Monday, November 5, 2007

Not my first choice for a morning activity

Mulching leaves at Wallace took about oh... 45 minutes. I have been mulching leaves for over two hours. AND I'M NOT DONE! I have to let the mower cool off. My ears are ringing--not as bad as the were on National Chipper Vac Day--but bad enough. I think I vibrated my pinky off. I feel like a poorly groomed race horse--got all sweaty now I am freezing. It is supposed to snow tonight. Happily for the only bit of "lawn" we are concerned about being *turf* is all good. I got the croquet field mulched up and put in the compost barrel. The barrel always amazes me. Ya stuff it full and it all just magics itself into 1/16 it's former mass. I shoulda took three pictures-- one of the area with the leaves--one shot without the the leaves (just straight lines of mulch--like when you vacuum plush carpet--the ugliest green and gold striped shag carpet--kinda Brady Bunch style... and then the third pic would have to wait for the small pile of "black gold" I will get this spring. At least the croquet field is okay for this batch of droppings--the two biggest trees are still holding their leaves but I bet they drop them this week. Then I did the outside of the driveway (s) and put those clippings on the flower bed by the parking spots--but if global warming works in my favor it will rain like a bitch--wash the new mulch down into the turf--freeze the clingy leaves--they drop-- and I repeat what I did this morning on a some sunny day next week. Gods--if I ever needed convincing for the native grass meadow (which I didn't) I am convinced now that monoculture manicured lawns are the devil's work. I promise you dear one-- any chance of maintaining the golf course are DEAD. This place is freaking huge. We gotta get a goat.

I can't wait till they tear up the barn area for the geothermal coils. Then I can see what planting pattern I will have. I think they are gonna do a big loop? Soon I will know for sure..we got approved for the financing and they claim to have it all done by Turkey Day---EEP!

2 comments:

Lilim said...

Isn't composting awesome?! I'm really going to miss the 8x5' compost bin that my mom started at the family lake cabin. I was out there, yesterday, cleaning up the yard and winterizing the place before it gets sold. Oh, well. At least in Fargo we're allowed one free truckload of compost from the organics dumpground, each year. That'll come in very handy when we tackle the weed beds and the sandy strip of grass in front of the house, next spring.

The season's first snowflakes fell, today. They didn't last long, but their mere presence was enough to make me feel even colder than the temperature warranted. I'd love to play with geothermals, someday. Until then, I just have to focus on efficiency and wearing lots of fuzzy socks and stuff. Must pester the boyfriend to finish up heat-taping all of the windows and redistributing the insulation in the attic. I want to be snug as can be, in our drafty old house, this winter!

*sigh* I love Autumn. I just wish it would last longer, around here. It seems as though we go from 90-degree weather to a foot of snow in just under two weeks, in ND. It was too cold out to even litter Tarrach and Fina's front yard with Jack o' Lanterns, like we did last year for Hallowe'en! Bummer. We'll have to make up for it by rolling up a bunch of Calvin and Hobbes snowmen in their yard, in the middle of the night, this winter. ;)

POW! (Paul Orselli Workshop, Inc.) said...

Texas terminology, from when we lived in Austin, about working up a sweat like a horse: "rode hard and put away wet."

I have to mention that some of my perverted (all female BTW) co-workers at the Austin Children's Museum also used the "rode hard and put away wet"
phraseology as a euphemism for that other type of "roll in the hay." ;-0