Post by kaileighwhitewlf on Jun 11, 2008 14:57:41 GMT -5
The lazy daze of summer… Kaileigh was desperate for something to do. Since Golden Horn had been attacked, Kaileigh had been in hiding on the Darkstar with Queen Rayna, keeping her company and making sure the Queen was resting and healing as she should. The attack had been so quick and so unexpected that the two had not had any time to gather up things to keep them occupied for any kind of long stay at sea. There really is only so much to do on a ship at sea, even the Darkstar (which is a fairly interesting ship in and of itself) and after a good week both Kaileigh and Rayna were fairly desperate to get back to dry land. Kaileigh hadn’t spent much time in Kabal, she’d spent most of her recent time on Mora excavating the ruins there and back in Golden Horn with her family, but she was thrilled to step off the ship and into the fairly busy port. The scouts had deemed Kabal the safest place for the Queen to be (other than ambling across the blue waves) and so Kaileigh was there, with the Queen, making sure that she was recuperating as she should. To Kaileigh’s surprise, Rayna had been a fairly good patient, leaving Kaileigh with a lot of time on her hands.
Luckily, the two had been tucked away at a lovely, yet secret location in Kabal. Rayna, though antsy, was still resting and Kaileigh had set to wandering the grounds of her current home away from home. At her own manor on Mora (before the earthquakes), Kaileigh had a large, beautiful herb garden. Gardening was her form of meditation and many of her herbs made their way to the healer’s ward in Golden Horn. Since this lovely, unnamed place had no garden and it’s owners had been so kind as to let Kaileigh and the Queen rest there and (most importantly) since Kaileigh was looking for something productive to do, she decided to start a garden. Many of the kingdom’s gardens had been destroyed in the earthquakes and hurricanes and attacks and many of the staple herbs that the kingdom’s healers used were running very low… so another garden would not hurt a thing. After checking on the Queen once more, Kaileigh gathered up some supplies and headed outside to begin work. The grounds of this manor were already well maintained so it didn’t take Kaileigh long at all to find a suitable area to place the garden. There was just enough sun, just enough shade, the soil was dark and rich and moist and most herbs planted here would flourish.
Kaileigh sat down in the grass and began to sketch a layout for the garden. She decided against anything too fancy, since she wasn’t entirely sure how much time she had for the garden, nor did she want to overpower the architectural aspects of the place she was staying. She decided to go with one large rectangular bed in the middle of the area, surrounded with three smaller rectangular beds on each of the longer sides and a half circle capping off each short end. Once she was content with her drawing and the scale of each bed, she began to measure out the gardens with small posts and string, marking out the shape of each of bed She wiped the sweat from her brow and began, with some help from a few others staying at the manor, began to dig up and till the soil to make the beds ready for planting. This was by far, the hardest and most tedious part of the garden. Satisfied with the progress that she and her helpers were making, Kaileigh went upstairs again to check on the Queen and sat down to decide what herbs needed to be planted right away and which could wait. She would start planting as soon as the soil was fully tilled.
Kaileigh quickly pulled out a list of herbs that she knew she wanted planted right away and wrote them neatly on a piece of paper to send with a messenger into the city for purchase. Surely her husband wouldn’t mind the expense if it kept his wife from going completely mad from boredom and also helped to replenish what the healers had used during the recent attacks. Her list included Sage, Lavender, Ginseng, Anise, Black and Blue Cohosh, Poppy, Echinacea, Evening Primrose, Chamomile, and others. She wasn’t sure what exactly would be available here, but she hoped she would find seeds for as many of the herbs as possible so she could begin planting as soon as possible. She sent the messenger on his way to the city (fortunately, she knew this “messenger” was well-versed in plants and herbs) and then headed back outside to finish up with the day’s work. The garden was ready to plant, weeds removed, soil turned and tilled, and the edges of each bed marked off by a border of small stones. As soon as the necessary seeds were acquired, planting could begin!
Luckily, the two had been tucked away at a lovely, yet secret location in Kabal. Rayna, though antsy, was still resting and Kaileigh had set to wandering the grounds of her current home away from home. At her own manor on Mora (before the earthquakes), Kaileigh had a large, beautiful herb garden. Gardening was her form of meditation and many of her herbs made their way to the healer’s ward in Golden Horn. Since this lovely, unnamed place had no garden and it’s owners had been so kind as to let Kaileigh and the Queen rest there and (most importantly) since Kaileigh was looking for something productive to do, she decided to start a garden. Many of the kingdom’s gardens had been destroyed in the earthquakes and hurricanes and attacks and many of the staple herbs that the kingdom’s healers used were running very low… so another garden would not hurt a thing. After checking on the Queen once more, Kaileigh gathered up some supplies and headed outside to begin work. The grounds of this manor were already well maintained so it didn’t take Kaileigh long at all to find a suitable area to place the garden. There was just enough sun, just enough shade, the soil was dark and rich and moist and most herbs planted here would flourish.
Kaileigh sat down in the grass and began to sketch a layout for the garden. She decided against anything too fancy, since she wasn’t entirely sure how much time she had for the garden, nor did she want to overpower the architectural aspects of the place she was staying. She decided to go with one large rectangular bed in the middle of the area, surrounded with three smaller rectangular beds on each of the longer sides and a half circle capping off each short end. Once she was content with her drawing and the scale of each bed, she began to measure out the gardens with small posts and string, marking out the shape of each of bed She wiped the sweat from her brow and began, with some help from a few others staying at the manor, began to dig up and till the soil to make the beds ready for planting. This was by far, the hardest and most tedious part of the garden. Satisfied with the progress that she and her helpers were making, Kaileigh went upstairs again to check on the Queen and sat down to decide what herbs needed to be planted right away and which could wait. She would start planting as soon as the soil was fully tilled.
Kaileigh quickly pulled out a list of herbs that she knew she wanted planted right away and wrote them neatly on a piece of paper to send with a messenger into the city for purchase. Surely her husband wouldn’t mind the expense if it kept his wife from going completely mad from boredom and also helped to replenish what the healers had used during the recent attacks. Her list included Sage, Lavender, Ginseng, Anise, Black and Blue Cohosh, Poppy, Echinacea, Evening Primrose, Chamomile, and others. She wasn’t sure what exactly would be available here, but she hoped she would find seeds for as many of the herbs as possible so she could begin planting as soon as possible. She sent the messenger on his way to the city (fortunately, she knew this “messenger” was well-versed in plants and herbs) and then headed back outside to finish up with the day’s work. The garden was ready to plant, weeds removed, soil turned and tilled, and the edges of each bed marked off by a border of small stones. As soon as the necessary seeds were acquired, planting could begin!