taking on the monster

I finally went at the"third yard" with our mower.  The main yard is lumpy but flat and takes most of an hour to now properly.  The second yard is beyond the driveway; it's a bit smaller than the first but well sloped for entertainment.  It's also a fine spot for stargazing, but a few spots need to be leveled & gravelled first.

Last and most cruel is yard three.  Not a level square foot in sight and equal to the first in size, it should be terraced and filled with flowers grapes and..mulch.    Once the tallest grass reached my knees I accepted the inevitable and pulled out the mower.  Over an hour later and I'm relaxing on the deck.  Not bad I'd say.. if I were done I would definitely say that!  The remaining third will happen tomorrow.  Or maybe in June.

Addendum - over the last two days I mowed 80 percent of Yard Two and half of Yard One in addition to completing the Hardest Yard (Three)!  Quite the workout.  I used my dad's cordless-electric mower on Yard One - light, quiet and generally fun but it ran out of juice twice (it hadn't been charged in about a year, after all!).  And now to rest..

Second Addendum: don't do this again!  The pain was exquisite and prolonged and not worth repeating.

Third addendum?  Apparently we have a Yard Four, just off the map to the right.  The property line ends near a second row of trees (pine) while I have yard Two ending at the first row (fir)!  Oh joy..

Aerial view of the Yards; apparently Google flew past during the former residents' Moving Week!

early harvest!

I have devoted my limited yard-time to getting plants in the ground rather than vegetables.  Our wood wall now has heather, dianthus, a greber daisy, a couple of planter-pots and a shoot from my parents' City of Auckland rose lined up.  If the deer leave them alone it will be a nice line-up!

In the meantime, the mini-garden planted against the house has sprouted in spite of my negligence.  The spinach is going wild in this spot, and I surprised Lórien with our first pea-pod yesterday!  Several more await our attention.  The strawberries are flowering and no peppers on the pepper-plant, but once the sun returns after our two-week grey spell things will really start up.  Hopefully I can get the raised beds bolted down and filled with soil, a few other vegetables would be nice to add to our small collection.

My father died a month ago today - the transition has been strange but nearly all of us will go through this part of our parents' life.  He was a constant part of my life for over 58 years, which is nothing compared to Mom's 70+ years of marriage; it's still a shock that he won't be chatting on the phone or sitting in his chair.

cute v. pretty

I recently took the compost out to the future-garden-area, and spooked one of the three DLF (deer little friends) that often come to visit. The other two sauntered into the yard and the third rejoined them pretty soon - and they almost immediately began foraging on the azalea flowers

What does one do when confronted with cute deerlings eating pretty flowers?  Well in my case, I grab a camera :+) the K-r and DA50-200 to be precise.  I was standing about 20 feet away on the deck, and only received an occasional glance as I clicked away --

The flowers will be back next year - who can say about the deer?  Just don't let me catch them in the blueberries, which is where that first one may have been munching!