some Murphy's Oil soap in it. Feet squishing as I go..............Set pail on patio along with a couple items I think we can use for molds. Decide to get planters and such from garden shed that we can use too. Go to west garden for wagon. See last few weeds I didn't get when Al stopped in. Finished weeding, dumped tub of weeds in tall weeds to the west. Got wagon and went to garden shed. Go in shed and see mice run and one watching me from a rafter. I've got to clean that shed out and organize! I carefully step over and around things and drag out a bunch of stuff. Load wagon. See empty hanging basket on ground wondering if it'd make a good mold. Pick up and water drains out on soaked right foot. GGRRRR! Toss down. Pull wagon with one hand and carry hot pail of water with other hand. Get to basement patio and finish now warm iced tea. Unlock basement door. Scrub off our grilling table and then start washing items we want to use for molds on Wednesday. Get feet wet some more. Oh joy. Cody and Tuff take off to woods barking at something. I look but don’t see anything. Probably a chipmunk. Scrub out water tank and fill with water to set clay pots in to soak. Then notice muddy footprints on patio floor, so hose off floor again. Cody wants to stay in basement so lock door and leave him there. Drag wagon, bucket, dish soap and rag back up the hill to entrance. Look at entrance patio thinking I haven't got very far about cleaning that off today! Look at watch. 11:45 - decide time for break and lunch. Still haven't fed birds either.............. maybe after lunch............. kick off wet shoes in entrance and walk around in wet socks so they can dry. Pull out leftover Chinese food from Thursday night. Sniff it........ smells OK. Get plate and empty leftover rice, chicken and broccoli (only no broccoli left) on plate. Decide to peel and cook potatoes for potato salad tonight. Put some eggs on to cook also. While they are cooking I heat some lunch. Ate just a part of it and gave the rest to the dogs. Ate last piece of watermelon. Did dishes while eggs and potatoes finished cooking. Socks are dry! 1 PM now. It's cloudy and there sure is a nice breeze outside. Had a ice cream bar on porch. Brought in dry clothes and put away. Back to tackling the entrance patio.

Making good headway on the entrance. Moved some pots and loaded the wagon. Tipped over an upside down pail and got into a hornets nest. Got stung on my little finger on the right hand and on my left arm. Came in quickly with the dogs and ran cold water on both, will put cortisone on them and see if that helps………. DARN!

Never did put cortisone on my stings…….. decided I wasn’t letting them stop me! So went back out and worked in an area where they weren’t flying around. Hauled another load to the burn pile and to the garden shed. Will shove things in there until after this garden tour then I can clean it out to the bare walls and organize it. Moved the pail where the hornet nest was and stirred them up again, so came back inside till they settled down. Carried birdseed to feeder and set it down. Gathered and stacked larger nursery pots on the north side of the shed. Noticed the cows were reaching for water so turned the hose on for them, then went back to picking up pots……. Saw the plants I got from a nursery last night were wilting so walked them over near the hose and realized the water was running over the cows w

Comment by Deborah Miller on February 22, 2012 at 7:48am: I just saw this and read about the ADD gardener and it reminded me of this story I wrote last year........... I can totally relate!

July 25, 2011 first day of a weeks vacation – getting ready for my first garden tour…………….

Get up at 6:30........ put on nightgown ........(was too hot to wear one last night OK?)...... pee......... wash hands........... pack Al's lunch and get his water ready for the day. Toss a load of good clothes in the washer. Cut up banana in bowl add cheerios and milk, get a glass of orange juice and pills......... join AL on the porch. Eat cereal and give milk to the dogs. Take 2 pills with OJ. Go to get cortisone to put on poison ivy on my foot......... ... ate cereal so might as well brush teeth while in the bathroom, brush teeth.......... can't find house slippers.......... remember they are on the porch. Find slippers and see half finished glass of OJ and one more pill to take. UGH.......just brushed teeth.......... toothpaste and OJ do not go together! So get molasses cookies and go back to porch. Al eating sugar cookies. Eat cookies that I didn't need, so I could finish OJ and take pill. Go to bathroom to wash up and then get dressed. Can't find glasses, walk from room to room looking for them and they were in the bathroom all along, right where I started from. Gonna be one of those days! Al leaves for work. I take load of good clothes out to hang up, and am planning my day........... get keys to unlock the shop and basement door, take dish soap to entrance so I can take to basement with bucket of hot water to wash pots and tubs out that we want to use Wednesday for hypertufa. Set down soap in entrance. Might was well get sunflower seeds while in the shop so grab the sunflower ball and bird seed pail and head to shop. Cody (cattle dog) refuses to come out. I call him “housemouse!” and shut the door. Tuff (other cattle dog) goes with me. Shop door already unlocked. Stick keys in pocket along with cell phone. Fill the sunflower ball and hang out for birds. Take pail in house to mix in regular birdseed, remember that I want to clean off entrance patio, so set pail in house and go back outside. Look around on patio and take 3 clay planters off patio to west beds and set down. Was going back for the other 3, but then saw wood cutoffs from making raised beds this spring and decided to pick them up and stack by the peach trees. Picked up the longer cutoffs and stacked by peach tree. Will put shorter ones in wagon later. Then saw weeds in the hen and chick beds, so started weeding, filled my 3 gallon planter, so dumped weeds west of the beds in tall weeds. Saw another longer cut-off so picked up and added to my pile. Did more weeding. Heard a truck pulling in. It was Al stopping to get a tool from the shop. Followed him in the house to get something to drink. Make iced tea. Saw next load of clothes were ready to hang out. Take clothes to hang out and discover shirts are just the right dampness to iron. Come in and turn on iron. Go back out to hang rest of clothes on the line. Iron 6 shirts and hang up. Sweat my butt off while doing it. Remember to turn on ceiling fan on last shirt. Decide the shirt I have on is too hot, so change into a light weight blouse, roll it up under my boobs and tie it. Cody and Tuff don't seem to care how I look! Now to pick up where I left off......... I still haven't cleaned off the patio, fed the birds, or unlocked the basement door and washed out those tubs and such........... which is what I was going to do first thing this morning .................. and now where did I leave my iced tea????

It's just 10:30...........

OK sent off email to sister at work and go find almost warm iced tea sitting in the sun on the porch........... put on ball cap and head to entrance. Make Cody come outside with Tuff and I. Gather up dish soap, scrub brush and pail of hot water and hea