Isabel's Garden and Nonno's Monkey

I wish I knew more about gardening.  I love seeing vibrant colorful plants and flowers.  I know a good one when I see it and know that they take a lot of work and tender loving care to make them that way.

Isabel's is one of those.  Albuquerque had some early spring warm weather followed by some real cold days and a number of bushes and plants died.  We convinced Isabel that we could remove the dead bushes and she let us do the job.  We were looking for more to do since the local Habitat affiliate has current volunteer openings at the construction site.

We showed up ready and were greeted by a really nice yard and garden.  Isabel takes great pride and care of her yard and it shows.

We were not the only one enjoying the day.  A couple of quails (or doves?) were also enjoying the great surroundings. 

We had a lot of bushes to remove.  I think there were about 12.  The cold weather killed them.  The toughest were the nasty pyracantha bushes.  After I got three of those bad boys out, I had to lick my wounds.  I looked and felt like I had been in a catfight...

With the help of Reid's truck, we made three loads to the dump.

Her backyard is a special place and now is ready for this season's of 'new beginnings' and more bushes and flowers to replace the old ones.

Isabel is quite a gifted gardner.  But she is so much more.  She was Adam and Kelly's 5th grade teacher years ago.  

And she has always been a writer.  She has written hundreds of articles over the years and some in the Chicken Soup for the Soul series.  And recently she completed her masterpiece:  Nonno's Monkey - An Italian Memoir 

"This book was an amazing and hilarious story of the adventures of a young girl growing up in a too-funny-to-believe Italian family. It is a must read."

So if you are in the market for a good book, check this out on Amazon.com

Thanks for stopping by the Roadrunner Chronicles today.  Hope you all had a great Mother's Day.  Until next time...