Winter Garden

There aren’t many flowers at this time of year, and what’s still around is a little bedraggled, so this spot of color is a treat. Most of the garden, paths included, is covered with sour grass (oxalis), which is impossible to control. I used to try, but now I pretty much leave it all til spring. Except for around the bases of trees, and around the roses so we can see where to prune. Yup, pruning has started. J came today to do the fruit trees, as he has done for several years. He and the trees are used to each other and seem happy in each others’ company. Mr S and I used to be the grounds persons, but we didn’t last very long today, a couple hours maybe, gathering the cut branches and scraps and carrying them to the truck. There are a LOT of trimmings to clean up. I worked til I couldn’t, and then maybe a little bit more, but then I stopped and didn’t go back out. J worked til dark, got the truck packed and tarped and ready for the dump. Landfill. You’re supposed to say landfill. It was a lovely warm day, high of 68 degrees for heaven’s sake, which is like a summer day, only shorter. A lot of work got done today. What’s left is the roses, and whatever pointless weeding we choose to do. The ground is wet enough that the weeds come out easily, and it’s very pleasant to be out in the sun, so I’ll probably be back at it tomorrow.

And, though we live in California, we are not in range of the fires that are all over the news. Our family in LA is safe, although they report that the smoke is terrible and traffic is worse than usual.