In my last post, I forgot to tell the very best part of the story. The small, gray statues that grace my garden space are almost all Mothers’ Day gifts from my son.

Every year, we go to the Zilker Garden Fest here in Austin in late April. It’s a wonderful event – my favorite part of living in Austin, frankly, with garden vendors and growers and plant lovers of all types bringing their most interesting specimens. You can buy a hat and a birdhouse and get lunch and listen to live music and your kids can get their faces painted or do crafts. I love it. And when my son, Dustin was younger, we always went with my parents (after a soccer tournament) and he and my father would conspire to buy and “hide” a garden gift for me each year. Being a mom, not much gets by me, but I always pretended to look away and not notice an extra item bagged in our garden cart. It was such a special tradition (makes me tear up to write about it).

My son is now grown — going to college and working — he lives here in Austin, close by. Those little friends you saw in my last post from my garden, the puppy, the small bunny, the squirrel, are all from him. I also have several other things garden-related that he has given me over the years that are near and dear to my heart.

Now you know the “rest of the story!”