View to the greenhouse

The deck in progress. the backyard stripped. The Cat came and did 6 months worth of work in a couple of hours, stripped away blackberries with 40 foot canes, leveled ground, and cleared around the pond with that extended bucket as delicately as you can imagine. Quite a sight to see. Man and machine working as one.

Planning to put in sod. I'd seed it but I don't think that'll work with the kids and the dog. Can't keep 'em off it for that long. There will be sidewalks surrounding the grass and making a barrier between the grass and the planting beds.

IMAGINE how good this is going to look with the grass in.
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So the funny story that goes with this is - the trenches were dug for water lines, the ground was stripped, as you can see in the pic, and the gophers were a little nonplussed. You could see they'd tunneled to the  precipice of the trenches, which had interrupted their normal paths.  And one day, the kids came running in, "Mom! Mom! There's a WILD hamster in the back yard! And sure enough, there was the gopher, poking his cute little head out of a hole in the middle of that barren expanse. Not a problem - the kids laid many scrumptious offerings around his hole. What a nice surprise for him. They did quickly realize he was not, of course, a hamster after all, but it didn't matter.

It is funny that, when you think about it, many people have beloved rats for pets, and they are smart, good companions, but mostly people hate rats and devise ways to kill them. And many people have hamsters as pets, spending small fortunes for elaborate tunnel cages, with wheels and sleeping compartments, and feeding them treats, enjoying their stuffed cheeks and hoarding habits, whilst simultaneously working to eradicate the lowly gopher.  Such are the disconnects.

We like the raccoons that come, they eat the snails, and they're highly entertaining. We feed them to encourage them to stay. But try looking up how to feed raccoons, and most of what you get is how to trap and kill and eliminate them. And it is true of all the urban wildlife. We feed them, and they like it, the momma raccoon even allowed her babies to take the risk and come up on the deck. Yet we are also cognizant of the fact that it is better if they don't trust us too much, or they may think other humans are trustworthy, and the simple act of standing still as if to greet, or check to see if they are safe, will be enough to get them killed by others in the neighborhood who are not happy with their being here.

And to be fair, the neighbors have chickens, but not very sturdy chicken coops, so there is a never-ending war on raccoons.