I am almost writing by moonlight tonight. A near half moon gives off quite a bit of light through the office window.
More progress on the back slope today. Hard knowing when to stop when there is always one more small patch of thistle or scrub grass or dry brush to clear. I left the last ten feet for the week after Thanksgiving because the water line has not yet been dug out in that section and may connect with underground pipes.
Clearing out the warning track confirmed my suspicion that water is seeping or pouring down the slope. I uncovered new green growth where the slope runs down from the lawn and the sprinklers. The biggest surprise was the large frog that I unearthed from his winter nap. I always thought frogs preferred wet environments.
I wore a surgical mask while applying Roundup to the cleared warning track. The combination of smoke, dust raised from dry brush and chemical weed control is not friendly to my lungs. I kept the mask on when I cleared the back of what will become a raised bed along the house. The back portion is dry, away from the lawn sprinklers. The only growth in that dry portion is shallow rooted scrub grass and the ever present Bermuda that came out without much of an argument. Not surprising because I hit hard ledge six inches into the ground.
I was at the Rising Sun Nursery in Burson this afternoon and found my wildflower seed mix and all purpose fertilizer. The nursery has wonderful stock, plants that I might otherwise find at Annie’s or the Berkeley Hort. Unfortunately, the owners are selling and having a difficult time finding a buyer who wants to continue operating the nursery. Making a nursery profitable in a small town like Burson must be a challenge. I may have to go back for the Japanese euonymus with dark green leaves before the nursery closes for good. I am familiar with the standard yellow euonymus with green edges; this Japanese varietal was striking.
A Year at the Snake 