As our hair has taken on strands of gray and our joints have lost flexibility, we've had the face the fact that the days of a two-person operation, where we did everything -- cooking, cleaning, front desk, laundry, accounting and yard work -- would have to become a thing of the past.
I just didn't have the energy to go mow the lawn in the cool of the early evening after cooking breakfast, working as second-floor maid, doing multiple loads of laundry and checking in new guests. So we hired a man with a riding mower to keep the grass at reasonable heights.
This year, Seely accepted the fact that the physical strain and time drain of weeding the flower beds and other gardening tasks were more than she could handle.
Human resources found us a couple of teen-age girls willing to come by once or twice a week to do the physically taxing gardening chores. They are not only the cutest landscapers in town, but hard workers who show up on time and do whatever grimy task we assign them with energy, efficiency and enthusiasm.
Annie (the tall one with the pony tail) was referred to us by the Future Farmers of America/ 4 H program at the local high school and when she realized how badly we'd let things go, she brought her friend Liz (the dark-haired one) to help out.
The only down side of the arrangement is that I have to literally bite my tongue to keep from making jokes about the fact that Annie (surname Hall) shares her monicker with the Academy Award winning film by Woody Allen. I'm sure whatever play on words I could come up with to reference the movie would be something she's heard before, numerous times.
Still, while I was out knocking cobwebs off the front porch while Annie was weeding the holly bushes yesterday, I couldn't help but wonder if the straw broom I was using would be effective in fending off a spider the size of Buick . . .
