Things are definitely moving in the right direction... Just look what I found in one of the boxes; my favourite garden trowel, from my house in Saltsjöbaden. When we moved there, I found this wonderful tool in the garage, with other old gardening tools that nobody had cared about for years. There they laid, in the middle of mouse drippings and spider webs in the unrenovated and dirty crawling space behind the garage. K
Later, I learned and noticed, that an earlier owner of my house had been a passionate gardener, and that the garden had even been voted as the most beautiful garden in Saltsjöbaden in the early 70's. Unfortunately, the next family in the house had no interest for plants or gardening and when we came, only some of the toughest survivors gave me clues about the former glory of my garden; a peony in the edge of a meadow towards the sea, spreading its frilly, shockingly pink petals like an old primadonna amongst its plainer sisters; a double Anemone of an exotic sort, surviving between the cracks of the cliffs towards the sea. And all the Hellebores, only managing to send up a few, thin leaves though the wirelike mat of roots of the ground-elder. After cleaning the beds from this nasty intruder, I re-planted the roots in the middle of June (!) and got my reward already the next spring, when the Hellebores flowered with large bundles of dark Burgundy flowers. And this lovely old trowel was with me through the whole journey, always there, often hidden in the soil so that I had to spend long times looking for it (I understand that the new, bright coloured ones are better in this sense, but I still prefer mine...).
K
So you can surely imagine my unease about not knowing if my trowel had made it into the moving boxes; it really felt like an old friend had gone missing. And at the same time, I felt a bit embarrassed (why, I don't know) about asking the people renting our house to look for it and if finding it, sending it to me. And now, here it is, together with me taking on a new adventure on the other side of the Atlantic; surely a sign of more good things to come? And this time I might tie a colourful ribbon on it, just in case...
K
(My trowel is taking a well-deserved rest on a bed of Blue star creepers, Pratia pedunculata, in my new garden. More about it soon - it seems that I'm getting over the busiest part of this moving project!).
(My trowel is taking a well-deserved rest on a bed of Blue star creepers, Pratia pedunculata, in my new garden. More about it soon - it seems that I'm getting over the busiest part of this moving project!).
7 comments:
It might not look much to other people this old trowel. Even so it is well used one still can see the good, strong quality it is made of. I can understand that you look at it as like an old friend as it must have done a lot of work for you. To find it easier you always could paint its handle red or yellow, but I think it would lose its integrity. I am glad for you that you found it.
I used to grow Pratia near my watergarden where it grew well with wet feet.
Visst är det så, man får favoritverktyg – jag också i andra "rum", favoritkniv, favoritpensel, favoritpenna, favoritpotatisskalare (!, jag vet, men nu har det sagts) etc. Just de där favoriterna som är "way past their sell-by date", slitna, rostiga, sneda, glappande - de betyder så mycket ändå, känns liksom bara rätt i handen (och det man ska göra blir liksom alltid bättre med just det verktyget).
Titania, I agree with you, it really has an integrity; and knowing that somebody gardened with it already in to 1950's (or maybe even earlier...) adds to its charm.
Camellia, visst är det roligt med dessa favoriter; när jag flyttar, försöker jag oftast (!) ha med dem någonstans så att jag vet var det är. Som min favorit te/kaffemugg och liknande skatter. Min mamma hade en favoritkniv i köket som hade inget skaft, men den använde hon ändå till det mesta. Vi barn fick ofta hämta "den skaftlösa kniven" åt henne...
I love your trowel! Such character and what stories it might tell if but it could. I completely understand your love of it and wanting to have it with you in your new garden. Lovely photo of it in the blue star bed. May good things continue to come your way!
Vansinnigt roligt inlägg! Känner igen det där, att man kan hitta försvunna spadar när man gräver om rabatten. /Ruben
Å, så kul att se din favoritspade! Jag förstår att du längtade efter den. Den är så lik min gamla planteringsspade som jag alltid letar upp längst in i trädgårdsskjulet och använder i min skånska trädgård. Jag tror man får liksom lite bättre grepp med ett rostigt spadblad(heter det så?)
När jag tänker närmare på saken så är min favoritkniv i köket också lite rostig, och har ett avbrutet blad. Den är nog trettifem år gammal och jag tänker inte skiljas ifrån den.
There's an enchantment in old garden tools... I love my great grandfather pair of secateurs that I only use it on special ocasions... Now it does mostly modeling work for the background of my blog, hehe. Hope to see the garden achievements of that trowel and of course it's sensitive owner.
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