The Kindness of Strangers

This week was all about unexpected gifts.

On Monday PB forwarded an email from a local gallery needing gardening volunteers tomorrow to help with their landscaping. I called immediately to let them know I'd come over.

Tomorrow (Saturday) at the Mall the city and county are having a truck sale of compost bins. They regularly cost $100+ but they'll be selling them for $30. I'll be up early apparently there's a line every time they have one of these sales. It really is a bargain. Though it's ridiculous how expensive compost bins cost, this is a deal. YAY!

Later that morning at work, A came to my desk and handed me a book because she likes it and though it was the kind of book I'd enjoy too. Two days later I ordered my own copy online. The book: 100 Vegetables and Where They Came From by William Woys Weaver a very nice man whom I once met.

On the day, same A and I were talking about my gardening when the subject of bamboo came up. I'd just reluctantly bought a small package of the stuff for my bean plants but I needed more. Well, shoot! was her reaction, it's all over the place. It's worse than kudzu. I was shocked to learn this but then I had seen bamboo in our parking lot. So after my after-work walk that day I stalked around the building and snapped off a few tall bamboo poles. Great! I was thrilled!! Then when I came in, R told me that if I wanted more bamboo I was welcome to come to her and husband's home to take as much of the huge clump growing in their back yard. As much as I'd like. In fact her hubby owned a machete and loved to go out there and hack away at the stuff. He'd chop as much of it as I'd like. So I was in gardener's heaven. They are expecting me around 4:30,5 on Sunday. Wow!

Then, THEN, this morning A the nearer (her office is nearer to my desk than the other A's) told me about her roof. It's really steep so she won't to up there and won't let her up there to clear the roof or gutters. As a result they haven't been cleaned in a while, like years. So when RoofGuy cleared everything off he called her and said "You have compost. With worms." Excuse me? On the roof? All the leaves and roof/gutter stuff turned to compost and he left it in her yard for her to use. She has flowers and gardens loyally, but she said she thinks she might have some of her special Roof Compost Mix w/Worms that I can have. So I'll be calling tomorrow morning to learn if I can visit her meet her doggies and get some special RoofCompost(TM)

Next, our colleague C is having a garage sale to end all garage sales that includes designer furniture (a vintage Herman Miller chair! Crazy Man!). Anyway, he hears us talking compost and says if I come by his sale, I can have his kitchen peelings in his refrig that he uses in his compost. He's got waaaay enough he says.

Why am I so touches and thrilled by people giving me broken bricks, and the dregs of their gutters and extra rotting food? Because I'm garden crazy! I think it must happen to millions of people this time of year, really earlier. OMG and there might be worms too!!

And it finally rained one night but didn't crush anything already in the ground. The rain makes it easier to pull out the grass in the area I want to plant. The park across from work is having some brick work done. The bricklayers have said I can have all the broken & discarded bricks I want. I'm going to use them for a small walkway where I pull up grass but don't plant anything.

AND I went to a 75 cent movie (Slumdog Millionaire) w/Aunt C! I made her stay through the end credits to see the Jai Ho dance. So cute!
What a week!!