They're called cattails where I come from, bulrushes in the UK, and massettes here in France according to Wikipedia. I had to look that up. These grow in the pond outside our back gate. Their neat, fuzzy brown tops have gone to seed, as can be seen by the tan woolly tops here.
The folding. That's what they call bending the single grape vine cane that's left after pruning to the horizontal and attaching it to a guide wire. And that's what's going on in the vineyards behind our house right now. The workers bend the cane manually, then use a battery-powered hand tool to apply a "twisty tie" to hold the cane to the wire. It's the last step in preparing the vines for the growing season.
Closer to home (in our back yard), I'm working to eliminate the last few table grape vines from the lawn. Most of them came out relatively easily (with the aid of a pick-axe), but the last three have bigger trunks and are really difficult to dislodge. I tried using my chainsaw, but the chain guide broke in the attempt. Oops. I should have tried the hand saw first.
This was last Sunday's sunrise. The sky was filled with jet trails; a few of them are visible in this shot. They lasted longer than usual and made interesting patterns. I'm easily amused.
As predicted, our mornings are quite chilly this week. Extra blankets are on the bed and the heat is coming on again. I haven't built a fire, yet. But if this continues... There's still a danger of frost as the morning lows start to flirt with zero. Now it's time to bundle up and walk the dog.
We got the news yesterday that our neighbor and friend, Bernard M., passed away Monday night. He was 94 years old. We met Bernard and his wife, Maryvonne, very shortly after we moved into our house, across the road from their summer place, back in 2003. They made us feel welcome and at home in the neighborhood from the start.
Bernard took great pride in maintaining his yard. "Nickel-chrome" he called it, once the mowing was done. It wasn't summer unless Bernard was on his riding mower, keeping the place beautiful. I hope they have riding mowers wherever he's gone to. Bernard will feel right at home.
Our thoughts are with his family and Maryvonne.
Last year, a tulip popped up in the lawn near the back gate. I mowed around it all spring and summer and eventually, as tulips do, its green leaves died back. This year, it came up again. With a sibling. I'll mow around them again until the greens disappear. What will we get next year, I wonder?
I gathered up my courage and went out into the chilly, blustery air after lunch yesterday and mowed the south forty. I still have the strip outside the hedges to do. But now the yard has had its first cut of the year. It should be relatively easy to keep it in good shape from here on out, unless it's exceptionally rainy and I can't mow for weeks.
The only yard work I got done on Sunday was the garden path clean-up. The dew was heavy and didn't dry up until after noon. We're not supposed to make noise before ten in the morning or after noon on Sundays and holidays, so grass cutting will wait until another day.
Our neighbor to the east was here over the weekend. She often cuts her grass with a weed-eater. I guess that works better than a lawn mower in dew-drenched grass. She was out there promptly at 10h00 yesterday and stopped at noon. It's nice when people pay attention to the rules.
I tried to get a good shot of the apple trees in flower, but the bright sun makes it difficult, at least for me. Not that I'm complaining. The summery weather we've had for a few days was most welcome. After today things will get chillier again. It looks, however, like it may stay dry for a while longer.
I finished cutting the west forty yesterday. Phew! There were a lot of tall, thick patches of grass and other weeds to fight through. But it's done. I may cut the south forty today (I cut it for the first time during a break in the rain a couple of weeks ago). It'd be nice to get it cut again to the same height as the rest. I'm also working on cleaning up the gravel path out back. Sticks, branches, pine cones, and dead leaves collect on the path all winter. Getting it all up takes a little time, but it's not at all difficult.
