Gardener

 My last post was about green fingers and my new garden projects here in Düsseldorf. That made me think about what happens to me every time I enter a garden center. It doesn't matter in which country I am in, other costumers always think that I am working in the garden center and comes up and ask me for advices.
I was sitting outside in the warm sun the other day and made an illustration of me and my garden center experiences.

It has happened so many times that I am now expecting it when I enter a garden center. Last time was here in Düsseldorf a couple of weeks ago, a lady came up and asked me in German where she could find the strawberry plants and asked for some growing advice. I tried to answer her in German because for some reason I always feel flattered that people think I know a lot about plants and instead of saying "Sorry I don't work here and I don't really know " I always try to sound as if I really am a proffesional gardener even on a language which I really don't master that well. With this German lady I was trying my hardest to explain where she could find the plants but figured that I sounded so bad and switched to English and said actually I don't know and I thought speaking English would make her understad that I am not working there. But the lady wouldn't give up she went away few minutes before she came back and said "well I will ask you in English instead" and I had to admit that I have no clue and that I don't work there.
Looking back from all the times I have given garden and growing advices and I have an impressing list of countries in which I have been seen as a gardener in Sweden, England, Czech Republic, Russia and Germany. It is funny how this keeps happening to me and I have thought a lot about what is it with me that make me people think I work in a garden center. My conclusion is that I always dress not so very fancy more rough country style, wellington boots, with messy hair and dirt under my nails. Or What else could it be?

We have had such great summer warm weather here for the past weeks, it is great. Kids are playing on the trampoline or in the mini pool ( yes it has been warm so that they have been bathing) and I have been able to sit in the sun to draw or read, luxury in all this Corona stress and quarantine.