Hemos nivelado el jardín a pico y pala, literal y figurativamente

a pico y pala [expression] – through hard work; with great effort; with blood, toil, tears and sweat, [lit] with a pick axe and a spade

A while ago, at one of our dreamer-doer entrepreneurs’ meetings in Madrid, my creativity buddy, Chus, gave a round-up of her recent activities. Her words went something like this:  “No he parado este mes; pico y pala, pico y pala, pico y pala.” I smiled to myself at the expression and noted it down mentally for a later date.

Last week, the expression came back to me in a more literal sense, because—without any prior planning or discussion—my husband, Alejandro, decided to undertake the job of levelling our sloping lawn. I was horrified at first. The lawn may be on a slope, but it’s perfectly fine, and it has come into its own during this time of confinement as we use it almost every day for playing volleyball with our boys.

Our friendly Amazon man turned up with a pick axe shaped parcel the next day—try explaining that one! So we got stuck in, all four of us, breaking up the earth, shoveling soil, sorting stones, and levelling the ground. Pico y pala, pico y pala, pico y pala. For a gardening-averse family such as ourselves, it was surprisingly satisfying, mindful, and even enjoyable. The whole job took just five days, a couple of hours a day. (Our garden’s pretty small). And we can still play volleyball, so my fears were unfounded.

In the future, we’ll look out at our garden and we’ll always remember this extraordinary time, when we levelled the land with a pick axe and a spade and our own blood, toil, tears and sweat.

En el futuro contemplaremos nuestro jardín y recordaremos siempre estos tiempos insólitos en los que hemos nivelado la tierra nosotros solos a pico y pala, literal y figurativamente. 

The thing I love most about this is how we’ve changed our story from “We’re not a gardening family” to “We can do this, bit by bit, by working together”. I’m excited to see what other mental blocks I can plough through during this pandemia, to achieve the massive personal transformation I yearn for. What about you, dear reader? What stories have you been telling yourself that no longer serve you?

And while we’re on the subject of my friend Chus, creativity, and making the most of this time in confinement, here’s a link to Chus’s fantastic online water colour workshop for painting birds. Sign up for a free place this Sunday. (I did the cat one last weekend and absolutely loved it.)