Despite neglect

Despite the months and months of neglect, the side yard is still doing what it's supposed to. The lavender is blooming and the oregano/marjoram is, too. I was so pleased to notice that when I put the compost out this morning that I picked a stem and now my pockets and their contents smell pleasantly of lavender. What a delightful offshoot of taking the trash out.

Well, taking the compost out, anyway. The bin was so heavy that I could barely shift it. It goes out every 2 weeks, so this represents a good chunk of our leaf-sweeping. Hopefully the backyard is tamed now and we won't need to take much more out of there. The front we've only gone over once. My neighbour has about a dozen bags of leaves out this morning and there is a suspicious lack of leaves in the street and all around. I think he's been clearing for everyone. It's his style. We maybe should have a good go at our front and side, just to give the grass one last back-scratch before the freeze sets in, but there isn't anything that is in catastrophic need of clearing. The tree in front still has a good percentage of its leaves, anyway. The maple in back, on the other hand, is almost completely denuded.