Taking my mojo outside

After the rain and high winds we had in our area over the last several days, my yard needed some attention. I'm kind of into the barely-kempt au natural look for my yard, but the amount of sticks and toys were kind of pushing it.

Last fall I wasn't able to get all the leaves cleaned up before the snow fell. This was partly due to my sciatic nerve problem flaring up (twisting and raking will do that), and party due to Deuce constantly wandering off into whatever part of the yard/neighborhood I wasn't working in.

The result of having a carpet of leaves until the ground dried out in spring is that we set ourselves back significantly in our quest to grow grass. A couple of areas where real piles had sat were totally dead. We made a lot of progress on the lawn, so this fall I'm starting early and trying to keep ahead of the work.

This year I also have the fence on my side, plus Deuce and I spent the whole summer gardening so he knows we can make a game of working outside together. The back pain - well, that's just a fact of my life until I get my bionic spine implant.

The beech tree has already lost half it's leaves, and Deuce and I managed to get all those leaves raked, plus the sticks and branches that fell from the wind. Just to put my finishing touch , I'm going to air the dog bed on the clothes line. Who needs picturesque - we're going for "lived in."