Another early morning, though 4:30 is better than 4:00, right?  I must have gotten a reasonable amount of sleep, because while waiting for it to get get light out I finished the Sunday WP crossword puzzle in 28 minutes with absolutely no problems!

As soon as it was light I got to work in the back yard.  Before 9:00 not only had I had deposited all of my raked piles from the other day into the Organics can, but then stuffed it to overflowing with today's trimmings from several of the greatly overgrown bushes by the hot tub.    

Now my view (once I'm back soaking in the hot tub) has been nicely upgraded! 

Rest assured that I was EXTREMELY careful working out there! Because Pokey's summer sleeping spot is under one of those bushes she's left the ground seriously lumpy from her comings and goings after our irrigations and the monsoon rains.

No idea what she actually weighs these days as she turns 20 this month (and no longer quite as cute as when she joined the family as a little hatchling two decades ago...) but considering that she is currently large enough to completely block the doorways it's more than enough to trample the ground!  Of course she is actually a tortoise...

I did actually muck my sewing area a fair amount yesterday, and though there was obvious improvement now it's time to do some more.