It's not the LAST place that needs attention in my yard before Winter, but my porch has been waiting in line for quite some time.
Today for some reason, I felt brave enough to clean the gutters. I really should NOT be doing that, and last year I didn't. But I paid for it, let me tell you.
They were FULL of decomposed leaves, sticks in varying states of decay, acorns of uncertain vintage, and this year's leaves like icing on top of a disgusting cake.
I hauled out the ladder and because I HAD to, I stepped up one step higher than I felt really comfortable.
Prayers were said.
And answered.
Because here I am telling the tale.
My porch is the perfect gathering place for leaves as the prevailing winds blow right at it. That big branch on the tarp was on the roof. I could reach it with an old mop handle I had in the woodshed.
It's times like this one wishes one was a kind of giant, where you could just reach up and take care of business with your feet firmly on the cement of the porch. It would be SO much easier!
An hour and a half later, this is what it looked like:
Take a good look, because this will only last until the next wind. Even an insignificant wind, because there are oak leaves all over the neighborhood that want nothing more than to live on my front porch. It's prime leaf real estate evidently. They never pay rent either, more's the pity.
And lastly, here's a picture of my little fairy house and yard.
S. gave me these elements a few years ago in a kind of diorama that she makes with plants and flowers and pine cones and what not. She said I could keep them. Yesterday, when we were in town together, I bought the dog figurine. It made me think of Robbie, my Sheltie from long ago. I found some bits of moss that came off the roof when I was cleaning the gutter and I stuck them in the gravel. I don't know if they will grow or not, but for now they look kind of cool.
I will try to take a better picture of this in the morning. The light was pretty bad by the time I got finished with this project.
I'm tuckered out now.
