Late Afternoon in the Garden

We've been working hard out there. Just last week the view was mostly of sourgrass in, over, and in between everything. What you have to appreciate is the paths, especially the one toward the center, where the reddish bark is fresh. We just did that part this afternoon and I've got the aches to prove it. First comes major weeding, because even with weed cloth and mulch, plants grow through and it gets messy. I was out there with a hula hoe and a smaller circle hoe while Mr S took the truck to the landscape supply place to pick up some bark. Like many places now, you order and pay over the phone and never have to see another human being, so we felt it was a safe outing. By the time he got back we were too tired to empty the whole load, but the part we got down looks good and smells woodsy. 

If you look carefully you can spot the weird little cat face birdhouse that I mentioned the other day. It's at the bottom of the first vertical trellis support, way down low where you'd never expect a birdhouse.

One of the raised beds has raspberries, the other has escarole and spinach which are on their last legs. We never have much luck with spinach. One of the local nurseries is still open, so I hope I'll be able to get seedlings when we're ready to turn this bed over. Along the fence are two tall pear trees.  A kiwi vine is on the trellis. Luckily we have quiet neighbors and this yard is a wonderful retreat for us, especially these days.

I made biscotti earlier, and a custard, mainly because another blipper recently made banana cream pie and I couldn't get it out of my head. Someone else made custard the other day as well--blip is a vehicle for much more than photos.

I also started to make a fabric mask, but ran into a snag when I tried to make a casing for a metal wire to fit snugly over the nose bridge. I'll give it another shot tomorrow when Im not so cross-eyed. Apparently there is more and more evidence that wearing any kind of mask is better than nothing. "My mask protects you, your mask protects me," is the catch phrase which hopefully will motivate people.

Day Eighteen