WHEN DREAMS COME TRUE

My husband is a wonderful man; I just wanted to state that up front for those of you who may not know it because I don't mention it often enough, and he's not one to go around and toot his own horn. For the past few weeks, he's been quietly going about making one of my dreams come true.

I've always dreamed of ivy-covered cottages surrounded by rose-covered picket fences, and somehow the picket fence became my picture of a beautiful, noble, graceful, loving, productive, peaceful, happy home. I've wanted a picket fence of my own for many years, yet only mentioned it occasionally (really! I think...)

So, if you remember from the yard sale posting, I found a wonderful, old, picket fence that a lovely lady sold to me from her treasure pile out back of her shop.

My thinking was that we'd just bolt it together and I'd have enough picket fence to actually surround my little garden plots behind my house, and I'd enjoy a shabby chic picket fence that didn't require any work on my husband's part. At least not much. You see, he prefers to pick his own projects rather than leave that to me.

It seems he also prefers not to have a shabby chic fence.

He has more vision than I do, and he saw in my well-loved, old fence the makings of a beautiful, Williamsburg picket fence to surround my pretty little Williamsburg garden that I have been diligently working on for the last two weeks. All things Williamsburg is another love of mine that he's wisely discerned.

So, without any further ado, he stopped by the big hardware store and purchased a few things to make the dramatic transformation of my fence from "ugly duckling" to "swan." I must say it's the sweetest of fairy tales and it happened in my own back yard.

He rallied the troops last Wednesday night after dinner and they all diligently went to work. Some sanded pickets (which he'd removed from their original, bowed, constraining boards earlier in the week)

and some began painting.

In a flash we had a garden of white pickets popping their little heads up all over the yard in various stages of being prepared for service. I had no idea that things could happen so fast!

By Saturday morning, all parts were prepared and my precious, hard-working men gathered on the patio with nails, shovels, levels, screws, and various other things that I don't know about to assemble this beautiful fence under the direction of their fearless leader.

After just a short while of measuring, nailing, and consorting with one another about posts and picket heights and leveling and various other manly things, before my delighted eyes stood the prettiest picket fence you ever saw!

Miraculously, my men,in one miraculous morning, had produced my white picket fence, straight out of a storybook, or a garden in Williamsburg, or, even better, out of my dreams.

With that picket fence my husband gave me a daily picture of our own beautiful, noble, graceful, loving, productive, peaceful, happy home. So you see, fairy tales are sometimes real, and dreams really do come true. You just have to have a man like mine to make it happen.

Miranda

P.S. Though they didn't make any of the pictures, Benjamin and Molly Elizabeth worked diligently along with the rest.