What should we say?
It's definitely WORK....lifting, hauling, shoveling, pulling, bending over...but it doesn't FEEL like work when you love what you are doing.
I didn't PIDDLE, I didn't SURVEY the garden, I...I..we just don't have the correct verb in English for this process...I GARDENED in the GARDEN is a true statement, but a bit redundant don't you think?
Maybe someone in another country has a better verb that means work, but not in a bad way. Can anyone help me? I guess I could look on an online Thesaurus, but it's still sunny and warm right out the window and I need to get back to
Putting in a new bed. The front grass will become a gravel area. My water bill is too high and this area too dry.
The bees are busy! Azaleas all around Houston are still in bloom.
Funny and so true. I use an assortment of words to describe what I am up to, "play" and "work" are the usual ones that way the husband knows if I am having nothing but fun, or doing something I'd rather not be doing.
ReplyDeleteI like to think we're out there 'caring for' the garden, 'molding', 'shaping' ... you're so right when you say it really isn't 'work'! Frankly, I think it's more like 'indulging'!
ReplyDeleteHi Danger!
ReplyDeleteYes, playing in the garden fits my style as well...at least that's what my wife says.
Hi Bernie!
Yes 'caring for' is a perfect term as well as molding and shaping.
I thought of my Grandmother today while on this subject and we always knew she was out 'tending' her garden. I don't think of myself as tending a garden, but she definitely did so just as we might say someone tends a fire...something that needs constant and careful attention.
David :-)
Funny how English can let us down, sometimes. I suggest that you "enjoy working" in the garden. At least, that's how I usually describe it.
ReplyDelete-- Penny
Speaking of being in the garden, today is our clean up!!! All the homeowners are getting together to help me out and get these live oak leaves and acorns cleaned up.....lots of mulch over here. Lots of pruning to do. I know you are enjoying this wonderful weather....isn't it nice to not have to stress about freezing nights anymore? And it better not freeze anymore as my fruit trees are all blossoming!!! Have a great weekend!!
ReplyDeleteGardening is definitely work but it is a work we enjoy doing and we don't look at it as a burden.
ReplyDeleteYou could say, you have been busy in your garden. But that again does not necessarily mean you have been working. Hmmmm....I never thought about that!
I guess it doesn't just apply to gardening. Can any real work still be considered as such when it is enjoyed?
ReplyDeleteFor you:
WORK
verb
1 staff worked late into the night toil, labor, exert oneself, slave (away); keep at it, put one's nose to the grindstone; informal slog (away), plug away, put one's back into it, knock oneself out, sweat blood; literary travail. antonym rest, play.
(...)
3 farmers worked the land cultivate, farm, till, plow
TEND
verb
she tended her garden look after, take care of, care for, minister to, attend to, see to, wait on; watch over, keep an eye on, mind, protect, watch, guard, supervise; nurse, nurture, cherish. antonym neglect.
Tend seems to be best, IMHO.