{Fibro fog = typos. If you find one, I’ll make you an herb and flower bouquet.}
It started with succulent fever last fall. Then at the suggestion of a dear friend I planted a butterfly garden in the spring. Next came basil to save money on Junebug’s and my favorite herb; a promise to always grow pink flowers for Rosebud; and with the recommendation of Antique Rose Emporium from our nature school teacher, we added a yellow rose creeper in the spring and two yellow rose bushes just this weekend. Yes indeedy, I have the gardening bug.
Caring for our front yard garden calms me. Pulling weeds eases my frustrations over my health, parenting, and the abysmal state of our country. Junebug and Rosebud learned about the life cycle of the Monarch butterfly from TV and books, then saw it up close with butterflies and our milkweed plants. I will not tell them the horror I witnessed when a large wasp opened its black jaw of death to a new Monarch caterpillar and began to swallow it. The wasp then flew to the ground with its fragile prey. I threw a rock at the wasp but ‘twas too late.
On the lighter side of the life cycle, the girls help me pinch back, water, dig, and share my excitement when roses bloom or butterflies feast. Junebug picks and eats a basil leaf each morning as we walk out the door for school.
Holy Basil is anti-inflammatory, aka, manna for fibromyalgia. Fibro-fog has caused me to forget which basil I used in my three outdoor planters, so I made sure to buy Holy Basil seeds for my new indoor planter!
Gardening forces me outside on hard days and brings me joy each time I leave or return home. This fall it’s time to start work on a garden in our backyard. I’m excited to have a new gardening canvas with only my imagination and energy as limits. More herbs and flowers, as well as mosquito-repelling plants near our swingset are just the beginning…
40 & Over: Living With Fibromyalgia 
Beautiful
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