The North Forty

This is the section of our yard that I call the North 40. It's due north of the house's northern façade. For scale you can see a standard wheel barrow in the upper right. There's a fence along the far edge of the property. We fight pretty much a losing battle with the weeds, brambles, and the young trees that want to take over the grassy area.

Most of the north forty. A wheel barrow on the upper right, filled with yard cuttings. The lump in the upper left is the stump from the Himalayan cedar we had removed a while back.

This past week has been pretty chilly, feeling more like late winter/early spring. We haven't had to use the central heating in a while, so it's not as bad as all that. The mornings are cold. 

Hydrangea

They're starting to flower now! This one grows on the north side of the house. Two more grow next to the driveway on the east side.

    

Looking down from the deck to the north side hydrangea.

Those two grow from clippings that I took and rooted many years ago. There was a third, but it didn't survive.

A loverly bunch

The grape vines are flowering and grapes are forming.

Baby grapes on the vines.

And it's chilly outside. This morning, a vineyard sprayer is out there plying the rows. I assume they're spraying a treatment against fungus. 

It's beginning to look a lot like...

Summer? Our unprecedented spring heat wave is expected to break today. Cooler air will be welcome, but we don't want it too cool. The hot and dry weather has been good for getting some yard work done. It's always important to take it slow and stay hydrated in the hottest part of the day. I got deck mostly cleaned up and we've been enjoying cooking on the grill and sitting outside in the evenings. I also got some geraniums for the pots and planter boxes. Nice.

The deck.

Our high temperature today is predicted to be in the low 20s Celsius, a full ten degrees Celsius cooler than yesterday. Now, if Mother Nature could find that special spot between too hot and too chilly...

Oops.

We've been busy running errands and dealing with little emergencies (nothing serious) and haven't really focused on the blogs these past few days. Pleas bear with us. Thanks!

The South Forty

This is the smallest of the sections that make up our back yard. That's all I've got for today. Our heat wave continues. It's really nice most of the day. The most difficult part is evening and the first half of the night. Sleeping is difficult and not comfortable. And it's not even summer yet! It's hard not to complain just a little.

Mid morning is the best time to mow. Warm, not hot, and the dew has evaporated by then.

 

To market, to market

I did get to the market on Saturday. The strawberries are plentiful and beautiful right now. I also got a couple of avocados for making guacamole. I also got some sausages for grilling (most of them went into the freezer).

Climbing up the stair toward the castle.

I parked down by the bridge so not to have to deal with parking in town. I took the stars up toward the château then the wide drive down into town (on foot; the drive is closed to vehicles). Along the way, I stopped to have a look from the terraces and notice my car parked down below. I didn't plan it, so it was a nice surprise to see how the car lined up perfectly with the view point below.

Looking down toward the river from the view terrace. Can you spot my little blue car? It's parked just left of center in the photo.

As planned, I mowed the west forty yesterday. Today I'm planning to finish up by cutting the north forty. There's also a little detail work to do; I've done a little of that each day with the walk-behind mower. I wonder how soon it will all need cutting again?