The (mis)Adventures of a SFH: Debbie of the Jungle

Last week I had a big week of yard work, my first ever basically. I started out the day by raking up leaves that I didn't get up before the snow came - that took at least an hour (I've got a large lawn and it's a lot of work!). Then I pulled on my gardening gloves, flexed my muscles and started pulling up half dead bushes. My muscles can only be flexed so much, so I was only able to get one up through brute strength. Luckily for me, my dad came by with his 4wd blazer and a chain. He showed me how to wrap the chain around the bush, securing it deep enough that it would pull up the whole root system, connected it to the truck, and off he went. Just like *that* my pesky bushes and a tree(!) was gone.

To remind you, this is what it looked like before:

Those pesky bushes and tree last summer

And then the space after:

Blank slate

Take that, pesky bush!

They were half dead, even though they look green there

After we tackled the bushes, my dad hung around and we went after the trees in the backyard. It turns out I've got a maple and .... some other trees. But they were being attacked by rogue grape vines that were attacking from my neighbors yard. Now, if you've never tried to prune or rip out grape vines before, you're in for a big surprise. After yanking a vine for all I was worth and finally ripping down about 25 feet worth, I says to my dad, I says "wow, these are really strong". He replies back "How do you think it was able to hold up Tarzan?" So, I figured what the heck, and I gave swinging on a vine a try. Word to the wise - don't try to be George of the Jungle while also working as a lumberjack. I just missed stepping on the stump of a tree and instead managed to slice the side of my leg with it. I still have the scab and swelling and bruising to show for it.

Back to the story.

Last summer, it looked really pretty....well, by pretty I mean leafy and green