The courtyard is a fairly grand affair, more than the glorified backyard one might expect. Much, though not all, of the yard is covered in soft grass; there are patches of flowers here and there, placed in an almost natural-seeming sort of way. It helps the effect that whoever did the landscaping didn't use any flower-beds, difficult as that makes it to sustain and protect the flowers. There is a vineyard off in one far corner of the yard, and a greenhouse in the opposite one; lining the back end of the yard is an orchard of various fruit trees. One one side of the plain-looking wooden fence, which is a long way from the door in each direction, there is one gap with a path going through it, an open gate to an open outdoor space where Makurow practices magic (not that its destination is terribly clear to Amaya at the moment).
With a slightly closer look,
an apparently elfin maid can be seen in the orchard with a couple of baskets, somehow managing to pick up and pluck the various ripe fruits rather quickly and nimbly despite her dress. Maybe it's magic, or maybe one just gets good at this sort of thing after awhile.
((Ugh sorry I think my brain's a bit tired at the moment. May have to take a rest from this tonight.))