Oh, I was so excited! A few days ago, Son said I wasn’t to go anywhere near the greenhouse because there was a Christmas surprise in there for me. Now I realise that greenhouses are usually for growing plants, but so far we had only ever used it for growing little birds into adolescents before letting them free range. Nothing remotely leafy had been produced in there.
It’s not that I haven’t tried – gardening I mean. After all, that’s why I got the greenhouse in the first place – to grow tomatoes for us and lettuces for the birds. But the sad fact is that, despite good intentions, I have absolutely no talent for gardening, and I actually loathe anything to do with spades, pots, soil and watering cans. I desperately want to overcome this gardening aversion though, so I have put it on my list of New Year’s resolutions for 2020.
During the days leading up to Christmas I noticed Son going in and out of the greenhouse twice a day. I wondered what kind of bird it was and it took immense willpower to stop myself from having a peek. Would it be a baby galah? Maybe it would be another weiro. Perhaps it was some ducklings. Or possibly it was something more exotic like a swan or a pelican or even a rare breed of bird I’d never heard of.
Finally, Christmas morning arrived and after opening his pillowcase presents, and exchanging our under-the-tree presents, Son took my hand and said, “Now, for your surprise.” I said to Husband, “Do you know what it is?” and he nodded knowingly. So we went out to the greenhouse and Son told me to close my eyes while he opened the door, then he said, “Okay, Mum, you can open your eyes. Happy Christmas!”
I opened my eyes and it was almost too much for me. There, carefully arranged on a trestle were about 30 little plants in pots – tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuces, eggplants, and more. I tried to rearrange the horror shock on my face into happy shock for Son’s benefit and I must have succeeded because he hugged me and said, “I thought you’d be amazed.”
I guess I’ll have to bring that New Year’s resolution forward a bit!
jmgoyder 