Wednesday, August 8

Survival Strategies

Remember these? I posted this picture somewhere back in the dim days of earlyish blogging. Cant be bothered finding the post now.
The reason I have republished this little blurry image will become apparent.

I have sneaked in here to try to stop myself from running out onto the front lawn, where GOM is maiming the remaining stumps of the grass.


I would cheerfully throttle him, in full view of the neighbours.


No, not for murdering the lawn.


But I just went out to peg out the washing. GOM usually does this for me. Now, perhaps I can see why he has been so quick to grab the basket off me, & rush up the path to the clothes line.


I have just discovered he has uprooted my Morning Glory Vine. It was one of the few things I have grown from a cutting, which had happily survived, & rewarded me with many pretty flowers.
The GOM, aka, The Garden Vandal, has uprooted it completely. There are signs it had been hastily poked back into the earth.
Hoping, I suppose that I would never notice it's death or absence. I just fail to understand how he can keep making the same blunders.
And I also wonder, how am I going to develop survival strategies that will serve us both well, & keep us both alive. He has certainly had another near death experience this morning.
His mother developed Alzheimers. It is an ever present worry, to both of us, I know, that he may develop the terrible disease. His father's only sister had it too. So, if it is an hereditary disease, as some opinions tend to believe, he has it on both sides of his family. And that is a very very scary thought.
He has a much better memory than I do, for movie stars names, movie titles, authors names, etc etc. On the other hand I can remember a lot more things about music matters than he can. I guess we both keep our observational radars on, to note any lapses of 'mind'.
I first became worried about it some years ago. We had had the MIL & FIL to stay. We had realised just how bad the MIL was. Because she lived in New Zealand, & we didnt see her for about 12 months, we really noticed it.
I consulted the GP we had at the time, & we discussed some of my concerns. GP concluded GOM needed to wear his glasses more, instead of acting like an idiot because he couldnt see properly. The next major concern was the hearing. After many frustrating months of denials, he was finally convinced he needed to have his hearing checked. And, once fitted with his new hearing aids he could see how deaf he really had become! And that return to the hearing world, resulted in a lot more idiotic seeming behaviour changing.
I know we all get old & cranky. I know we all develop strange tics, & phychological warts. It just goes with the age territory. And we cant spend our lives seeking out trouble or imagining disease where there may well be none.
But I have to tell you dear friends, acts like the murder of the Morning Glory shake my belief that all is well!
I have begged & pleaded with him never to touch that part of the garden but it appears to be a magnet for him. He just cant help himself.
So I have to keep devising strategies to cope with the loss of my plants... & sanity?
I think I manage fairly well. It used to irk me that he hangs the clothes out all 'wrong'. By which I mean not the way I would. So a strict talking to me, by me, resulted in admitting that no one loses a limb or an eye, or even a life, because the clothes are pegged in peculiar ways. And it does spare my back. And he folds the washing as he unpegs it, so what am I whining about??
**************************
We had a great afternoon yesterday. Some friends came over, & we sat out in the lovely sun, & chatted & laughed, until the husband went off to collect kids after school, & the wife stayed for a little change of pace.
We moved indoors as the afternoon cooled, & enjoyed more laughs & a few drinks. The husband came back, & we carried on laughing. It really is lovely having friends we can both enjoy & like.
Now here is Honey, this morning, having a little stretch.

And here is Leo. Curled up, perhaps having a little sulk.

I bathed him yesterday. We caught him on his way into the house with muddy paws!! About to leap all over the nice new honey coloured carpet. OH NO!!
So I whisked him into the tub for a paw wash. Fat hope! it ended up being a full scale bath. And he is not exactly a willing partner for this activity.
Then I tried to brush his woolly knotted coat. He was having none of it, & made his getaway.
And our friend gave him little snips with her little scissors, so he now has baldish clumps here & there. I think it wounded his pride a little. And he is giving me a wide berth if the reads me thinking of the scissors or trimming.
Ah well, I have simmered down somewhat now. I guess no lives will be lost this time. But I do mourn the Morning Glory. Cant help it.
Oh and we had Small Grandson here on Monday for a few hours. He is a delight. He had brought Garfield to watch on DVD, but he found other things to do, & he had a nice cuddle with me being 'my treasure'. My daughter said when they were leaving he said to her, "You know Mummy, my Nanna is SUCH a lovely girl!"
Made me all warm & fuzzy when she told me!
And yesterday on the phone he told me, "I have a sore toe Nanna" When I asked why he told me "It is DAMAGED!" "Oh, how did it get damaged?" "I picked it, & it was bleeding!"
His mother didnt know about that one.
And today, he is in Pre School, so he will be happy.


Chirs Isaak, Two Hearts.

23 comments:

Pauline said...

well, nanna - that IS a compliment!

Can you fence in the morning glory? Or transplant it somewhere GOM never goes? Or perhaps post a sign that says THIS PLANT IS POISONOUS TO GOMS?

meggie said...

Hi Pauline, I had a little grizzle to my daughter- I think she knew he had done it. I will just have to mourn it's loss I guess.

Lucy said...

Everyone has their little ways,and we all have our fears, and exasperations!
Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof!

Mary said...

Oh Meggie the highs and lows of our apparently "ordinary" lives!!

Leigh said...

I think small grandson was spot on :-)

Flea said...

Hi Meggie, thank you for stopping by my blog and leaving lovely comments, I've bookmarked you and will pop over again.

Alice said...

Gee, Meggie, so pleased to know that you live in such an abnormally normal household.

Before it's too late - like right NOW - go get a cutting, or several, from that Morning Glory to plant and hopefully replace the one that seems to be doomed.

Sounds like a few steel stakes might also be in order - to enclose either the MG or the GOM - you choose.

As for hanging out the washing - doesn't sound like he has to have all the underwear on one line with pegs of the same colour, all socks on another wire with similar peg requirement, and so it goes. Pegs are tipped out of the peg bag onto the ground for easier selection. HE doesn't believe that the clothes will dry just as quickly if they don't have matching pegs.

It's much easier not to watch !!!

Jess said...

A lovely post, M.

I concur about the cuttings, and maybe moving the MG against a wall?

Can't do a thing with my husb. on the garden either. He cheerfully mows over the Japan. quince's little red shoots, EVERY STINKING TIME.
I always have to close my eyes and hide in the kitchen!

Joyce said...

I have lost numerous plants to the mighty garden tiller. Don't you love compliments from little kids. They are so honest.

Alison said...

Sorry to hear about the Morning Glory Vine...have a husband with similar bad habits.
Am so in love with Honey and Leo.

Rowan said...

My GOM is never to be seen in the garden - hanging out washing, cutting grass or anything else. It does have its advantages though as at least he never murders any of my plants:)
Grandchildren are a delight aren't they? I suspect that most Nanna's are lovely girls to their grandchildren.

~Bren~ said...

Little ones say the cutest things. "It is damaged!" Too sweet. Just give the GOM a big hug and tell him he will get a kick in the blue bells if he goes near your garden again!! Then follow through....

Thimbleanna said...

Oh Meggie, as usual, you always make me smile. Sorry to hear about the MG -- MeMum has the same problem with BigDaddy. He just doesn't seem to have common sense with her plants and he always thinks he's helping. We've solved those problems in our house -- I think hubby screws things up on purpose, then I yell at him, then he has an excuse not to help anymore. Get's him out of the work, LOL. Love your stories about your little angel, SG!

Linda G. said...

meggie, I do relate to the plant bit. E is a bit of a bull in the china shop when he takes a notion to putter about my tiny garden.
I think your Grandson is a wise little fellow..he knows a lovely girl when he sees one...

His Office, My Studio said...

I sure can relate to having Garden Vandals, my three dogs. They are fast too and still jump the fence to re-do my plantings. When they are done digging they want to clean their paws on my carpet and quilts.

GOM is like so many others....ME. It is hard getting older and giving in to our failing bodies.

Pam said...

What lovely fluffy dogs (almost as nice as our kittens...) but I would suggest divorce for the husband. Or at least severe penalties for doing any gardening without consulting the Boss.

Granny J said...

In my case, the problem is the javelinas -- a pig-like critter peculiar to the SW USA, Mexico & maybe Central America. They love my best bulbs (tulips & esp. hyacinths) and any plant with a fleshy root. I'm quite near downtown, but on an old route used by the animals for many years.

velcro said...

I remember my mother used to grow tomatoes in the garden below the verandah. Now growing in a built in flowerbox on the verandah was a rather large (for the space it was in) tree that arched out of the verandah, over the garden and over the tall garden wall. My mother begged, pleaded and nagged my father to trim it back because she was worried that it would grow too large for the space it was in and pull the verandah down.
One Friday (weekend in the Middle East) we were in the livingroom when crash, half of the windowbox (which ran the length of the verandah) broke away and fell into the garden below crushing my mother's beloved tomatoes.
She was somewhat peeved with my father for the rest of the day.

meggie said...

Hi All, It would seem there are some great stories to be told re gardens in all parts of the world. The thing with GOM, I personally warn him about the EXACT plant I want left alone. I suppose I was lucky to have the MG as long as I did!
The peg story of Alice's would have to top any I've heard!
And I felt like crying when I read your story Velcro!

Anonymous said...

Has anyone yet suggested that you use the still limp vines of your Morning Glory to accomplish said throttling of the GOM?

Justice would be served, I think.

meggie said...

Oh Bec, I love that idea! Justice indeed!

Julia said...

My Dh is just as bad Meggie,
I plant things to cover up that horrible grey super six corrigated fence and he cuts it all back!...
" trimming " he calls it.. i call it destroying!
My tip,, quickly, as Alice said..
go get a cutting, or several, from that Morning Glory to plant and hopefully replace the one that seems to be doomed...

ancient one said...

Hearing your stories reminds me that everything is normal over here at my house. We all go through the same things... ha ha