This is not intended to be a major lesson, but I like to keep in touch with my readers and not much happened in the last two weeks.
My cover art designer and VA , Chris Haas, told me in an email that my book ‘Trust to a degree’ is now available on Amazon in the paper back edition.
She also mentioned that she is battling some wasps ‘Yellow Jackets” .
This prompted me to ask her if she knew (what the English people consider ) the difference between garden work and yard work?
Here is her answer:
Hmmm, not sure what the English think the difference between yard work and garden work is but maybe yard work has nothing to do with working on your lawn at home. Or if it does, then maybe yard work is work while garden work is pleasure. Then again, yard work could be farming. Who knows? Well, you do, so I give up.
And here is my answer back to her:
Some time ago I visited my sister who was married to a British officer and they showed me proudly their fruit trees and vegetable garden in the rear
of their small house in the suburbs of London.
The vegetables were neatly arranged in well tented rows and I remarked how much yard work it is to keep it all in a nice shape.
I made this remark to my sister who just stared at me and then called her husband.
“Ronny, come here, you have to hear this from my American brother…”
To make it short I received following lesson from my brother in law.
When the British, (according to him somewhere at the beginning of time) started to build their houses, they toiled the surrounding land into gardens. Depending upon the preferences these were vegetable or flower gardens.
Then, when it became to much work, many of the house owners decided to make it simple for themselves and mixed a load of cement and paved some of the land. Mostly in the front of the house to keep it clean and neat.
Now, and here it comes:
Later on they just simply ordered a yard of cement.
Therefore, the part of the land which is covered with cement = is a yard.
The land which is still bearing vegetables, fruit or flowers = is a garden.
Ergo: You cannot do yard work in a garden….Dummy me.
Well, yes, maybe my American readers wonder if they learned something?
As far as my British readers, Hmmm, “Wipe the smirk of your face, please, we are still a young country.”
