Monday, October 22, 2012

Maggie and the Fox

Maggie caught a fox in the yard last week.



I think Maggie was trying to play with it! But it ran under the deck and hid.  Maggie waited (and tried to get under the deck) for hours and hours, but no playing that day.

Monday, May 21, 2012

Yucca Yuck!

I spent hours this weekend trying to make space for blueberry bushes by removing some Yucca from the side of the house.  The leaves are spiky and sharp, and the roots are huge.  Bigger than huge.  Then I came inside and checked the source of all wisdom, the internet, to see what the wisdom is on getting rid of Yucca.

Below is what it could look like


Below, the spiky part next to the wall, is what it does look like (after about 4 hours of digging)


Here's a snippet of what internet peeps say about getting rid of Yucca:
After 3 days of hacking, Dh was reduced to using a sawzall. Literally 27 minutes later, they had resprouted. This time, DH used the propane BLOWTORCH that godforsaken children(gc) had purchased for him one year. All this accomplished was setting uprooted strands of weedweb, and a nearby boxwood, on fire. And 10 minutes later, there were new sprouts in the middle of the stinking blackened mess.
The reason digging doesn't work is because of their incredibly deep roots
The reason poisoning doesn't work, is because of hydrostatic pressure
One suggestion that has worked 78% of the time is to move to a new house that does not have Yuccas.

ARGH!

It looks like I'm gonna have to go ahead and plant the blueberry bushes ('cause I've already got them!).  My yucca eradication plan looks like it's gonna be management-based - just keep the thing as small as possible.

Like a crazy fool, I thought the yucca was going to be the easy part, so I left it for last.  Several bushes were also here, but succumbed to a rope and the ATV.  That was fun!  What will be more fun is eating the blueberries!

Monday, April 30, 2012

Yeah, I Know

It's been a while...

I've been mulling an update, but didn't feel like I had much to say since I didn't do much this winter.  A few things stacked up recently, so it's feeling like time to break radio silence.

I finished updating the brown bathroom - yesterday.  This bathroom started brown. The ceiling, the walls, the tile, the vanity.  All of it.  Except the sink, which was pink-y peach, the toilet which was peach and the bathtub which was pink.  I replaced the toilet and the sink, and painted the room.  Yes, it took something like six months.  I'm the kind of remodeler where if there's *anything* else to do, I'll do the other thing. 

It seems like people in the 1960s were shorter.  Four months of the six months was spent deciding what to do with the tile soap dish and toothbrush holder that I so intelligently didn't realize would interfere with the new vanity. Then, deciding which type of not-matching tile would go in the open spaces on the wall.  Then, trying my best to adjust the piping angles.  And finally, calling in someone to finish the job.

Take a look at this pic.  Then look down to past posts to see what it looked like in November. (Sorry, not a true before pic because I'd already covered up the brown paint when these pics were taken.)  The hanging pants are a design inspiration that I found at the Salvation Army.  I love the color combo.

I finished pulling the bushes out around the front door (started in September-also some old pics somewhere below).  I sortof finished spreading manure (started in October).  And I FINALLY started to plant stuff.  Two elderberry bushes, a red currant bush, and a gooseberry bush.  Of course, we've been in the upper 20s for the last few nights, so I'm not positive the new bushies are going to survive.

I started taking classes in January to become an EMT.  Class schedule was grueling, 3 evenings a week from 7-10pm for 4 months.  It's all over now, except for the practicals and the testing, which will take much of May.  It's hard to describe how much I'm looking forward to having those 10 hours a week of MY time back. 

And finally, an update on me.  I lost 80+ pounds.  On purpose.  That's me in the middle. I'm the girl with her pants pulled up so they don't fall down and I step on them.  This is a fire call that we had yesterday, starting early, early morning (or maybe late, late night), 3am. I got home at 9 yesterday morning, and went straight to bed.

Things have mostly been on hold for the last several months as I struggled to get through EMT class.  It was convenient that it was also cold, yukky and dark at the same time.  Now that all of that is mostly out of the way, me and the new bushes are looking forward to the impending warmth and light of spring.