Crimson and clover

This is some variety of clover which, I think, was deliberately seeded in a vineyard parcel that was torn out last year. Once the old vines were removed, the parcel was plowed and left fallow. This spring, as you can see, these clover plants grew and flowered. The clover adds nutrients to the soil acting as a natural fertilizer. Some nearby parcels have clover planted between rows of grapevines, but their flowers are white. Whatever color, they're pretty.

Flowering clover.

So, yesterday Ken and I bought a riding mower. We had previously decided not to get one yet, thinking that the walk-behind mower we just bought would be fine for another year or two. But it's not. It turns out that it's just too small, meaning that cutting the grass is a lot more work and takes longer. I was kind of resigning myself to that, thinking that I could tough it out for another year or two.

Then, on Thursday, I went to our local BricoMarché (a hardware and garden supply store, like an American Home Depot, but smaller) for some seeds and happened to see a riding mower that looked interesting. And the price was good. I wrote down the model number and went home to tell Ken about it. He dove into the research and we concurred that this would be a good machine for us. The added bonus is that the store is having a deal this weekend: for every €100 you spend, you get a €20 store credit on your fidelity account. Which means that our purchase would net over €300 in credit for future purchases! That clinched the decision.

The machine is now bought and paid for. We await delivery next week. In the meantime, we have to make room to park it in the garage (it's too wide to fit through the garden shed door). I'm going to have to learn to drive again. We'll keep the smaller walk-behind mower for cutting in the corners and the narrow places where the rider can't go.

Until then, the grass continues to grow.