Sunday, April 26, 2009

I Can See Clearly Now . ..

The flowering quince at the base of the birdfeeder had grown so tall that it was blocking my view of the garden beyond. So on Friday I attacked it with my trusty Felco pruners. The stuff is dense, thorny, interlaced with poison ivy vines, and, to make it more of a challenge, it grows on a steep slope.

It took all morning to beat it into submission, of sorts, but when I was done, once more I could see all the way down to the garden from the kitchen window.



On Saturday, I woke to find every muscle in my body aching from the battle, a huge blister on my thumb, and my right forearm itching with red weals from the poison ivy. I decided to give the pruners a rest ( I have my eye on a forsythia in sore need of radical pruning) but to continue on with improving the view.

As the day was forecast to be warm -- up to the eighties -- I spent my time washing windows and putting up screens.



It's a lovely Spring time thing to do and improves the view immensely.







Here're some more things I saw on this warm day.

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6 comments:

Carol Murdock said...

I feel you Vicki, Eric and I work like fiends yesterday too! I was as the saying goes;" bone tired"
last night!You have gorgeous views
from your windows!

galant said...

I have arrived at your blog after seeing a comment on SomersetSeasons (Leanne's) blog and see that you not only read but also write crime novels, so have put you on my list with the firm intention of reading the first in the series.
I live in Devon, England, and look with envy at the view of the mountains on your blog. Mind you, a lot of people would love the sea views we have ... well, we only have a glimpse of the sea, but it is only a mile away!
Margaret Powling

Vicki Lane said...

Welcome, Margaret! Thanks for stopping by!

I've visited Devon twice -- most memorably forty-some years ago when my husband and I spent three months touring around Europe on a BSA motorcycle. We picked up the bike in London and headed south. I remember camping in an orchard beneath gently falling apple blossoms -- and blue bells and Devonshire cream and the beauty of the coast. Devon rhymes with Heaven, doesn't it?

But now I have the apple blossoms; I learned how to make clotted cream; and the mountain views will have to do for the sea.

Where in Devon do you live?

Vicki Lane said...

Hey Carol,

My husband and I always say that Spring is when it seems like everything is possible -- and consequently, we wear ourselves out, trying to do EVERYTHING!

Now for the bedroom windows -- once a year whether they need it or not --- and they really need it!

galant said...

Hello, Vicki,
How lovely that you've visited Devon, although 40+ years ago! Yes, Devon does rhyme with heaven, but you live in a wonderful place, too! We live in Torbay, which is on the south coast of Devon (the county has a north coast and a south coast.) Plymouth, is about 30 miles away to the south west and Exeter is about 20 miles away to the north east. Torbay has its own microclimate as it's backed by the hills of Dartmoor and whilst the moors and other parts of Devon, particularly east Devon, get some snow in winter, we seldom see the white stuff in Torbay, which is known as the English Riviera. Torbay is really the name given to the Borough, and is named after the bay which forms part of the larger Lyme Bay. There are three towns which make up the Borough of Torbay and these are Torquay, Paignton (where we live) and Brixham.
Margaret P

Vicki Lane said...

We've been to England twice since the motorcycle trip. In 2001 we got as far as Branscombe (which I loved) before turning inland. And in -- maybe it was 2006 -- we went walking in the Cotswolds. I hope to get back another time -- but in this economy it seems doubtful.

I think that some of my forebears came from Devon -- on my mother's side the Northcutts (or Northcotes) were supposed to have come from that area.