Wood, pots and poo… oh my!

Jon and I recently had our 5 year wedding anniversary (and we have been together for almost 11)! Some days it seems like I just met him yesterday… some days, especially the days that he thinks he is funny, it seems like I have been with him for a life time… you all know what I am talking about! Anyways, the 5 year anniversary gift is something made of wood.  You can only imagine the jokes Jon had about what he could give me as a present and always followed them with a “booyah!”… that was one of those days that felt as if we had been together forever and I rolled my eyes  more times than I could count.  Jon gave me a Kindle in order to save paper, aka wood, and I gave him an IOU for a wooden humidor (IOU you are saying.  Yes, I just had his kid… he is lucky that I even thought about it enough to get him an IOU).  The gifts were nice but I am assuming like most new parents with no family around or a babysitter yet, we just stayed in and made dinner and watched a movie… old BORING couple, I KNOW, it makes me sad too!  But, we used the money we would have spent on a nice dinner on pots and plants for the back yard.

 I did a little research on plants and drew out a picture of what my ideal backyard would look like in my dream world.   I also found out about the Garden Souk, where you can get super great deals on pots and plants… it is the place that all the local gardeners go to get their stuff at wholesale prices, so I figured with penny-pinching Jon in tow we would manage to get at least half of what I had drawn out.  We headed out at 8 in the morning and it was already 100 degrees out... no bueno.  After a few wrong turns we found ourselves at the souk.  There are probably 50 shops randomly placed in a small area just off the side of a busy road and all the stores are basically set up the same.  They have two Arab men sitting in white lawn chairs at the front dragging you in with the promise of “the best deal for you” or “I have anything you need”.  Each shop is about 50 feet wide and 30 yards deep with every single type of plant you could think of and more pots than you can count.   Like most things in Dubai, the plants at most of these shops are not native to the UAE, so we had to go with a game plan so I wouldn’t kill everything in the first week!  After an hour or so and a few dozen shops, Jon had haggled the price down to something reasonable and we left having purchased 10 large pots with soil and plants with delivery for a third of what it would have cost in the States.  Later that afternoon one lone Pakistani man showed up to unload the ridiculously heavy pots, which at this point already had the plants potted in them… so not only did we get a decorated backyard, Jon got a pretty sweet workout in at no extra charge!  Lucky Jon!

Even though you can’t tell, Leighton was representing TEXAS

 with a bluebonnet onesie from her Auntie Mon! 

Happy Boys!

 

My Cholo husband enjoying the fruit of his labors...

We were very excited to have something alive in the back yard and some color from the pots to cheer up the space.  I must say I was also excited to see the dogs’ fake grass get put into the garbage!  Jon meant well when buying the grass and was told that it would drain and there would be no “potty” smell.  Well, don't ever trust what someone tells you who sells their goods at a place called Dragon Mart… lesson learned!  So I was beyond happy to see the stinky peepee grass find its final resting place in the trashcan.  However, the dogs were not so pleased and were even a little confused on where to “GO”! 

Bless Walter’s heart!  I am however happy to report that it has been a month and they have figured out what they need to do in a timely manner and all the plants are still alive.  The Cumberworth’s are winning!

Until Later…