Yard Work
I've been putting off the mowing for weeks. Our April was gorgeous and spring-like, but during our May, we received all the April showers we were supposed to get last month. I haven't uncovered my bike in two weeks until today.
So this weekend was my first chance to tame our front and back jungles. But I also went a bit further and did some weeding.
We get some of the same weeds that we used to get in our Portland yards. Like the Japanese Kudzu, that viny monstrosity that quickly climbs and covers any vegetation it can find, and if you so much as brush it, you'll get a scratch and cling-on seeds for your troubles.
But we also get some weeds that are new to our vocabulary. My favourite new enemy is the stinging nettle. I can't tell you what a nettle is, but I can tell you that the first part of the term is rather self-explanatory. My first chance to say hello to our little friend was sitting in a lounge chair on our back patio. I noticed an unusual little weed growing up between two paving stones. I set down my pint and reached over to pull it up. It wasn't very obliging, but much of it was removed.
Minutes later I slowly became aware of a minor burning sensation in the flesh between my thumb and index finger. About an hour later I noticed tiny white swelled spots in the same location, and I put two and two together.
Stinging Nettles! I'd expect something like this in Australia perhaps, where there's an abundance of flora and fauna that will gleefully kill you with minimal exertion, but not in Merry Olde England.
Another interesting tidbit I find in our yard is the odd recently-emptied seashell. I think this is because of the many football pitches behind our flat. We often see seagulls resting there. We're not too close to the sea, but close enough, apparently. I'm not sure what the attraction of a football pitch is to a seagull, but it certainly seems profound.
And another tidbit: Have you heard the latest Kate Bush album, Aerial? I got to know it in our Portland living room, and the bits where she blends her voice in with a pigeon's cooing, where there's a pattern, coo-coooo-coooo-coo-coo? One short, two longs, and two shorts? I thought she made it up, since the pigeons I'd encountered didn't sound like that. But they do over here. I hear them in our yard sometimes, with that exact pattern.
So this weekend was my first chance to tame our front and back jungles. But I also went a bit further and did some weeding.
We get some of the same weeds that we used to get in our Portland yards. Like the Japanese Kudzu, that viny monstrosity that quickly climbs and covers any vegetation it can find, and if you so much as brush it, you'll get a scratch and cling-on seeds for your troubles.
But we also get some weeds that are new to our vocabulary. My favourite new enemy is the stinging nettle. I can't tell you what a nettle is, but I can tell you that the first part of the term is rather self-explanatory. My first chance to say hello to our little friend was sitting in a lounge chair on our back patio. I noticed an unusual little weed growing up between two paving stones. I set down my pint and reached over to pull it up. It wasn't very obliging, but much of it was removed.
Minutes later I slowly became aware of a minor burning sensation in the flesh between my thumb and index finger. About an hour later I noticed tiny white swelled spots in the same location, and I put two and two together.
Stinging Nettles! I'd expect something like this in Australia perhaps, where there's an abundance of flora and fauna that will gleefully kill you with minimal exertion, but not in Merry Olde England.
Another interesting tidbit I find in our yard is the odd recently-emptied seashell. I think this is because of the many football pitches behind our flat. We often see seagulls resting there. We're not too close to the sea, but close enough, apparently. I'm not sure what the attraction of a football pitch is to a seagull, but it certainly seems profound.
And another tidbit: Have you heard the latest Kate Bush album, Aerial? I got to know it in our Portland living room, and the bits where she blends her voice in with a pigeon's cooing, where there's a pattern, coo-coooo-coooo-coo-coo? One short, two longs, and two shorts? I thought she made it up, since the pigeons I'd encountered didn't sound like that. But they do over here. I hear them in our yard sometimes, with that exact pattern.
posted by Michael Nelson at 7:57 am
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