The fruit trees burst into white blossoms during the first week of May, like this pear orchard near us.  The snowpack in the mountains is some 200% of normal, and so there is again a fair bit of flooding in the lowest parts of the valley.  As I write this, the forecast is for 28 to 30 degree sunny weather for the next week so there will be a lot of melting and run off.

The garden, and the Japanese Maple, survived the winter well.

A friend thought our car was so dirty (we usually wash it once a month), he offered to detail it.  Did an amazing job!  I had forgotten the paint had metal flakes.

The big news is that our neighbor brought up his excavator  (with a young woman from Tokyo for scale) for two days to help me with a great many projects – removing stumps, reshaping the hillside, bringing down a few trees, digging out the parking area, making post holes in dirt and rock, moving large rocks, and pulling down a towering pile of topsoil.  All this in 12 hours of working.   An amazing machine and an amazing guy, and likely the hardest-working person I have ever met.  A chef from Austria who owned a couple of restaurants in Calgary, he decided 10 years ago to start a winery.  After  years shaping and terracing the land, he planted 2 years ago five types of grapes on 5 acres.   We have helped him a few times with pruning and staking the vines.

Shaping a cut in the side of the driveway.  I will drop in some dirt in the lower part in the weeks ahead.

This is the easy way to fell a tree – just push it over.  A beautiful fir, but had to go in order to enlarge the parking/turn around area in front of the garage.  Will be used for firewood and mulch.

Placing rocks – He can grab, manipulate and place large rocks with ease.

This is the hammer used to break rock and make post holes – works like a charm, and weighs a few tons.

Mother and Daughter

I have excavator envy

We were 20 minutes from completion when the track broke, luckily not right in front of the garage.  Should be able to get it fixed by the middle of the week.

Shall have updates and photos on all that we did with the excavator at the end of the month!