The third time they invited me to the countryside, it was the season for planting. I became an assistant in their garden. I always keep in mind the three names of tools that Ernest taught me: 1. un râteau (a rake), used for making soil level, gathering up dead leaves, etc., 2. une pelle (a spade), a tool for digging the ground, and 3. une brouette (a wheelbarrow), a small cart for carrying ground.
And I remember during the oral lesson in the language school the following Monday, we had to give a short speech. I took my weekend in Neuves-Granges as topic and confidently talked about the gardening I had done with Ernest. It was less than five months since I had started to learn French. My language teacher and classmates were very impressed by my experience and vocabulary!
According to the lunar calendar that Ernest relied a lot on especially for gardening, 23 May was an ideal day to plant all kinds of vegetables. After our afternoon walk, Ernest was determined to settle everything in the garden by evening,
while Nicole was in charge of the housework.
I helped Ernest in making rows of holes in the ground, putting in haricot beans, onions, covering the ground back, inserting a wooden stick to the ground next to a tomato plant and tying them with a string, watering the plants, clearing stones... After less than two hours' hard work, we had added full of lives into the garden!
In between, the neighbours' daughter Lola dropped by to pass something to Ernest;
Her brother Louison also came in and said hello when he was riding his bicycle in front of the house.
Ernest and Nicole's tenant kindly offered her help to mow the lawn for them, knowing that their age did not encourage them to run the machine.
And the cat Bobbie, watching all of us, must be grateful to be adopted by this wonderful couple surrounded by an amazing neighbourhood.
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