On plants and gifts

Shortly after my daughter was born my mother presented me with a plant from my Nan. Or, rather, a basket with a variety of plants in it adorned with a pink bow. I have always been fairly straight talking with my mother and so expected it to come as no surprise when surveying this item I said “oh dear”. Of all the gifts that can be given plants are to my mind the cruellest. Cut flowers do not require substantial care; a potted plant, however, is a life time commitment of watering and reporting. If it is a plant that doesn’t particularly appeal to you this is an unbearable burden – in honesty even with plants I do find appealing the idea of committing to regular watering is beyond me.

Please note that this collection of plants was given just after the birth of my daughter, with the associated demands that this brings. If it was me rather the long suffering wife breast feeding I feel certain that I would forget to feed her, and I am rather fond of her.

My mother, instead of encouraging me to enter into a tirade explaining the finer points of my disapproval of the well meant gift, looked a bit crest fallen and told me she had chosen it. I felt this was an appropriate moment for back tracking and suggested that the plants were indeed very nice and that maybe it was the nasty pink bow that was putting me off. My mother explained that she had placed the bow on them.

Seven weeks on we have not completely emptied the flat yet – tonight is the final trip – and among the things that had not made it over yet was the aforementioned plant. This was not a deliberate attempt to kill it, but rather a result of the difficulties of transporting plants – and not liking it.

It was then with some surprise that I arrived home yesterday to discover the plant sitting on the windowsill in a bowl of water. I was shocked. Had I offended my wife in some way so serious that she would seek out this plant to punish me? No. My mother had helpfully gone to the flat and retrieved it.

I wonder what effect watering it with bleach will have?

On the subject of gifts, people did give us, or rather, Grace gifts at the dedication which was now over two weeks ago. As yet I have not sent thank you cards. I get home from work at 7pm at night and I then try to eat, sort out the flat, study.. thank you cards have become a little buried in this list. Yet I know people took time to choose them, and we are very grateful for them..but finding the time to say thank you.. I am attempting to block out an evening next week for it, but right now its not looking good.


Yours as ever

the broken man

Dedication

We have decided to go for a dedication instead of a christening for our as-yet-unborn baby, and so with incredible organisation skills – absent in our lives up until this point, the service has been planned, booked, and even the liturgy has been written. The invitations have been created, debated, sent back and forth and finally settled on, and all is organised for the 1st Febuary. This seems a little ridiculous with the baby not due till December – but with December comes Christmas, and then holidays, and then we are into the start of January – and suddenly there is only four weeks before the service. So it was today, that the long suffering wife and I bashed out the last bit of text and felt that at last we had completed the necessary arrangements.

And that’s it. You see, at this point, I feel I owe you a witty explanation, a description of how this reveals something profound and meaningful in my life, or how this may indicate something about a change in the way in which my life is organised – but I don’t think it does – it's just what has happened today in amongst the work, and study, and life.

Today – everything is normal

Your as ever,

Dully, The Broken Man