I finally mowed the whole lawn (ours and the neighbor’s), raked and cleaned up all the beds, sowed a few lettuces and herbs in one of the raised beds, and now feel a little better. The creepy tenants are always lurking, but I ignore them as much as possible. It’s like a minefield with them. I just want to leave our place better than I found it, and then they can feel free to trash it the rest of the way when we’re gone.
Here is the backyard after I mowed:
This is the cleaned up “memorial bird sanctuary”, and apple blossoms:
There are pretty wildflowers everywhere:
Here we have last year’s horseradish coming up, soon to be joined by this year’s root, and something not native coming back up in the neighbor’s yard:
I’m living for the day when we first wake up in our own home, and I can run out in our own garden. I will never take that for granted again. I’m always mindful that much of the world, including many here in the US, will never have that privilege.