For the first time this Spring — with Summer breathing down our necks — we’ve managed to complete a round of mowing of our three-acre hillside front yard.

Completed the final section — lower sections below the steam that flows through the lower section of the yard — as sun fell Friday night.

Our latest grading of the driveway, which the multiple storms turned into an off-road trail, is reasonable dry and hard and Saturday looks mostly dry as rains originally forecast for late Friday and early Saturday now are scheduled to hit the area late in the day Saturday along with thunderstorms on Sunday and Monday.

We will see how it holds up.

Or maybe not.  Forecasts become shifting threats with moving targets and a lot of guessing by the National Weather Service office in Blacksburg.

At best, my mowing capabilities are below average.  So is my handling of the blade on our tractor.  Our yard and driveway showcases my that I’m out of my depth when trying to tackle both projects but I keep trying, hoping that needed abilities can be learned.

Mowing our front yard becomes more and more of a challenge as tree stumps buried by a previous owner of our property continue to decay and leave sinking ground and steep depressions that have become mini sinkholes.

The answer, of course, is to regrade the entire yard, which is  challenge because of the steepness of the hill and the already-loose dirt that makes one understand why the nearby road is called “Sandy Flats.”

An option is replanting the lower, steeper section of the yard with trees and give the land back to the wilderness.  Another choice is to leave the lower half alone and let the grass, weeds and whatever grow and leave it to the animals.  We tried that last year and didn’t like it.

Decisions, decisions.