SideTracked - Yellow and White

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16 March 2008 @ 04:51 pm

Yellow and White

The lawn hasn't been mowed since we moved in... which is just as well, since daddy never taught his girls how to handle a lawnmower and R.'s been busy with other house projects. Meanwhile, the rainy winter has transformed everything from a crunchy mess of brown straw and weeds into an absolutely verdant yard of... well, grass and weeds. Nature can do her thing for now. Meanwhile, Bowdu is happy to tamp down a little patch of clovers for a cushioned spot in the sunshine, perfect for an afternoon nap. We're observing and learning the cycle of happenings in the garden -- or what will be garden, when I finally find the time and energy (and worm castings) to plot other plants alongside the existing flora. So far, we have some gorgeous pink lily-things that appeared in the fall and a clump of delphinium-like stalks in the back. Several calla lilies that recently bloomed were also a nice surprise.

The lemons that dangle over the fence from one neighbor's side are quite welcome, and we definitely make use of them. My feelings regarding the plums from the other neighbor are more mixed. The trees growing on our side of the fence seems to be an extension of the same plant in their yard, which would lend support to the rumor that plum trees are difficult to get rid of. I'm not wild about the fruit, especially when it's produced in such massive quantities that we could never consume it all, but I have to admit that the flowers are pretty sweet and therefore soften my opinion of this plant. For now, at least.

And then there's these little yellow flowers that have sprung up all around the border of the yard. I'm assuming that they're weedy wildflowers, since they're all over the most unkempt lawns in Berkeley. But hey, Bowdu's happy to relax amongst those dainty yellow blossoms, it's so cute, and it's spring! Let 'em bloom. Why not?

Tags: house

13 comments | Leave a comment

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barley_grass on March 17th, 2008 12:40 am (UTC)

im totally envious. the snow is just starting to melt here and everything is really brown and grungy. i love yr beautiful pictures.. thanks.

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woquinoncoin on March 17th, 2008 12:56 am (UTC)

It really is colorful pretty much year-round out here. I want to do a better job of chronicling the varieties of plants that bloom around here. I have a tendency to notice things that seem to bloom all at the same time in several people's yards, and I'll think this and that is really beautiful and wouldn't I like to try and plant one of my own? But then I don't ID it later, let alone remember WHEN it blooms.

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fishnetmom on March 17th, 2008 03:03 am (UTC)

wow, that's some incredible stuff. i envy you there! :)

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bafooz on March 17th, 2008 04:47 am (UTC)

which is just as well, since daddy never taught his girls how to handle a lawnmower and R.'s been busy with other house projects.

My dear, I hate to tell you, but mowing grass is easy. I learned at the age of 20, so can you. ;) I even had a cute little plug in lawnmower - no gas or anything necessary.

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woquinoncoin on March 17th, 2008 04:51 am (UTC)

But what if you run over a squirrel or a rock and break the damn thing? Where do all the grass clippings go if you don't have one of those recycle mowers? Maybe my dad made a bigger fuss out of mowing the lawn than was necessary because he was afraid we'd wreck the machine, not the lawn. ;)

Plug-in, gasless lawnmower... yeah, that's what we want.

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bafooz on March 17th, 2008 05:26 am (UTC)

I figured you were clever enough to figure out how to work a lawnmower. ;)

Honestly, I never swept up grass clippings - I guess you could rake them up/bag them if you wanted to.

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woquinoncoin on March 17th, 2008 04:53 am (UTC)

I was being slightly silly with that. Truth is we've just been too lazy/busy to get around to what I'm sure is a simple enough task.

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alsoname on March 17th, 2008 05:22 am (UTC)

Those little yellow flowers at the bottom -- when I was growing up we called it sour grass and would chew on the stems.

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alsoname on March 17th, 2008 05:23 am (UTC)

Hopefully that's the same plant and not something poisonous that will make me responsible for your death.

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woquinoncoin on March 17th, 2008 10:44 pm (UTC)

If I don't comment or update for more than a week, you better start worrying.

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city_of_walls on March 17th, 2008 05:26 am (UTC)

ah, send a couple of those lemons this way. I snack on them as if they were candy, hehe.

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just_hsut_me on March 18th, 2008 02:08 pm (UTC)

Do those lemons belong to you so long as they are attached to the neighbor's tree? Or do you have to wait for them to fall? :)

I am reminded of mean neighbors who would angrily retain the rights on balls over fence tossed. But I figure you're dealing with a nice, Californian-type neighbor here.

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woquinoncoin on March 19th, 2008 02:46 am (UTC)

The tree is hanging way over onto our side -- totally fair game, or else he would have pruned it back long ago. =)

I think I've pretty much always had cool neighbors. The only major exception that comes to mind is the evil landlord from last year, but that's a story to wrap up some other time.

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