Yeehah! Let there be light!

Got a lot of branchery and small trees removed (thanks, Drew) and now my back flower beds actually have sunlight again. Over the years the back bed had gone from full sun to full shade. Mix that with 8 years of forced neglect (combination of the demands of work and taking care of Tom) and a smothering layer of leaf mulch, it's amazing I had any flowers left. Lost some, but I've been replacing those, weeding the others, moving the mallow and lemon balm from their volunteeer position in what passes for lawn (I have very little that's ever been grass, and now most of it is wild strawberries) into the bed behind the house.

Making headway... I yanked out a lot of greater celandine and a precursor of foxglove and raked and dumped a bunch more leaves while Drew cut limbs and small trees, then trucked them off.

And I started excavating the brick circle around the sundial garden...

I'm done with physical stuff for today, but we accomplished a lot. Now, too, I can restore the bed on the north side of the house along the driveway (mostly by filling in more topsoil) and plant hostas -- they'll make it look "finished" without needed a barrier. Drew removed the last of the stacked 6x6s that used to define that bed before it was totally destroyed when the old underground oil tank was removed.

Now I've got another major indoor matter to take care of and then I can relax a bit before going to a singing session tonight. I ache, but it's a good ache. And it's getting me closer to being in shape again, too.

Linn