I mean, it’s not, not really. We’ve got a pie-shaped backyard (it’s massive) and some lovely trees, but … oh, my days, so much that we have to do back there and I’ve ignored nearly all of it this year.

Side garden? Moderately overground, the raspberries didn’t any real attention, nor did the peonies which have exploded. And the irises have been overrun by the hollyhocks, which got over-watered through neglect.

Our mayday tree, which we do genuinely love, has black rot (most maydays do, it’s an issue) and requires the loss of a major branch. That’s not a simple process, it needs a chainsaw, which neither I nor my neighbours own. That’s a rental, and time, and effort and I just didn’t get to it.

The fence, which we had put in two years ago, needed to be sealed this year. And the south gate (there’s two, you can guess where the other one is) doesn’t latch properly because of frost heave and is currently being held shut with a short bungee cord.

There’s a door that leads under our deck that fell off due to rot. Have I fixed it? Have I done anything to address the gaping hole? Of course not. We did at least get the house painted, but that was more an issue of necessity than anything else.

I’ve not weeded since June, leading to a host of dandelion and Canadian thistle (which I have had a distaste for since stepping on one in bare feet when I was about four or five, and have no since forgotten) all over the lawn. Normally, I’m out there with a weed-puller. Not this year.

The front yard, thankfully, is managed by our neighbour, Jack, who very much wants a “golf green” look. Honestly, it’s a tiny patch of grass, and we shovel his driveway in the winter. It’s a decent trade-off.

The front garden? Complete crap. It needs to be completely rethought and I just threw down some wildflower seeds, which while look like, I’ll be battling for years to come through reseeding.

Previously, I tended to my yard. Our last house, which probably had more actual yard than our current one, had a beautiful yard. I made sure the plants were tended, the grass was fertilized and watered, the weeds pulled, and so on. Why the apathy this year?

You might recall I lost my job back in mid-June. Y’know, right about the time I stopped caring for the yard. That’s not a coincidence. While I did have some time away – Costa Rica, Ontario, and Ruskin, in particular – I had a lot of time in front of my computer: I was job-hunting.

And now, in mid-October, I’m realizing the impact of losing my job: I also lost my summer. Outside of the trips, I didn’t really enjoy it. I actually like yardwork, believe it or not. It’s therapy, in a way. (I might sometimes imagine that mowing the lawn, trimming the plants, or pulling weeds is like cutting the heads off the people who have thoroughly pissed me off, or otherwise wronged me.) And losing it has … not done me well. Or the yard.

Winter Is Coming. We’ve already had snow – last weekend, Thanksgiving weekend. Today it’s in the low teens with a heavy wind that’s blasting the remaining leaves to the ground. We actually had an autumn this year, with some actual colour (more than just yellow), which has been nice and I’ve enjoyed it a bit. I didn’t go walking enough, though – new job has now taken over my life, getting up to speed – and I do regret it a bit.

I will need to take extra effort next year. Lots of effort, really – plants need transplanting (making room for others), fertilizer, mulch, and at least one plant needs pulling entirely (a bush out front that, frankly, does nothing for the aesthetic). We have 3.5 years left on this mortgage term, by which time the girls will be working on their own lives and we can downsize. And I want the house to look amazing before we do that. Well, at least the outside (the inside is a completely different manner).

But that’s February’s problem. For now, it’s just a matter of raking leaves.