Tag: yardwork

Categories
General

More yardwork (I hate moss)

I’ve spent some time over the past couple weekends trying to strip my lawn (front and back) of all the moss that has started to take over. This past winter, what with the snow, wind storms, etc, seems to have caused a dramatic spread of moss throughout my lawn (git off ma lawn!).

What I’ve been doing is raking the moss out (no easy chore), and then spreading some fertilizer / moss killer mix as I get through various sections. My back hurts from the labor, and my lawn looks like the top of a balding man’s head with a few shoddy comb-overs. However, once I get through raking out the evil moss, and give the fertilizer / moss-killer a few weeks to soak in, I’m going to spread a bunch of grass seed and hope the lawn comes in thick. Time will tell.

One thing is clear, my local garbage company needs to come and pick up yard debris more than once every other week. I’ve got enough moss, clippings, trimmings, needles, and other debris to fill up the back of a large dump truck at the moment.

Categories
Beer General

The cutting of the tree

I had another excellently productive Saturday.

Woke up at about 8am, paid a few bills, cleaned up my office a bit, and then Kelly went with me to to John’s Market so I could pick up another keg of Guinness. I keep saying I’m going to get something else (I’ve had Guinness pouring non-stop since October), but, well, what with St. Patrick’s Day coming in a few weeks, I figured I may as well leave the special Guinness tap and faucet attached to my kegorator, and keep the goodness flowing. I am, however, going to resist tapping it for another week or so. If I can. It taunts me.

After picking up the keg and doing some grocery shopping, Kelly and I tried to beat the rain to get some more pruning and yard work done. I’d picked up some lawn fertilizer / moss killer mix, to try and repair my moss-infested lawn. I spent some back-breaking time trying to rake the moss from the grass, and then spreading the mixture into what quickly became some large mud patches. I only got about half of the back yard done before I had to call it quits.

Part of why I ceased my lawn enhancing activities is that my brother T came over with his chainsaw to help me cut down my falling apricot tree (mentioned previously). Within two hours the tree was reduced to a 5 foot tall stump. It was a bittersweet thing to have to do. I loved that tree, it was gangly and hadn’t produced fruit since moving in, but it provided some beautiful texture to our  yard. Sadly, it was beyond saving, and had started falling on another tree that was perfectly healthy. It had to go. A “cut off the foot to save the leg” kind of thing. Either way, I now have to get the stump removed and figure out what to replace it with.

And now, for your viewing pleasure (and a first for my blog) here’s a video that’s not a YouTube ripoff. Filmed by Kelly while I struck the killing blow. That smile at the end? It’s just me trying to hide my tears over what I’d just done.

[flashvideo file=wp-content/videos/2009-02-28_apricot-tree.flv image=wp-content/videos/2009-02-28_apricot-tree.jpg /]

Ax Men, look out!

Oh, and here’s a really nice shot Kelly took after the damage was done.

Categories
General

Productive day ’round the house

Kelly and I spent our day at home, doing chores and generally being productive. I woke up around 10am, went downstairs and cleaned the kitchen up and made coffee. Kelly rewarded me by making delicious buttermilk waffles. Hooray!

After that, while Kelly did some cleaning indoors, I took advantage of the semi-sunny early afternoon and washed our car. It’d been months, and it was filthy, inside and out. Gave it a good wash, took all the trash out of it, vaccumed, wiped the interior down and cleaned the windows. It’s all sparkly and shiny now. Almost like new, except for some paint chips and the odd new scrape / small dent I discover every time I wash the car. Grrr.

Once the car was shiny, I joined Kelly in some yardwork. We need to get our pruning done, and there’s quite a bit to do. As I walk into the back yard, pruning shears in hand, and notice that our sickly/dying apricot tree is leaning backward a bit more than I remembered (something that’s hard to tell from inside the house). As I walk up to examine, I realize that it’s leaning a lot back, and the soil around one side is pulling up. The poor tree is now starting to fall over. Argh! Need to get it cut down, soon. I set a stick under it at an angle, so I can see how urgently I need to buy a chainsaw. If it digs into the dirt at all (and I’ll be checking tomorrow) then I need to go buy a chainsaw and get to cutting immediately. Dammit.

Anyway, now I’ve got dinner cooking, and am enjoying a beer. Time to eat!