My thoughts wandered, as they often do when I am mowing the lawn, but they came into sharp focus just as I was mowing the last little section in the front.

By the way, I generally wait as long as possible in the spring before mowing the back lawn because of the flowers I’ve planted in that lawn over the years. The crocuses have finished flowering, but the Glory of the Snow are in their prime. Fingers-crossed that they are still blooming for the big Easter egg hunt.

I suspect they will still be blooming because Mother Nature decided to play an April Fool’s Day joke on us by giving us wintry temps on the first day of April. That should slow things down a bit.

So I only mowed the front lawn yesterday.

Anyway, back to my discovery!

As I was rounding the corner, I saw a guy standing at my front door with a big bunch of balloons and a bouquet of flowers, and then I noticed the van parked on the street nearby and another guy with a video camera.

That’s right! They came to tell me that I won the Gardeners Clearingcottage Vacuumstakes!

Now, I’ve had a lot of exciting things happen to me on the first of April, as longer time readers know.

I discovered a new plant that I got to name, found out the big rock in my garden fell from outerspace, learned that my DNA contains plant DNA, discovered an underground cavern in my garden filled with buried treasures, realized the antique wooden plant stand contained hidden messages from my ancestors, and grew the world’s fastest ripening tomato.

Then there was that time that I dug up a metal box from my garden and it was filled with gold coins. And my discovery of a way to x-ray the ground to see where bulbs are planted so you don’t dig into them when you are planting more bulbs in the fall. And growing actual rabbit-resistant green bean plants.

So based on all the above, I suspect some of you aren’t going to believe I’ve won something as cool as the Gardeners Clearingcottage Vacuumstakes.

Well, maybe there wasn’t a van, a film crew, and a guy with bunch of balloons and flowers, but I’m still a winner! After all, I have a garden full of flowers and soon it will be full of vegetables too.

It will delight me, entertain me, exhaust me, and occasionally frustrate me.

But I won’t give it up! Ever!

Happy April Fool’s Day!