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 