Death of the Tigergrass plant

Yesterday was even more yard work. What can I say? I love it. I took a trip to Home Depot to pick up a nice 21" bow saw for a few limbs that were too big for the tree trimmer and a machete for the giant Tigergrass plant in the front yard. That tigergrass plant is a pain in the ass. It blows all over the yard and isn't even that pretty looking. Sorry Tigergrass plant; I hate you. I zipped a few dead limbs off the cherry tree in the back yard with the new saw (bow saws are awesome) which involved climbing (awesome) and hanging precariously with one arm (kind of awesome) while sawing overhead and loading my eyeballs with bark & saw dust (not really awesome). Nevertheless, limbs fell and the work was fun and easy. I then set to work on that Tigergrass plant; that SOB.

Above left: The Tigergrass plant. Above right: The crater which was once the Tigergrass plant.

My plan was to head out there and whack it down with the machete. I was stoked and was looking forward to going Samurai on it's ass though my plans were spoiled when the first several swipes glanced off it's resistant tubular reeds. Damn. So then I grabbed a bundle of the reeds and bent them over to the ground, stepping on them to keep them down, ignoring their cries for mercy as I brought down blow after blow with my new steel. Still, the machete just wasn't cutting the mustard so I bailed on it completely. I then just broke the reeds by hand until I was left with a 2' tall, 3' diameter, porcupine-looking mound. I had to bring in the big guns. Enter my splitting axe and pick axe. These were the way to go. Swinging sideways at the base of the monster I could feel an entirely new set of muscles getting sore. Still, the axe would sink deep into the roots and I'd have to wiggle it loose with both hands. The next forty minutes consisted of alternating between the splitting axe and standing on top of the clump bringing the pick axe down over and over and over complete with maniacal laughter and crazed expression. In the end, my final and most effective method involved dicing the top of the clump with the splitting axe and then chopping out chunks of it with the pick-axe using a whack & pry motion.

As rain drops began to fall, I raked up my mess and took the final load of roots over to the compost pile. I then set all those reeds ablaze and was able to get rid of a few pieces of the tree house I tore down the day before. This morning, as I finish this post over a cup of coffee at the kitchen table, rain is still falling. Looks like an inside day.

I say, I say, I say boy

Yesterday was another full and productive day out here in the suburbs. I was out in the yard by 8:30 trimming the trees of dead and stray limbs. It's amazing what a little trimming can do, though it's easy to go overboard and hack off a big chunk of tree branches. I managed to constrain myself, though using this tree trimmer was kind of fun. I lopped off a few low hanging bows from the two big pine trees out front and then trimmed the cherry tree and the apple tree of a bunch of dead limbs. Lastly, I set the fallen limbs ablaze; I don't think I'll ever get tired of burning stuff out here in the country. It's cathartic. Though I do have a red-neck side of me that is showing; instead of using matches and paper, I used a lighter and a can of Rustoleum to get the fire going. Yeeha!

Before I knew it, it was 11:30 and I was hungry so I MICROWAVED some leftover spaghetti for lunch. I haven't owned a microwave in the last five years and it's kinda' nice, I must say. Still I prefer to boil my water for coffee as opposed to radiating it.

I digress.

Above left: The PITA tree house. Above right: The PITA tree house ready to burn!

The next task on my list of home-improvement/yard-rejuvenation was to yank the ugly half-built tree house out of the maple tree in the back yard. This was a major pain in the ass. It took me about two hours to pry all the boards free and drop them to the ground without putting big gouges in the lawn. Aside from balancing on tree branches and prying all of the 2 X 4 floor boards up with my framing hammer, the floor joists were THE WORST. The braniac who installed these, used torx-drive 10 X 4” screws which were nearly impossible to pry apart. I persuaded them loose with a 10lb sledge I found in the car port. After the tree house was removed from the tree, I then carried, wheelbarrowed & dragged piece after piece over to the fire pit. I have a ton of nails to pull before I can burn these up. I don't want to worry about stepping on a nail this summer – I'm planning to use all the ash from the fire pit as fertilizer for the garden.

I then put the old Dodge Dakota that's been sitting at the side of the house for the past year, up for sail on Craigslist. It's a 1990, manual transmission, 3.9 liter that runs great; but has no brakes! They need to be bled, and I'm not up for it. I put it on Craigslist around 4:00 and I got a call ten minutes later by a guy who sounded so much like Foghorn Leghorn that I thought it was a prank call. Anyway, this guy's coming over to bleed the brakes and drive it away this morning. Should be interesting.

After putting the truck online for sale I took apart the flue of the fantastic wood stove in the basement. That was a job, fit for it's own blog post; I think I'll do just that. I didn't get to ride yesterday because I was too caught up in fixing and cleaning but maybe I'll get out on the road bike today. We'll see. Weather is looking like rain this afternoon. More later...

I'm a closet-suburbanite

So I'm all moved in to my new residence in the suburbs of Baltimore. The drive down went well and it was terrifyingly fun driving a big 16' moving truck down 95. The day of my drive was particularly windy making the 10 & 2 hand positions mandatory. One moment I'm driving along, stuffing my face with whoppers (I love those things) and the next I'm crapping my pants trying to keep the truck in my lane. But as I always enjoy saying, weather regarding a long hike, an apple pie, a leap of faith or a sprint to the shitter; "I made it".

Yesterday was my first full day at the new place. A nice little house in the country. I think I am a closet-suburbanite. I love yard work. It's one thing I enjoy AND do well. I think the reason why I like it so much, is because it shows visual progress. You see the results immediately. My father, who's birthday is today (Happy birthday Dad) instilled upon me a strong "no leaf left behind" policy. So, needless to say, I'm very thorough when I rake. The property where I live is about an acre and a half and home to two big Pines out front, Apple, Cherry and Peach trees, as well as three huge Maples. The leaves hadn't been raked this past fall so I got busy with a rake and wheelbarrow. The yard is looking sweet now. I took care of the front, back and half the side. Then, and this is something I'm truly going to love about living here: I got to burn all the leaves! Buh bye! Poof! I can start a fire for any reason, at anytime out here.

I spent all day outside raking yesterday only breaking for lunch and one more mandatory break because my back was KILLING me from all the twisting and pulling. I wanted to get the road bike out and put in an easy 25 miles or so, but I couldn't tear myself from the yard. Today I'll finish the yard and then get to pedaling on these roads I've missed so much. Although there is one additional task that I want to take care of. The previous tenant built a hideous tree house in one of the Maple trees. It was never finished and looks like a giant faded plywood box. It's an eyesore and I can't wait to burn it! Yes, I'll remove it from the tree first. Stay tuned for demolition photos...