Birdland

The gusto with which I began my work on the wasteland dimmed pretty quickly. I got tired after only an hour of work. Tilling the very hard-packed soil and pulling roots that go so, so deep, exhausts me. I decided to take a short break and get an extension cord from the shed so that my radio could be closer to where I am working, and when I went into the shed, I saw this:

I knew this was coming. You can see the vertical plank behind the table I’d put up in hopes of holding the stack in place. The stack had been slowly leaning over for quite a while. It was heartbreaking to realize I had to re-stack wood and waste time that could be spent on more tilling and toting. But it had to be done. My tired old body felt battered once I’d done the re-stacking, so it was time for lunch before returning to the wasteland. Talk about a day of hard labour!

After lunch I was back in the wasteland. It seemed easier to do after wood stacking, but I felt too tired to last for very long. On my second break of the day, I had a magnificent visitor at my feeder:

Back at work, a pair of Dark-Eyed Junkos were a constant noisy presence. They came very close to me, and that’s unusual, so I put down my tools and sat on the ground to watch them. They immediately calmed down too, and very soon I saw what all the fuss was about. I am constantly learning things about living in the forest. The little Junkos, it seems, nest on the ground, and not far from me, nestled in the growth of the wasteland, I saw this:

Is there anything cuter than baby birds in their nest? I’m clearly going to have to slow down my work on the wasteland until the chicks have fledged. I can still, however, work on the outer extremities of the area.

By 3:00, I was beat, and so I stopped and undertook a search of my cupboards and drawers, as well as the shed, to find things to sell at the block garage sale this Saturday. Now, I’m all ready to go. And with that done, I went into the spa for a nice relaxing break before dinner and the couch.

*

My friend and former boss, the founder of the magnificent Arts Club Theatre, is writing his memoires and I am reading his first ninety pages. He’s prone to run-on sentences and there are typos, but it is compelling reading for me because I was there, working whilst finding my own income (they could not afford to pay me) and I know all the players. Bill is a hero of mine, as well as a friend, so reading his words is a lovely way to rest from my work on the wasteland.

I’m preparing for a heat wave. It’s likely to get very hot here starting tomorrow. Our temperatures are predicted to reach 38° here on the island.

This is the half of the wasteland where all I have done is remove
the (many, many) fallen branches I'd piled there during the winter.

This is the part I've done, which involves removing the weeds,
roots, vines and large rocks.

I used the rocks I remove from the wasteland to hide a decaying
stump that was unsightly.

this is the garden I've extended and where I'll do some planting
once I go to the cheap nursery on the big island on Tuesday.

This gives you an idea of the size of the leaves on the Paulownia.

This garden looks beautiful to me now. All the plants have really
matured and filled the space. I want all my gardens to look this
lush and dense.