“Remoted – Hybrid” – Day 772 (Wednesday) – yard things

Nest refresh.

The spring wildlife activity is picking up. The nest over the drainpipe on the front of the house has been noticeably improved with a fresh layer of dead grass. The avian construction methods are sturdy enough that the nest, which has been in the same location for several years, survived the gutter cleaning of last summer. It was a bit askew after the gutter work, but still in place. Now it is fortified and refreshed for the season with another level of material.

Backyard bunny was out this morning, sitting motionless in the middle of the yard for several minutes while I was setting up the coffee maker. Afterwards, he moved a few feet to enjoy a breakfast buffet of fresh greens. The grass and faux grass are growing tall and clumpy without impediments, so it’s probably the clover patch that is the bunny breakfast of champions. 

It would be really cool if something would visit the yard that would trim the grass the same way the clover is groomed. Or, if the clover would spread and replace the grass, that might be the ideal backyard ground cover. The occasional clover flowers and the free trimming services by the bunny and the wood chucks and would be the best no-maintenance situation.

Backyard bunny pauses and poses.

The grass takes over the flagstone steppers every summer, and now is the time to liberate them, not that it lasts long. The path they form is now an inch or so lower than the rest of the yard and sometimes I imagine pulling them all out and having a brick walkway set, or maybe a nice concrete path poured from the driveway straight back to the shed and a branch to the right to the bulkhead. That’s when the brain goes into overdrive. 

A new concrete path to the shed before the shed is replaced is probably a dumb idea. What kind of shed? And replacing the shed will disturb all the plantings that will need to be either pulled out first or trampled/destroyed. Or should the new shed go in a different spot in the yard? If the shed is relocated, the patchwork mess of picket, chain link and other weird makeshift fencing behind the shed will be revealed and need to be dealt with.

The door to the current and crumbling shed is aligned with the gate and driveway for easy access to the front yard with the lawn mower. The options for accessing the front yard from the back are either down an asphalt driveway and a left turn through a gate into the front yard, or up three steps, along the length of the deck, then down three steps to the other driveway and a right turn to the gate on the other side of the yard. One of these paths is clearly easier that the other while pushing a lawnmower.

And this is how things (like the shed) are over thought and not done (for three years). Someday. We'll see.