The year's first scything

Tootling down our steep garden with my scythe over my shoulder and a rake in my other hand, I was pleased to see that crocuses are actually opening a bit. They had stayed shut until today's wee bit of sunshine. Primroses are getting under way. By early to mid April there should be well over a thousand in flower: on 12 April 2012 I counted 685, and on 11 April 2014, 1254.

I was going to scythe the patches of boggy front lawn where I had not mowed last year since spring because I was letting Wild Angelica and Black Knapweed set seed. There is another patch to do another day where the main group of Devil's-bit Scabious grows. Pignut leaves are showing up everywhere as usual and so are the leaves of Lesser Celandines.

Young Pignut leaves

The pond is full after some heavy rains and on its lower edge where it sometimes spills over there is a 'lawn' of Opposite-leaved Golden-saxifrage that is beginning to flower. The pond is about half full of frogspawn. I usually find frogs everwhere except near the pond but a heron comes to hunt there quite often so I guess they are there sometimes.

frogspawn

There were sheep in the field for a few weeks over mid-winter. They departed a couple of weeks ago and since then we have been having regular visits from roe deer. They have begun their chomping of monbretia leaves. I shall have to keep my tulips well-protected. Lovely big, colourful flowers like that are like cake to roe deer–a real treat after winter hard rations!

An old shed door that the tide brought

Some years ago I 'beachcombed' a good deal of an old shed that had drifted in on the sea loch tide, including this shed door that is about to be used as a lawnmower ramp for our serviced and repaired machine. It's the one Toad uses. I use it occasionally but it's really too heavy for me on our never horizontal, bumpy lawns. Watching Toad push it, unpowered by its engine, up to the shed through lush wet grass that hasn't been mowed for at least six weeks, confirmed its heaviness–he was finding it tough going.

The other main use of the shed door has been to shelter the lower part of the wood pile from rain, at which job it has been very effective. Much of the rest of the shed has helped a few garden bonfires along.

Once the mower was put away (no mowing today), Toad buzzed off to his Saturday drawing group.

We had the mower serviced at Fraser C Robb, by Drymen. This is currently my favourite shop. It's an Aladdin's cave of Useful Stuff. I came away with a new scythe sharpening stone and WOLF-Garten window washer and squeegee. The shop is going to post me an extendable long handle next week. Up till now I've used a ladder to get at our downstairs outside windows whose sills are at my eye-level. I fell off the ladder last time. Apart from a few bruises, only my dignity was injured but future outdoor window cleanings will be sans ladder. Our upstairs windows open inwards to improve their get-at-ability; the downstairs ones don't.

I dead-headed the woodshed rose and what I call the truck buddleia and then had a wee welly damp shoe wander to see how the two new heathers and last year's tall lobelia were doing. The lobelia has had to be protected from deer munching if it was to flower at all.

Erica x darleyensis 'Ghost Hills'

Calluna vulgaris 'Hammondii Aureifolia'

I was pleased to see that the yellow loosestrife is finally looking less anaemic, and I really like the dying heads of the marguerites that a friend gave me.

Scythe ditch blade

I changed the blade on my scythe yesterday to the ditch blade. It makes cutting verbage on a steep slope easier having a slightly shorter blade. Also the ditch blade, designed to deal with tougher stuff than grass and meadow flowers and more awkward surfaces, has a reinforced point.

I shoved a wedge between the scythe shaft and the blade to steepen the angle of the cut too. It's a very well designed tool.

Yes, that's an H on my scythe shaft. Toad has his own. We decided to get two because, although they are eminently adjustable for different users' requirements (height, arm length, etc), we thought it would be a bit of a chore having to make adjustments all the time. Toad also tends to use a longer grass blade than I do so between us we have two scythe shafts and three blades. His has the initial A. H for Nelly and A for Toad. Simple and straightforward ;)

Unfortunately, while I was faffing around with an Allen key making blade adjustments, my sharpening stone rolled off the wheelie bin I'd plonked it on and smashed into four pieces. I thought I'd put it in a wheelie bin lid 'ditch' that would stop it rolling. It wasn't a deep enough ditch. Live and learn, eh?

I've ordered a new one but did manage to use the largest bit to do some sharpening, rather less nonchalantly than usual as I value my fingers!