poplar road

It's probably a good thing that the columbine seeds I sowed beneath the crabapple didn't germinate, because I would have been more sad to see it come up only to wilt away in the heat now that there won't be any shade along that wall. I agreed that it was necessary to take out almost as much of the crabapple as we did – and the diseased one next to it had to be cut down – but this late in the spring, the neighbour confirmed that the sap will attract bugs and disease, the cuts may not callus over, and I'm worried that with the tree having been so long and leggy, there isn't enough leaf cover left to sustain the tree. The cherry, though more branches were removed, might be better off because it's still quite densely covered in buds. If it doesn't have a fit at the pruning, the remaining branches should be happy with the increased light down the centre, anyway. And if we can keep it this height, we'll actually be able to reach the cherries! (If there are any this year.)

In addition to the dying crabapple, we removed the mountain ash that was interfering with our chestnut and pine in the back, and two stumps of firs left in the front yard when we bought the place. One of the growing firs had a really long branch sticking out over the drive, which became a smorgasbord for the goats at the back fence. The rest went on the burn pile along with my lilac trimmings and a few cropped bits from the apple trees. The ashes from the bonfire were still smoking this morning despite rainfall last night, but there isn't a needle left on that six foot branch of fir. (The billy goat, Neru, is getting so big I keep thinking of the Minotaur – he looks like a bull and if I got too close he'd eat my camera.) This week we'll add all the scrap wood and twiggy weed stalks from last fall from around the barn to the pile.

Our plan for Easter is another large bonfire and three more days of hard labour with Bev, Colleen and Jorge, as well as Peter, the Mulag sales rep visiting from Germany (who found himself roped into hauling wood for hours yesterday). We're going to tear down all the remaining pens from around the barn and hopefully clear out the interior as well. Here are views from the front facing the house and from the back by the rear gate. Bev helped us do all the pens on the east side last spring so she'll be an expert at chicken wire removal this time around!

I hope spending the day in the chicken coop doesn't ruin our appetites for the free-range turkey Colleen and Jorge are bringing for Easter dinner.

Mmm, that reminds me. What tastes great with greens? Ten-year-old fleece and new denim, of course. I was able to get a bit closer to Flora with the camera this weekend, because she wouldn't leave me alone until she'd satisfied her curiosity about the flavour of my sweatshirt, my jeans and my boot laces. Once I let her get the fabric between her teeth (after fending her off to the point where it was either be knocked over backward, just let her taste, or scare her away forever), she didn't do the quick tug technique she uses to rip lilac buds off my bushes. She just rubbed it between her bottom teeth and upper plate, not gumming it up at all, and then let go. Whew. Although it was pretty funny crouching on the lawn with my arms around her neck, laughing as I tried to keep her from taking a bite out of me. It's too bad people with cameras distract her, or that would have made an even better photo. Next weekend should be interesting, when Colleen and Jorge's dogs are here. I wonder if they'll chase Flora, or will it be Flora gleefully chasing them? She runs like a gazelle but with twisty little kicks sometimes as if her back half doesn't know where her front half is going. So much fun to watch.