You absolutely loved the dowager countess’ comment to her granddaughter Edith disparaging gardeners on Sunday’s “Downton Abbey.”
Edith (recently left at the altar and nearing “spinsterhood,” at least her in estimation) needs a hobby and suggests perhaps gardening.
“Well no, you can’t be as desperate as that,” Lady Violet says.
If you’re not a “Downton Abbey” fan (or if you call it “Downtown Abbey”) you might miss the divine pleasure in that statement. The dowdy, quick-witted dowager countess (I call her that because I love the word dowager) is always quick to pass judgment and I can think of nothing finer than for her to mock my passion. Trust me, this kind of nasty comment from Violet is to be considered an honor.
Another way you know you’re a gardener is when you get a rather utilitarian weapon-looking thing in the middle of January on the coldest day of the year (high of 2 degrees) for a birthday present and you have to contain yourself from running outside to see you could plunge it in the frozen earth.
I give you the
Professional Gardener’s Digging Tool. This thing is a beast. I read about it (as is the case with many of my favorite gardening products) on
North Coast Gardening and I dropped a hint about it way back in October. This is the (only?) benefit of a January birthday: if you didn’t get it for Christmas you can still hold out hope that you might get it for your birthday.
This thing is like a hori hori on steroids. With a testosterone booster. It’s insane and I love it. I found it hysterical that my main concern is cutting off my own hand but there is a sticker on it warning me to avoid underground power lines. You gotta love a tool that warns you of the potential to electrocute yourself.
And best of all, it has a red handle, greatly reducing the chances of losing it in the garden, which happens all the time with my wooden-handled hori hori.
Now all we need is for that spring thaw. It is 14 degrees out there today; a sure sign that spring is on the way in Wisconsin.
