yard work

Avoidance

Posted on by backuphill

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It snowed for about 36 hours this last weekend. The snow was light and fresh and was covering everything. We got about 9″ of the white stuff.

For a short time, the world was quiet. Peaceful even. There is something very comforting in watching it snow. For me, it causes me to slow down and enjoy the stillness. Silence. Fresh.

But, under that blanket of white there is a yard that just makes me cringe.

I can honestly say this is the time of year where I just think the NW is plain ol’ ugly. The trees are naked. The grass isn’t green yet. Everything feels grey and cold, not to mention sopping wet. The snow helps hide this dreadful scene.

With the snow, the yuckiness is gone. It just goes away. It can be avoided, put off, ignored. The ugliness is replaced by something beautiful, divine, perfect.

So, while the snow lasted, I avoided even thinking of all the work that has to happen in the yard before Spring arrives. Now the snow is melting quickly and the sopping, rain soaked ugliness is returning.

Avoidance is no longer something I can hold on to.

I am just gonna have to do it.

Day 4

Posted on by backuphill

Vacation, Day 4:

Irritation. Irritability. That’s what’s on the agenda today.

No plans and it sucks.

Mother Nature decided to give us the gift of sunny weather this week for spring break (it wasn’t supposed to be, plus this is the PNW where it rains all the time). The downside of this gift is that everyone is stuck at home: vacation plans cancelled, with money but don’t want to spend it on big projects because no one is sure how long the lockdown will last, and no place to go but the yard.

Thanks. Thanks a lot.

I guess I’ll wander aimlessly in the garage again today and see if I can find something else to put away or organize. I guess there is always more to do in there…

Vacation, Day 3 Update:

The murder plans went well. All the spray has been used. The results should be evident starting as soon as today, but for sure in a couple more days . No humans or pets were harmed.

Oh, and I started working on a project yesterday that didn’t go as planned (actually just finishing up something started long ago). So I am still stewing over that too. Don’t you hate it when things don’t go as you envisioned them in your head?

This is going to be the worst vacation ever.

Day 3

Posted on by backuphill

Vacation, Day 3:

Plans for today? Murder.

Not of people, but of plants. Not to say the former hasn’t been considered (jk internet police!), but the later is definitely taking place. Well, actually, it already has.

I got up early this morning and mixed the weed killer into my backpack sprayer three different times and wandered the yard in the cool morning sun and took care of (crossed fingers) the offending plants. Dang, there are a lot of the little jerks! Why do I need to do this every year? Why can’t this death sentence be permanent?

Just that thought of the weeds kind of pisses me off. When I think about it, weeds are kind of a metaphor for people in society. There are a lot of people who seem to thrive in the worst of circumstances with barely any resources and still they seem to spread their jerkiness to the rest of us…do you feel where I am going here? Yeah, maybe not the best analogy, but that’s what you think about when you are by yourself in the early mornings with a little coffee in the system. But still, how do irritating people continue thrive in bad times and good people get overwhelmed by the bad people in their lives?

A serious question to consider.

I am not sure what other plans I have for the day. I am liking the sun today though. That was a little unexpected because the people who do whether forecasts are wrong more than they are right. Anyway, if the weather holds, maybe there will be a fire in the fire pit tonight.

But still, this is going to be the worst vacation ever.

Day 1

Posted on by backuphill

white flower photography

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Vacation, Day 1:

It’s sunny outside. Finally.

After weeks of rain off and on, and short periods of dry but not dry enough to do yard work it is finally sunny today. the high is supposed to get to 60 (of course, that is only a prediction).

It’s sunny outside. BUT, I have done activities outside the last two days despite it not being sunny and warm. It was dry however and so I took care of things like gutters, the lawn, splitting kindling for firepit/campfires, and little chores here and there.

Now that it is sunny, I don’t have any motivation to do any other yard work. I know I should, but I don’t. The flower beds need cleaned up, weeded, and bushes trimmed. All things I know I should do, but don’t really want to. Well, I want to but I don’t want to, know what I mean?

Maybe my attitude will change as the day goes along. Perhaps this afternoon it will be better.

Day 1 of vacation is nothing to write about, yet I am. Nothing exciting will take place today. There is nothing on the agenda that is exciting. There is nothing exciting to even put on the agenda. Lockdown has killed even things though could have been possible plans.

This is going to be the worst vacation ever. LOL

 

In house

Posted on by backuphill

man looking out of the window

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One can only watch so many TV shows, movies, and play so many video games. I didn’t think it was possibly, but there is a limit.

I wouldn’t call it cabin fever, per se, but I am ready to at least be outside in my yard. But Mother Nature is being uncooperative in the PNW. She is teasing us with breaks of sun, followed by downpours of rain that give you the impression you are in the shower. Everything wet, everything drenched, everything starts the drying process…again.

It’s got me mumbling under my breath. More than usual, anyways.

Just about the time I think, “Ah, a break in the weather. Perhaps it will be dry enough to get out of the house and do some yard work,” another cloud bank comes rolling through to douse those ideas. And the process starts all over again.

It’s not that this is surprising. That happens all the time this time of year. That’s the PNW for you. BUT, this time is different because we are literally confined to our homes and there isn’t much to do anywhere else. So, yard work. Not that I am excited about doing yard work, but it is something different (and the grass is still growing and the weeds are still trying to take over the yard).

Mind you, I am not desperate enough to go out and do it in the rain or between rain showers. Not yet at least. But, there may be a day in the near future…

Stiff and sore

Posted on by backuphill

grayscale photo of man

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All that work on the house and in the yard yesterday has me moving much slower today. Age isn’t just a number, so don’t listen.

I suppose if I did this stuff on a regular basis, I would be less sore. But, climbing up and down a ladder repeatedly to put up gutter guards and using the shears to cut down bushes aren’t something that happens regularly, so that little piece of advice goes in one ear and out the other.

OK, OK, being more physically active would be better, I know.

But today, just let me wallow in my tired, stiff and sore irritation. It’s just best for everyone.

 

Ownership

Posted on by backuphill

blue and gray concrete house with attic during twilight

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There used to be some advertising out there that said, “Ownership has its privileges.” It was something to that effect. I think it was American Express that used to say “Membership has its privileges.” It doesn’t really matter who said what though.

As I sit here on Labor Day and ponder the long list of “To Do” items I have I am starting to wonder if ownership really has its privileges. The “to do” list that needs to be completed before the Fall weather begins to set in is rather daunting and the house seemingly is in constant need of something – repair, upkeep, upgrade…

It’s tiring. It’s costly. It’s annoying.

I have experience all the living situations. Growing up, of course, and living with my parents we were always asked to do chores and we did them. After moving out, I have had apartments that had virtually no upkeep on my part. The apartment life eventually led to the desire to “have my own place” instead of paying someone for their ownership. I have owned my own home and I really like the yard work. There was something different about it when it was my own yard rather than my parents’ yard. I didn’t mind the work, at least for a while. I have owned a condo where the yard work was all done by the HOA and really there was veery little that needed to be done as far as maintenance goes. But, eventually, that feeling of wanting a yard of my own came back again. Well, I once again own a home and I have tired of work that has to go into it. Just the every day upkeep can get overwhelming but then add the looming big expenses like roof replacement, house painting, crawl space cleanup, landscaping…the list never ends!

Is it really a perk to own your own place when, after all, you still face stupid regulations from the city and county about what you can do with your own property? You may not be able to do what you really want to do, so is it really a perk?

I am starting to question the ownership thing and I am also beginning to yearn for the condo days again.

Some days “adulting” can be a real bummer. I am about to labor all day in the yard and on or around the house on Labor Day.

Happy not really a day off because life keeps up.

Fall colors = a close simulation of hell

Posted on by backuphill

nature red forest leaves

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“Ooh they’re so pretty!”

“I just love fall. Crisp air and all the pretty colors on the trees.”

…said no one ever! Well, at least by someone who has the major task of raking all that “pretty fall color” out of their yard. Or, if you are in the Northwest, there is the forever piles of pine needles clogging up everything in sight! Sheesh.

As long as the days are dry and the weather is moderately mild, you can cheat and blow them outta the yard into your neighbor’s yard fairly easily. Once it get wet, as in rain, you need a freaking jet engine to blow them things loose.

So, if you don’t (or can’t) stay on top of the task, you are left raking – back busting, blister inducing, getting all wet and cold hell. After hours of sweating and bagging, you can see the lawn. And then the next wind storm comes and the process starts all over again. Welcome to fall hell…

Trees suck. We should cut them all down.

I don’t wanna rock

Posted on by backuphill

assorted colors rocks

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Rocks are great for mountains and landscaping.

Rocks are not good when you are digging a hole or a trench.

Rocks are not good when they are loose on a roadway and flip up to chip your window.

Rocks are not good when they are in your shoe.

Rocks are not good when they somehow end up in your food.

Rocks are not good when you get hit in the head – whether it was thrown or falling from a mountain.

Rocks are not good when you are sleeping on the ground and they are under you.

Rocks are dumb when you inscribe, paint, or write a message on them.

So, really, other than the first two things what are rocks good for?

Cockroaches, AND weeds

Posted on by backuphill

white dandelion

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Alright, you all know the joke about the only living thing being able to survive a nuclear holocaust is a cockroach, right? Well, I think we can add one more thing to that list…and they’re living in my yard (and likely yours too). As we work in the flower beds or mow the lawn, we all refer to them as – “F$%*#@ weeds!” We just get tired of them always being there.

Weeds. Weeds! How is it that the grass can turn brown and die, but there are weeds flourishing in my yard? One the side of the road? In fields everywhere? How is it that they can get NO WATER and still live? They can’t be killed! You spray them with killer. You burn them with flamethrowers. And they just keep.coming.back. How can this be?

So, I think we need to change the joke. We can just simply say that there will be two living things on Earth after a nuclear war…cockroaches and weeds. It will be a perfect world where two of the most unwanted, least desired, most indestructible life forms will live in our place. Perfect.