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The dawn chorus, and we have a winner

Spring and summer will soon be here.

This morning, I woke to birdsong, and it took me back to when my children were small and watched Winnie the Pooh.  Those were gentle days.  Often, I sat down with them because I loved Rabbit’s garden savvy (although I couldn’t understand how a gardener could be so grumpy, especially a gardener in England).  I adored Owl who wanted to sing the dawn chorus, but of course, he couldn’t.  In fact, he was dreadful.  I tried to find the episode on YouTube for you, but it wasn’t there.

The sound outside my bedroom window tells me spring is on her way in spite of the snow forecast for tomorrow.  Yes, snow, but let’s talk of happier things.

Thanks to everyone who entered the great glove love giveaway.  From all of your comments I confirmed:

  • Gloves protect our hands from stickers and stinging nettles.
  • Our hands and fingernails stay cleaner.  No yucky dirt and bacteria to scrub away.
  • They save us from thorns and stinging bugs.
  • We are less likely to have stained hands from plants like the brown/green walnuts (which are, btw, a great anti-fungal if you crush the green skin and apply it).
  • Stones don’t cut us when we create stacked walls.

I can go on and on.  So, why don’t we all wear them?  Believe me, I understand, and sometimes, I pull off my gloves.  In spite of improvements made over the years, for women gardeners especially many gloves are still ill fitting.  We can’t “feel” the soil or the seeds beneath our fingertips  I can’t blame anyone who doesn’t wear gloves.  It was only when my hands began to age from the sun, and I was stung a couple of times by blister beetles and assassin bugs that I began to wear them.

I received some wonderful comments like this one from Joannie:

“I have a special pair of gardening gloves given to me by my late and wonderful mother-in-law. I only use them when I work in my flowers (and not in the vegetable garden) because she loved flowers so much. When I wear them, I feel as if she’s there, enjoying the beauty of the garden with me!”

As always, WiseAcre amused me:

“No Fair. I don’t Tweet and my face would ruin any book it was in. If I said I wanted a pair so my wife could have hands as lovely as yours do I get any extra points?”

But, I finally went with Deborah R.:

“Last year, I started gardening and I admit that I did a lot of gardening in ignorance.  I did, however, usually wear gloves.

“I discovered some vines that suddenly sprouted in my front garden. I pulled on my gloves and pulled them up, discovering more and more as I went along.  Later that night, my arms started itching.  Poison ivy.  Fortunately, I had it only on my forarms – my gloves saved my hands that day.”

You know I have all the empathy in the world for someone who’s suffered from poison ivy.  I abhor poison ivy.  Also, Deborah tweeted the contest, so she got double points.

Thanks to everyone who entered or who just commented on how much they love their Ethels.  I used my promo code RDR10 and bought the rose gloves for myself this year.

You can use it too.  I believe it works for a week.

Happy gardening, and Oklahomans, just curl up with a book tomorrow and ignore the beastly weather.  Next week looks great.

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19 March, 2010 By Dee Nash

Filed Under: Gardening Tagged With: Giveaways, Gloves, Poison Ivy

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Brenda Kula

    20 March, 2010 at 9:57 am

    It’s pounding rain here. And we’re in for lows in the thirties this weekend. Yuck! I have planted all this stuff, trying to replace what I lost this past horrid winter. My thoughts go out to you, as I know the weekend temps will be worse for you guys!
    Brenda

  2. Margaret Roach

    19 March, 2010 at 9:25 pm

    Today I gardened — Day 2 of the new outdoor season here, finally no snow — and I wore my basic kind: surgical vinyl (non-latex). I get numerous wearings out of each one as long as I don’t dig with my fingers, which I am inclined to do.

    I have heavy gloves, too, but I like to really feel things…but not rose thorns (for which your Ethels look well-suited). My surgical types are no match for roses.
    .-= Margaret Roach´s last blog ..doodle by andre: on the fence =-.

  3. Carol, May Dreams Gardens

    19 March, 2010 at 3:15 pm

    I agree, Deborah deserves those gloves! Love what you wrote about the morning bird song.
    .-= Carol, May Dreams Gardens´s last blog ..Dr. Hortfreud Reveals Five Types of Garden Therapy =-.

  4. marnie

    19 March, 2010 at 2:12 pm

    We are expecting snow tomorrow too, and on the first day of spring. Ironic, right?

    I’m like you. I wear gloves most of the time but sometimes you just have to ‘feel’ the work with your fingers. Of course, I usually am rewarded with splinters and errant thorns but that’s just gardening.
    Marnie

  5. Deborah R

    19 March, 2010 at 10:00 am

    Yay! Thank you so much! I’m going to look all girly and pretty when I’m breaking up clods of dirt and sweating the weeding, and it’s all because of those gloves.

    On another note, boo on your snow! I hope it doesn’t amount to much.

  6. Lisa at Greenbow

    19 March, 2010 at 9:07 am

    Tomorrow I will be thinking about all the things I wish I was doing outside.

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About Dee

Hi, I’m Dee, a professional garden writer and speaker born and raised in Oklahoma. Here you’ll find all my best dirt on gardening and travel. Welcome!

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