Day 1283: Steve's glorious yard

There are still wild areas in Fredonia and one of them belongs to my brother Steve.  He has tamed maybe three of his sixteen acres.  His home is on the Webster Rd. ridge of the ancient lake shoreline and faces north to Lake Erie.  Vineyards and the whole village resting in the lake plain stretch out in front the house. Despite the incredible view, most of our attention goes to his gardens in the back.  There are no shade trees so the assortment of perennials thrive, especially the day lilies.  For years he had two horses that happily enriched the soil.   Now the lilies are three feet tall!

A stream through the property provided huge boulders and rocks which he has moved in to encircle the gardens.  He prefers a more formal design compared to my free flowing approach.  The results are spectacular.  Unfortunately, he works so many hours that it's difficult to keep up with the garden maintenance.  It takes him nearly six hours on the lawn mower just to mow the tamed portion.

We stopped by tonight when the sun was low in the sky and I got some beautiful shots.

After we got back from the airport to drop off Colin and April, I swam 300 lengths or 1.5 miles.  It was wonderful!  Water at 82 degrees and air about the same.  That gives me 31 miles thus far this season.  That puts me on target to reach 50 miles before the end of July.