Teamwork!!
Apr. 21st, 2024 11:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eve_primeToday was finally the day to work on the blackberries that have created a major new thicket in my backyard, limiting access to the apple tree and almost entirely obscuring my favorite climbing rose. Both J and D agreed to help, which meant I could finally make some real progress! Last year I cleared out the area in front of the apple tree, but the big thicket between the lawn and the rose had become a real problem for someone who isn’t particularly strong – the blackberry branches are so intertwined that pulling them out has been exhausting.
I came up with a new approach, which I figured would be especially good because I didn’t think J and D could necessarily tell the rose branches apart from the blackberries, so I didn’t want them doing the cutting. Basically, I crawled behind it all and sat at various spots on the ground near the fence, cutting the blackberry branches at the ground level. Then D could pull the branches, and J could get them into the yard debris bin. We worked on it for two hours!
Here’s the “before” shot.
Here’s the first “after” shot. The apple tree is now completely free of blackberry vines, and I got quite close to the rose, which is planted next to the fence.
J then left to ride his new bike a bit, but D got a second wind and pulled out even more of the branches, and I found a rake. The second “after” shot, from closer up:
After that, I relaxed in J’s yard with my friend Oberon on my lap and read some of a very nice book (Margaret Renkl’s A Comfort of Crows).
D had gone for a long walk over that big ridgeline to the west before we’d even started, so he was quite tired! I thought that I was thirsty rather than tired, and it didn’t seem that I’d done all that much, but I’ve been quite stiff this evening. So much progress! I should be able to finish liberating the rose bush pretty soon. And maybe if I can get the whole team together again another time or two, we could do even more!
I came up with a new approach, which I figured would be especially good because I didn’t think J and D could necessarily tell the rose branches apart from the blackberries, so I didn’t want them doing the cutting. Basically, I crawled behind it all and sat at various spots on the ground near the fence, cutting the blackberry branches at the ground level. Then D could pull the branches, and J could get them into the yard debris bin. We worked on it for two hours!
Here’s the “before” shot.
Here’s the first “after” shot. The apple tree is now completely free of blackberry vines, and I got quite close to the rose, which is planted next to the fence.
J then left to ride his new bike a bit, but D got a second wind and pulled out even more of the branches, and I found a rake. The second “after” shot, from closer up:
After that, I relaxed in J’s yard with my friend Oberon on my lap and read some of a very nice book (Margaret Renkl’s A Comfort of Crows).
D had gone for a long walk over that big ridgeline to the west before we’d even started, so he was quite tired! I thought that I was thirsty rather than tired, and it didn’t seem that I’d done all that much, but I’ve been quite stiff this evening. So much progress! I should be able to finish liberating the rose bush pretty soon. And maybe if I can get the whole team together again another time or two, we could do even more!
no subject
Date: 2024-04-22 07:05 pm (UTC)Congratulations.
The apple tree and rose bush are going to be so happy. :)
Rest up!
no subject
Date: 2024-04-22 08:41 pm (UTC)