Walk The Property Line

As one ages the certainty of a tomorrow becomes less sure.  The borders of our land are clearly described in the deed but difficult to find when walking about.  This first photo was taken with my back close to River Road.  The neatly mowed grass belongs to our neighbor and the edge of the dry stone wall is very close to the property line.  The deed describes this beginning as next to a telephone pole.  That pole has been replaced but part of it is still here underground.  The exact location of the property line remains undescribed since no part of the pole is identified as being the point of separation.  This neighbor is more than reasonable and we cannot imagine a problem here.  This is the Western edge of our land.  Moving South 150 feet toward the top of the photo brings us to a change of direction.

 

This lane's center line is the border between our land and two of our neighbors and defines the location of a right of way.  The short fence post to the right is in line with the missing telephone pole.  At one time a piece of steel pipe was driven into the ground to mark the location of the center of the right of way.  A now gone property owner removed that piece of pipe.  The view here is generally to the West.

As previously mentioned this right of way separates the land.  Ours is on the uphill side.  Walking here usually brings to mind a poem written by Robert Frost.  This winding path covers 1,468 feet.

 

This stone wall was placed at the edge of the right of way to protect transplanted Arbutus plants.  One likely does not see the need for protection but a former property owner believed that the fence line separated our land not the center line of the lane as described in his deed.  He bulldozed away nearly twenty feet wide section of my land.  His religious beliefs made this acceptable since he saw a use for that land.  My wall continues to protect my plants and a later battle with me caused that land owner to sell both his business and home and move West.

 

This stone wall marks the Southern edge of our property.  The actual property line is in the center of the lane.  The stone wall marks the limit of the right of way.  I knew that the white dog named Luca was in the picture but remained unaware of his raised leg.  Tomorrow we will look to the right of the stone wall and follow the property line Eastward into the woods.
 

Garlic Bed

More than a month has passed since our last blog entry.  Most of our gardens have been captured by weeds requiring a great amount of work to find the ground.  Overnight frost followed by clear skies created an environment conducive to outdoor work today and we spent two hours working outside.  When Becky returned to the house with her garden cart in tow, two snakes were soaking up the sunshine in the curved stone lined path to the basement door.  The one at ground level quickly disappeared into the stone wall while this more mature snake remained motionless higher up on the wall.  Becky was able to scoot by and get her camera without moving this snake.  We gladly share our homesite with them since they eat varmints that feast on our garden plants.

 

 

In the center of this sea of weeds lies a painstakingly prepared bed of rich garden soil.  Removing the entire weed has been our goal.  Considerable time and effort has been expended clearing weeds from this sixty square foot  section of a planting bed.  Working only with hand tools has required many days to get to this point.  I use a four tined spade to loosen small clumps of weeds.  Then a hand held cultivator is inserted to pull free small clumps of weeds and their roots.  The surface of the bed looks great but we know that persistent evil lurks just under the soil surface.

Quack grass is the most evil weed weed here.  This entire plant mass remained buried in soil that I had painstakenly cleared.  Only the small green shoots hinted that not all of the plant had been removed.  Working carefully in the loosened soil, this monster was removed in tact.  Experience has taught us that despite our application of careful persistence, more of these missed weed pieces will grow alongside of our soon to be planted garlic.

One of the issues that makes gardening difficult is the down side of growing older.  In my wilder younger days much time was spent building dry stone walls.  That could be the cause of the arthritis that has settled in my spine right at belt level.  This morning's use of a long handled potato hook  on already loosened soil set that section of my spine ablaze.  Using the cold grass from last night's frost and removing the need for my spine to support my upper body sent the pain packing.  Becky did not return to find me on the ground.  After she returned I told her that a ground bed might help.  It did but when the pain disappeared, she spoke in favor of the end of today's outside work.  We will try again tomorrow.