The last cut is the sweetest!

I've been cutting the flower meadow which passes for a lawn outside my house at Arduaine. It's cut only once annually after the wild flowers have seeded. I've been using our reciprocating mower, which for those who don't know what that is, is a machine which has two sets of blades at the front which move over each other in the manner of a hedge cutter. It means that you can cut very long grass with the greatest of ease and it's also much easier to pick it up as it's not mashed to a pulp.

The crofters among you might remember using the historic Allen Scythe which did the same job; I remember using one in a previous garden, but it was usually impossible to stop it when you wanted to -  I cut down a few shrubs by mistake! You heard what I hope were apocryphal stories about cats who came up to see what was going on and ended up legless - the blades are hidden beneath the grass. These new models are 100% better, but they still vibrate a lot, which means that in these health conscious days of Hand/arm Vibration Syndrome we are restricted to using a machine such as this to about 30 minutes per day. Quite right too - I know a man who used a chainsaw all his life and now has no feeling in his hands at all.

While I was cutting the grass a thought occurred to me - as we're retiring to a lawnless house this could be the last time I ever cut grass!

My second picture is of a seedling Echium pininana, from La Palma in the Canary Islands, which has sown itself right under our kitchen window. It's sad that I shall never see it flower! I hope my successor puts up with it for the short time that it takes to flower and die - it should be quite a sight!