Last Wednesday evening on the second day of spring here in the Northern hemisphere, I popped out to the patio to assess the damage from winter. The fence that separates my yard from my next door neighbour is made of vinyl and exactly one post has been trying to break free of its bond with the earth. I think we got short-changed in the length and cement department here.
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You can see how high the bottom of the fence panel is from the ground. That’s a 4 inch post in my neighbour’s yard that is visible well below the panel. So it is up about 6 inches and is very obvious.
Artistic Vinyl put this up and they sent a bunch of kids, if you happen to be looking for a fence company to avoid.
I get these interesting vines every year with little prickly seed pods on them. I like how they look, so I don’t try to control them. Here’s one from last year.
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My neighbour’s beautiful Black Crimson King Maple Tree houses a Robin’s nest. Easily visible when the leaves are not there.
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Of course, that Maple tree is right up against my fence, so I get to clean up its droppings every spring.
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My rusty trusty barbecue chimney (holds coals to heat up much faster) is sitting quietly on the ground awaiting the first BBQ of the season. And this is literally the first moment I thought of BBQing again … this low carb lifestyle takes some getting used to. But one huge advantage is that meat is not the problem :-)
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I must take care of this usurper. I cut half of it off last year, but I need to get it just above the roots this spring. In fact, I think I will hack off most of the bushes and get some new growth going.
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I still love my Yellow Twig Dogwood bush. I can’t resist spiking the colours when I get images of it not in leaf.
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Facing west, I get a shot of my next door neighbour’s tree next to our shared fence. Pretty shaped tree and makes a superb silhouette.
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I also need to rid myself of the pile of thorny Buffalo Berry. Nasty stuff, with 2” razor sharp spikes.
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Look up ….. look waaaaaaay up ….. and I’ll call Rusty. Well, this friendly giant flew right over my head and I could not resist an image. This is pretty clean for the high ISO and a crop to the jet.
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Here is the image as shot.
The neighbours across the street have a much bigger nest in their surviving Ash trees. Probably one of he black birds we have hanging around and cacawing all the time.
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My trusty garden climbers from last year. I bought them on the cheap from Walmart to hold up the plastic fence that I used to keep out the kids when the main fence section went down. They served their purpose and now stand alone and lonely in a weedy area of my yard. What to do … what to do …
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I cannot resist shooting an image of my neighbour’s roof. The shingles are beginning to curl … unlike my wonderful new architectural shingles :-)
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The pool has eyes. The vinyl continues to degrade in my pool. It is well past the time for replacement (vinyl liners need it every ten years or so and this is year 15.) I feel blessed that I only have two nasty holes in the vinyl and they are above the water line, so no leaks. This is year three with the rips and I am getting used to them.
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And finally, the side of the house with the path to the street. You can already see the Day Lilies fighting their way through the dead crap from last year. Impressive.
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So, the start of a new gardening season. Awesome
