On Saturday I went to Arbor Day and went around tables about recycling and the environment and planting trees.

Today gardeners are here with blowers which I hate and a chain saw which scares me.  Our back yard is a wild overgrown place.  The gardeners will tame it and clean out the "duff" aka fallen bits of leaves and cedar needles.  We want a yard where the kids can run around and play without pricking themselves and where C and I can sit without sneezing.  We're both quite allergic to tree pollen.   But right now  I feel sad that the huge vines of jasmine that cover our fence are being torn down.