A few days later, Sjaak and Lisa drove in the pickup to a garden center. They looked around quietly, found the plants they were looking for, and replenished their stock with some more plants. Lisa discovered that all the plants had a card that included a picture of the flowers. She loved that because it gave her an idea of what it would look like. Sometimes she pointed out a plant that she liked, but which according to Sjaak was not yet suitable to plant. He then wrote the name in his mobile phone, so they could get it in March or April.

For the fruit bushes it was actually still early, but because the next two weeks fine temperatures were expected, they decided to take them already.

"If it's still going to freeze, I'll throw a plastic bag around them to protect them," Sjaak explained to Lisa.

Lisa knew the system, had seen it in other gardens. "Does that really help? Does that keep the cold out?"

"Not everything, of course, but at least they won't be bothered by the freezing wind and they'll be less at risk of breaking down."

Lisa lingered by a birdhouse. "It's not so necessary now, but wouldn't that be nice for the winter?"

Sjaak smiled at her. "Birds like to sit in bushes and trees, and we'll have plenty of those soon. We can hang fat balls and nets with seeds in there, and if it's going to freeze badly next winter, a stand on which we can put a bowl of water is easy to make. If it's almost winter, we can ask Huib if he'll make one for us."

Lisa pictured it, wondering how they could attract more birds. She grabbed a bag of mixed birdseed from a shelf, "Now if we sowed this too, maybe in a separate part of the garden, would there be more birds?"

"Yes, especially sparrows, chickadees and robins, all those little whistlers, just like that wildlife garden we already have. I had already been toying with the idea of creating another game garden like that, a bit on the edge of the estate. Perhaps it would be even nicer to lay out a few more of those little gardens, just as I'm planning to do, thanks to the nice ideas from Tanja and Nancy, to make a few little flowerbeds in the landscape, with paths in between, maybe a few pergolas there too. On the other hand, I think the wild gardens will then become too dominant, as the seed spreads."

"It seems nice, such flowerbeds, as if they had fallen there playfully from the sky."

Sjaak burst out laughing, "I can see it, then a helicopter flies over the estate and drops the lot down! Shall we have a look at my sketch together, the sketch I had made for the entire estate? It's hardly filled in yet, so we can still go all out with it!"

Lisa beamed, "I don't know about the possibilities of different plants, but I think it would be tremendous fun to make such a sketch. Shall we put some apple trees and pear trees in it too?"

Sjaak pulled her against him: "Lieske, I enjoy you, your enthusiasm. It is wonderful to be busy with this together. Would you also like to root in the earth and help get all those plants into the ground?"

Lisa looked at both carts that were already packed. "I have no idea, or well... I don't think I'd enjoy working in the garden every day, but helping out once in a while, I think that would be nice. I like to be outdoors for a while, and I'm not afraid to get my hands dirty. Yes, I have a feeling I'll enjoy doing it on the side once in a while, but not like you that it would become my profession or anything. But if you get started with these plants, I'm definitely going to help you. Then you just have to tell me where they should be approximately, right?"

"That's not hard. I'll put the plants with pot and all in the place I think they should go, then look at it from a distance, estimate whether they'll have enough room to grow, and then I'll start putting them in the earth one by one. We'll just work on it together, and you'll get the hang of it in no time!"

"Just like we were talking about parenting this morning, that it should be more living together and working together. I hope we'll have kids too."

Sjaak hugged her for a moment, "Patience girl, don't force anything. First you need enough healing to really enjoy our love game. And then we'll find out by ourselves if you get pregnant."

Lisa looked at him thoughtfully: "Yes... you're right, though. Only... when I see Margreet busy with her wraparound skirts, the preparations for their nursery, and when I hear her talk about all kinds of things to do with the baby, it starts to itch in me, too."

"Even I am bothered by that. I've seen you in that kind of skirt once in my mind, with a slightly bulging belly. It looked good on you, so you know that already," he laughed. "And apart from that, we'll just have to wait and see."

While talking, they had walked towards the cash register. They chatted with the saleswoman, whom Sjaak already knew from his recurring visits to the garden center. They paid, and brought the plants to the pickup.

At their house they unloaded the plants that were meant for themselves and then drove to the house of Huib and Margreet, where they put the plants together in their garden. They saw that Margreet was looking through the hobby room window and raised her thumb. Lisa and Sjaak waved at her and returned the pickup to its own parking spot.

Sjaak looked at his watch, "What timing, Annerieke has the coffee just about ready. Shall we go to her kitchen first and work in the gardens afterwards?"

Margreet dropped in shortly after them, all happy: "I just had a close look at those plants, the cards that were on them. That garden is going to be a party!"

Lisa reported briefly on the things she had just learned from Sjaak. She told about the fruit bushes, how Sjaak would protect them if it did freeze, about how Sjaak was used to giving the plants their proper place in the garden.

"We'll start it after coffee!"

Huib saw her enthusiasm and smiled, "I think you're up for it!"

"Oh yes, definitely! And we're also going to make a sketch of the whole landscape. Sjaak has made plans with Tanja and Nancy for more flowerbeds, and a wild garden with birdseed, so more birds will come into the garden. And I hope we can also put some apple and pear trees somewhere. There is plenty of room, right? Does that sound like something to you Annerieke?"

"It seems wonderful! At my vegetable garden I also have an apple tree and a pear tree and some bushes for fine summer fruit, but there will be more people on our property, the women in the shelter, and maybe several children. And fruit that is not eaten so much from the trees and bushes is wonderful for my pies. So my permission you have!"

.

A moment later Sjaak and Lisa together put the plants on the earth near Huib and Margreet's house. Together they watched from a distance. Margreet joined them and asked Sjaak if it was also possible to place the fruit section on the other side.

"That's fine, there will also be plenty of sun," thought Sjaak, "then you really have such a fruit garden apart. Do you like that better?"

"Yes, I think so," said Margreet.

"I think that would be nicer too," thought Lisa, "it does seem nice to have everything mixed together, but I think I'd also like it better if that fruit part came separately."

"Then that's what we'll do!" said Sjaak, "I can follow your feeling about that!"

They took the blackberry and raspberry bushes and put them on the other side.

"And then can there be a little hill here with some strawberry plants?"

Sjaak shot up in laughter, "What is it with you and that little hill? Why do you want a hill? Because you can get to it better?"

"Well no, I just saw it in front of me when Lisa suggested the idea. It looked really nice. It doesn't have to be big and high though, just a few bags of garden soil, nothing more."

"All right, ladies, you get your strawberry mound!"

.

By early afternoon, all the bushes in both gardens were in place. Lisa, at Sjaak's direction, had poured lots of water into the wells they had dug. Then they had lowered the bushes into the wells and pressed the earth around them. When they had all gotten their spots, Sjaak had sprayed them once more with the garden hose.

"So, those poor roots still have to get used to their new place. With that splash of water they will get used to it more easily!"

Together they looked at the result of their work and were more than satisfied.

"I can see the flowers and blossoms!" said Lisa, knocking most of the earth off her hands against the overalls she had borrowed from Sjaak. Those overalls were a little too big for her, but she hadn't had any trouble with that. On the contrary, it was comfortable, a little roomy.

"It's so practical that you had a utility room built in the past, with a sink," Lisa said when they were back inside and she cleaned her nails and fingers with a nail brush.

Sjaak chuckled, "You're already like me. I learned to work with work gloves, but I really only use them when a plant has thorns."

"It's great to root in the earth with your bare hands, isn't it!" thought Lisa. "I just won't be able to grow my nails for long. How lucky that I don't like that anyway!"

To chapter 231. Preparations for the baby

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