Wisteria Cottage

Watching

Finn

So, my boss Jack knows that there's a rather grumpy man staying in Wisteria cottage because he called and complained about me. Of course I didn't get into trouble. One, Jack is the nicest boss on the planet and two, he was mostly laughing when he told me that apparently my mower was too loud. He did ask me to not whistle, which is fair I guess. I'd just done it for the bears and then it had gotten stuck in my head. I made sure to clean and oil my mower, got a quick shower and inhaled some lunch so I'd be on time for my shift at the coffee house. Not half an hour after I started, wisteria dude/actor/tall drink of yum came into the coffee shop and acted like... like... I don't know. A fairly normal, functioning human. I guess he was just having a bad morning. Happens to all of us.

And yes, he's soooo my type. Maybe I'm basic, but tall, dark and handsome does it for me. Add in some scruff, a really nice fitting pair of jeans, and piercing eyes and well, yeah. Hey, I'm allowed to look. It doesn't matter if he's into guys anyway because nothing will happen. Why? I don't do tourists. Period. The end. Been there, done that twice, got a t-shirt, a broken heart, and a case of crabs. Never again. Nope.

I crash onto my couch at the carriage house I rent and wonder if this is the summer it finally splinters into a million pieces and I end up on the floor.  I think it's older than me.  My apartment is adorable, quiet, and I don't have to do the garden here. A perfect escape. I'm exhausted, truly. Springs are toughest because honey, planting 800 annuals in one garden is a job and a half, then we get up and do another garden the next day. I'm not even gonna mention the stone work that never seems to end. Without cars, we end up doing a lot of manual labor because getting machinery around is tough.

The tourists start like crazy around Memorial day but honestly my life doesn't slow down too much until the fourth of July. Then it's mostly maintenance work and watering until fall clean ups. I don't mind it though, who wants to be bored? Besides, the hard truth about life on the island is that you have to make hay while the sun shines, or in our case, money while the tourists visit. Two jobs through the summer, then just morning shifts at the coffee shop during the shorter off-season hours with an occasional odd job for Jack since I'm one of the few gardeners who sticks around during the miserable winters. I don't mind though, I love the changing of the seasons and the quiet that comes with the snow. It gives me time to recharge and film a boatload of cooking videos that I upload once a week onto YouTube.

I'm back at Wisteria cottage three days later because Jack noticed some leaf damage on his walk through and yeah, we definitely have an earwig problem on our hands. No biggie, I replace a few things that are too far gone (they'll go home with one of the team) and then bait. While I'm there I notice that his salvias are all ready to be cut back and make a note for Jack to schedule me some extra time to get to that next week. I also notice that Wisteria man watches me. I catch him quite a few times and wonder if I'll have another laugh with Jack later. Maybe I'm chewing my gum too loud.  I really need to find out his name.  Maybe I'll act like I work at Starbucks and ask him for one next time he orders a coffee.

On my way home I stop by the Farmers market. It runs five days a week during the summer and you can buy literally everything there. I grab some chicken, fresh bread, cabbage, the last of the fresh strawberries for the year and an awesome new cutting board. I have a whole afternoon off to cook, a rarity for me during the summer and I plan to make the most of it.

That evening I take a container of fresh strawberry shortcake to the cliffs and sit and watch the water while I eat my dessert. What a glorious day and to top it all off, no messages from Jack from Wisteria man.  I'm not sure why I'm a little bit disappointed.  I need a good night's sleep, that's all.