Taming the top terrace

Ooh, a human in your blog. That’s a rare old thing.

And you would think that I should have celebrated the occasion by smiling. But I was pulling a grumpy face when I realised I had forgotten my rake and would have a long hike back down to the shed to get it. There is so much lovely mulching material up here.

And if I zoom in close it looks like I have a moustache. Or a grubby face. But I think it’s the dappled shade. No wonder I don’t put myself in these stories. At least the Creature is fetching. She loves a forest walk.

But feast your eyes on that stone wall.

By neglecting this enormous sloping terrace above our farmhouse for a few years I can admit I haven’t seen it without brambles for ages.

It looks positively park like now.

Poor Romain was reluctant to strim all the wildflowers in this prairie of land. And I had a day of regret too. But the whole area is larded with brambles which cannot be controlled. (And the small matter of 50 metres of clear land around the house…)

So it all came under the blade.

And yes it looks so bald now.

But there were some remedial bits that really had to be sorted.

Like the wall below the second potager.

I swear the brambles look to be holding the stones in place.

And the part above was starting to become a no-go zone too.

Even the wildlife hated all those self-seeded thorny sloes.

You can just make out a fence and the willow above in the jungle shots.

That’s better.

No excuses now.

I will have to fix that leaning fence. It was being held up (or held down) by vetch a day ago.

And the brave man even ventured further up the terrace towards the forest itself.

It’s a serious mess of fallen pines and unwanted brambles and broom.

Bless, he created some paths through the jungly bits. And we are all fired up for autumn when we can really attack that forest.

But speaking of forest and wild animals.

We have a forest dweller a bit too close to the house this week.

Our very own surprising local drug addict.

Inadvertent consequences. All the wooden furniture in our courtyard gets its once a year treatment of linseed oil mixed with one part in four of terebenthine. Turpentine.

Pine heaven. I love the smell as I work. But so too does this deer. I have heard that they get drunk on the young shoots of pine needles in spring.

It looks like this particular creature can’t get enough of the taste. Spotted licking the wood….Argh. How on earth do we stop her? Cover all the benches forever?

Oh deary deer.