The Great Fall Cleanup 2012

Yep, it is that time of year again.  Already!  We love, love, love our giant Maple tree.  She is beautiful, provides us plenty of shade in the summer, beauty all year round, and for all that she provides us, we have a price to pay.

We get to rake up and somehow get rid of all those beautiful leaves.  You remember how much fun we had our first year.  Last year was no exception, and every year here on out will be the same.  This year we tried to do things a little different.  We thought we would just burn the leaves.

So while this was somewhat successful and what a lot of people do around here, we found that it created a LOT of smoke and pine needles and leaves really, really stink when you burn them.  So we stuck with the tried and true.  Load up those tarps and haul it off to the woods and compost them.

Snow shovels - not just for snow!

Some of us had the all important task of holding down those tarps.  Yep, tough job, but someone has to do it.  So he paid for it accordingly.

Not to worry, he was rescued by his faithful sidekick, Gilbert.

And off it goes.

Oh the joys of fall!  It is so beautiful it is worth the little bit of work that goes along with it.

For Dad - The Gravesite Has Been Exhumed!

Before you all freak out and wonder what has gotten into my crazy head, let me explain.  As mentioned before, the previous owner grew and sold flowers.  So there were lots of flower beds around here.  Some were taken out to make way for the garden, some to make way for the pole barn, and some are begging to be redone but that is a project for next year.  This one out front though, is well, hmmm, an eyesore of sorts.  The flowers in it were not bad, more day lillies and some interesting ones smattered throughout, but its shape more than anything is what we didn't like.  It was a big long rectangle out in the front, covered with flowers.  Therefore, it has been known as "The Gravesite" since we arrived.

So before the snow arrives, we set to work removing it.

Cameron brought up the trailer before he left to go chop wood with Z.  J was our hauler after that.  Then us girls got to work filling the trailer with the lovely broken up concrete that served as the border.  Why someone thought it was attractive in the first place is beyond my comprehension.

When we finally were rid of all the ugly concrete we started saving the nice dark soil that filled the flower bed.  We discovered that there wasn't quite as much as we thought.  Buried in the soil were logs.  Hmmm, go figure.  I am sure there is probably a logical explanation.  But it made a somewhat easy job that much harder.  The lillies that were growing in there had penetrated all that wood.  So we couldn't just grab the logs out, we had to chop away at the roots until they let go of the logs.

So now, the gravesite is no more.  Just a bare patch of ground as a reminder.  Hopefully next year it won't take too long for it to be overgrown with grass.

I apologize for the blurriness of this photo.  Not sure what was going on with the camera or the operator but something wasn't jiving.  We were showing off our dirty hands as proof of our hard work.  Notice Z is NOT showing his hands :o)  And another youngster, who shall remain nameless, was wearing a white long sleeve shirt, and a comment was made towards the end of this whole event that it was still pure snow white.  A few quick minutes later it was not.  When Dad asked what happened to the shirt the reply was "Mom said it was still white so I wiped my hands across it to make it dirty".  MmmmHmmm, not sure THAT was the point I was trying to make.

Big pile of leaves is next on the cleanup list, if it ever stops raining that is.  Any volunteers?