Much Better

When I say I need to do some weeding, I'm not talking about pulling a few sprouts here and there.  I mean capital-W weeding!  To give this a bit of perspective, this barrel is over five feet across and the weeds are at least two feet tall.  Until TG used the weed eater on the paths, the barrels were nearly hidden.  I couldn't get this barrel cleared before barn time, but it was a start.

The birds are sitting around waiting for these grapes to ripen.  These are the Thompson seedless, and the Red Globe vine is just as laden.  A few more barrels with their bumper crop of weeds are in the background.  Call it job security.

Thankfully, the temperature stayed in the 80s yesterday and there was so much to do outside.  After watching the race at Pocono, I jumped on the tractor and got the front yard and a bit of the side yard mowed in the afternoon.  It's not nearly as pleasant to mow when the dirt has turned to dust and the weeds (laughingly called my lawn) are dry.  The breeze blows the chaff into my hair and eyes and down my neck, but it's got to be done before the star thistle sets its blooms and painful seeds.  Did I say job security?

Going out toward dusk to fill the hummers' feeders again, I saw this beautiful young buck grazing in the triangle going down to the woods.  Some time back, there was an unusually light-colored doe I named Tawny.  She returned for several years with her fawns, and this has to be one of her lineage.  Others in the herd are the more normal darker color.

This fine boy's antlers are just starting to sprout, covered in "velvet."  This is a black-tail deer, a subspecies of mule deer.  Not hard to see how they got that name.  The presence of Bess and me on the deck bothered him not at all.  Digital cameras are so great.  I took a lot of shots of him posing this way and that.  Bess takes deer in her stride; they still take my breath away.

The day was cooler and it was easier to sleep last night.  Until I had the dream where I was given $800,000.  I was so excited I woke myself up trying to decide where I was going to sink a new well!