A Look Around

 My neighbours, Barbara, Kelly and their son, Stuart, have sold their lot—and their trailer. They’ll be leaving at the end of July. They are lovely people, and their dog is a dream, so it’s sad that they are leaving.

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Alison and Peter came by just before 9:00 am yesterday morning. I drove them to the ferry terminal, and we talked about the storm—everyone has been talking about it. Once I dropped them off, Her Highness, looking resplendent in her now do by the way, and I went for our morning walk. It was chilly. I was up at 5:00 and it was 4°. But the afternoons are lovely and mild, and the rest of the week is predicted to be sunny and warm.

When I got home, I started cleaning up the yard. I had just finished raking and mowing all the lawns early yesterday, but now I’ve to start all over again. There are branches, twigs, and cones everywhere. I picked up five wheelbarrows full of crap in the morning. I’m rather desperate to get to work on the gardens, but it’s more waiting on that front until I finish with the lawns. 

I worked all day. It was a lovely day—toasty warm when in the sunshine, but cool in the shade and with the wind. I enjoyed seeing things cleaned up; Pinecone Park looks much nicer now. When I look out my windows, I see a clear deck and courtyard. Plus, I raked everything off the driveway and that really makes the place look tidier.

Bonus! I was eternally bending today, picking up all the material I’d raked into piles. As I worked, I pulled the odd weed in a garden. I was picking up cones and the layer of needles on the top of the soil when I noticed something. I saw true sparkling. I found a teeny-weeny geode. It’s looks like black jade or obsidian. It could be obsidian; geodes are of volcanic in origin. But there’s no hollow core on this the one I found yesterday. There’s just a thick line of glittering crystals in its centre. It’s like looking at a finely faceted diamond line. It’s beautiful. It will have pride of place at Pinecone Park.

I just get so tired, so quickly now. When I think of how hard and how long I worked on the landscaping, it amazes me. I don’t know what’s changed, but I sure feel different. I am beat after a few hours of working and, even with breaks, I was done by 3:30. I chilled for a bit, took Her Highness for an afternoon sojourn, got into the spa, and then made dinner before hitting the couch for the night.

But before I ate, I went outside and took the photos below. In the photos, it looks like I have lawn, even here, if you go out on the courtyard, it looks like lawn. But there are a lot, and I mean a lot, of bald spots and a bazillion weeds. So, I’m adding shrubs each year where there’s sufficient sunshine for them. Remember, when you look at these photos, there was absolutely nothing here when I moved in. Not even soil.

It was years and years of built-up needles on top of the land, with weeds and vines rooted in the needle mass. And there was left over garbage, construction material, and a bad burn scar. I’ve noted the few growing things that I inherited in the footnotes to the photos. The Climbing Hydrangea on the trellis has really thrived.

This is the courtyard. The Ivy has really done well to help give
the fountain an aged look.

Looking into the eastern part of the backyard.

This is the western part. Merrill's and Leo's house in the next
yard. The Friendship Gate connects us.

This is the front yard. The Paulownia Tree is just  budding but
it soon should be putting on a grand display. The Rhodo was
here when I moved in.

Herb garden (front), 2 rows of Blueberry. Raspberry row.

This is the entrance to the backyard. I planted
the Ivy growing up the wall of the shed.

Garden between the trees; and below. You can see how spotty
the lawn is in this photo.

This is the Fern garden. The big clump in the middle was here,
all the smaller ones are my plantings found on the property.

The Ferns were here when I moved in. As was that huge bush
leaning over the fence. It's Ocean Spray, a magnificently rich
fragrance fills our forest when it blooms.

The plant's I've yet to put into the gardens today.

The deck where it all happens baby!