No-one was happier than me when it started raining at 4pm this afternoon as it meant that I could put my feet up without feeling that I should be outside! My bones are feeling a tad tired after a week of intense weeding, grass cutting and gardening but it's great to feel motivated and rewarding to finally have a neat and tidy section.
My Stihl brushcutter (or scrub-bar as it seems to be called here) has been working overtime; I think I've done 7 fuel-loads so far. I use a steel blade but it still struggles through the mass of cutty grass, reeds and long grass. I'm okay on the flat but still find it difficult cutting on uneven ground. After raking all the grass up last night, I can see that it will need another cut in a week or two to keep it looking smart for Christmas.
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| Start day - 17 November 2013 |
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| The back area sort of finished 20 November |
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| A nice neat driveway - no mud-puddles after a long fine spell |
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| Panorama before raking - I should be making hay bales |
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| Panorama after raking - with 5 mini-haystacks that got moved to my new compost heap just before the rain |
I've declared war on blackberry and my first encounter with the enemy resulted in scratched arms and legs but also the satisfaction of clearing a small area by the front boundary. Yesterday I started on the large patch nearest the house and discovered boardwalk hiding under the bracken and brambles.
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| Heading down to the duckpond |
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| Looking back to the house |
I'm not sure if I'll keep it there as it was slippery even when dry. I could cover it with netting and I guess it would give easier access into the middle of the wetland area; there's a bridge over the stream and also a duckpond - no doubt I could run guided tours to listen to the frogs each night!
