Greetings and salutations, everyone; yes, once again it is I, Chess the purebred border collie, filling in for the guy I live with, and here to bring you the latest news from our garden. You may remember me from such posts as “Baffled Again”, and “Turkey Day”, among so many, many others.
Here I am in a characteristic, though rather be-leafed, pose. 
I was just lying here, minding my own business, when the guy I live with decided to clean out the gutters using his new electric leaf-blower, and, as you can see, leaves went everywhere, including on me.
Other than being covered with leaves, I’m feeling pretty good, and, in fact, have made it down the stairs from my bedroom four days in a row. The guy I live with was there in case I fell, but this is a big deal, considering that I had to be helped downstairs for several weeks. I’ve lost about eleven pounds, too.
So while the guy I live with was up on the roof, he thought it would be a brilliant idea to take some pictures of our back yard. I must say it was better that he had the idea while he was on the roof, rather than down on the ground, with the ladder put away. Here are the pictures.
This one is looking south-southwest. 
This one is looking west-northwest, sort of. The roof is in the lower right corner. 
Looking slightly north of due west, toward Mount Morrison. The green thing on the left is the “desert bamboo” (really a kind of privet), Fontanesia fortunei. It doesn’t have fall color, really. The cottonwood is out in the field, by the creek. And the patio cover that my mommy built. She measured and measured, and then cut, and then the guy I live with helped her lift it into place, with ropes and stuff, and it just dropped into place. 
A little later, looking more like due west. That’s Mount Falcon at the far right of the four peaks; 7851 ft high (2393 m). Behind the leafless honey locust, and the Austrian pine in our neighbor’s yard, is Mount Lindo, 7817 ft high (2383 m). The peaks are about five miles away. You can also barely see cars on US Highway 285 in the middle of the picture (not the cars across the field there). We can always hear the sound of cars and trucks on the highway, but tune it out, mostly. 
Some pictures were taken when the guy I live with was on the ground, too, since the garden is changing some. They say it’s supposed to snow next week, which I think is pretty exciting.
I understand that a new rock garden will be made in the area to the left. That probably means a pile of pea gravel and sand, and not much else. The flagstone path looks a lot wider and longer now that the pinyon is gone. My mommy designed it. 
What you see if you walk to the end of the flagstone and look toward the shed. The path is just dirt. I like that kind the best. 
What you’d see if you turned your head to the right. And then took a picture, I mean. If the new fence looks slanted, well, um, that’s because it is. The guy I live with didn’t realize the new section was slanted until he was all finished, and then stood back and looked at it, and said “My goodness, it’s slanted.” Okay, those weren’t the real words he used, but you get the idea. My mommy, who built the arbor there, would have made him do the whole thing over. 
If you happened to come by the garden, and go through the fence on the north side, this is what you would see.
That’s the ‘Grace’ hybrid smoke bush showing color. Really, there are two of them. The guy I live with calls them “the two graces”, because he has such an inventive mind. 
And then the “way back”. The guy I live with has been fixing the fence my mommy built. That center section should get fixed tomorrow. I probably forgot to mention that this is the time of year when the guy I live with does stuff.
Regular purple smoke bush on the left. Those arching lines on the right are from the deer grass, Muhlenbergia rigens. 
Oh, I have a flower to show you. A crocus, again.
Crocus dispathaceus
That’s all I have for today. I got some Brie earlier this afternoon, and that was excellent, even though I kind of doubt that it was “the most expensive Brie on the planet”. The guy I live with went out and got some epsom salts today, and he says I’m going to soak my sore toe in it. That’s what he says, anyway.
Until next time, then.
the miserable gardener 
Ah, a crocus shot. All must be well, with you, Chess, descending the steps *with no help* and all of eleven pounds lighter. Do you think one has to do with the other? From the rooftop, your yard looks like a movie set with the evergreens made on the back lot. Back down again, the yard appears more natural, the place we have come to know. The sky pic is beautiful. Such clear light you have, so atmospheric at this time of year. The shed echoes the sky color, except, you know. paint. Pigment particles are different from light particles. I love your mommy’s fence. The design with framing and lattice looks done by someone with a vision in her head, an artistic vision.
A dog who has been be-leaved deserves to be fed his brie. Work it, Chess.
Thanks; I agree about the Brie. I understand there’s a small wedge of Manchego in the refrigerator, too…… I do think my losing weight has something to do with my new ability to get down the stairs, and maybe my toe is getting better. I broke my toenail right off (it hurt as much as it sounds) when I was sick, so sort of a double whammy. I still get helped up the stairs at bed time, of course. The apple tree, which was the first thing planted here, started pushing the fence to the east, by leaning on it, and the center section broke. The guy I live with likes fixing stuff, with the exception of cars and plumbing.
Another wonderful log, sir … I may not always comment, but I always read and appreciate …felicitations from the UK to you both.
Allow me to second Mr Booker’s sentiments. I tend towards keeping a low profile but sometimes it’s lower than it should be – most of my comments are virtual! What glorious views you have there. I am especially enamoured of the one towards Mount Morrison. It reminds me of the Brecon Beacons, at the foothills of which I spent my first eleven years and where my mother gardened – embiggened by a zillion, obviously (not my mother, the mountains). When not gardening, we were frequently to be found at the sheepdog trials. Simply loved them. There are many of your cousins to be found in that part of the world, dear Chess.
Thanks; we like keeping a low profile, too, but sometimes it isn’t easy, what with my blog and all. My grandpa Flurry went to sheepdog trials. Herding trials, really. He’s never seen sheep before, and won a blue ribbon that says Herding Certified. I used to herd people around the garden, but now I’m retired, and so I just lie in my fort, looking at stuff. Had to look up Breton Beacons. Wales reminds us of Oliver’s Travels. (And Dylan Thomas, of course.) One time the guy I live with decided to Street View in Wales, and drove around the countryside in mid Wales, unable to believe the sheer beauty of the place.
Thanks; the guy I live with has been posting on the SRGC forum lately, to be sociable and all that.
Hi Guys,
Nice to see you have been getting above it all … and that Chess had made it back down to earth, be-leafed but by no means be calmed. Always a interesting to have a different perspective.
I’ve always found dispathaceus a bit of a let down, bit flimsy, like it never really quite believed it was a crocus. Still nice to see it so far away from home.
Cheers, Marcus from Downunder
Thanks; we do like a different perspective now and then. The Crocus Pages suggest that C. dispathaceus needs “year round protection”. From what, we wonder. (Aside from rodents.) The one the guy I live with was slightly discouraged by was C. pestalozzae. So tiny. But it disappeared. That was the discouraging part. It wasn’t until much later that the guy I live with realized that rodents like crocus corms………
This made me laugh because I so agree: “we like keeping a low profile, too, but sometimes it isn’t easy, what with my blog and all.” I think of myself as very private till I remember I blather along in my blog every day.
Street viewing Wales is an absolutely brilliant idea.
There are lots of places for excellent street viewing. Roads north, out of Nice. Driving through forests in the Czech Republic. Driving up into Lapland, or from Cape Town out into the Karoo. (The guy I live with gets very, very bored during the winter and so does a lot of virtual driving.)
I am going to get an iPad soon and then I will be able to be a true armchair tourist.
It’s pretty delightful. The B4518 north out of St Harmon, Wales, is excellent. So is the A8 southeast of Adelaide. Lots of gum trees.