wherein Liz does yardwork (and other things)
Today I cut down two trees.
Context: when I moved into my current apartment, back in... I think 2009? Anyway, there were a couple shrubs attempting to grow along the side of the driveway, right up against the wall and foundation of the house. I probably should have just uprooted them at that point, but I don't tend to think about yardwork until things reach a crisis point, so six years later they had gotten very overgrown. The bigger one was two stories tall and beginning to encroach upon Upstairs Neighbor E and T's windows.
I'd started trimming them back a little in the spring and fall, to keep the driveway from getting clogged up and also to prevent the smaller, whippy branches from making demonic screeching noises against my windows in high winds. It was a bit of a futile effort, since my stepladder isn't tall enough to let me reach all the branches in question, but it did reduce a chorus to a solo, which was better than nothing. However! Today while I was doing yet another round of pruning, Diagonal Neighbor P walked past, noticed I was using a tiny pair of handclippers, and asked if I wanted to borrow her handsaw.
I am not normally very good at answering when opportunity knocks, but this time I was ready. :D
And so the two 'trees' are no more, the yard waste compost heap in the back yard is twice as big, and I will never have to suffer those demonic screeches again.
A good afternoon's work, I think. *dusts hands*
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ETA: Other things done today include:
1. Took Dottie on an ADVENTURE! In other words, we walked up the Cascadilla gorge trail, then came back down via Collegetown and the gorge rim sidewalk. The gorge trail had been closed for a couple years while the Cornell Plantations did extensive repairs and improvements, but it's open again now and a lot safer and better designed. (Among other things, there are small drainage channels in many stretches of the walk, they moved the entire Stewart Avenue staircase about six feet south so it's not under a persistent drip from the gorge walls anymore, and the final ascent up to the Schwartz Performing Arts Center is completely re-engineered. Also there's some nifty signage.)
2. Bought groceries and filled my parents' car with gas since I had a 20-cent-per-gallon discount. (My grocery store's loyalty card offers 'gas points' in addition to general discounts. Normally this is useless to me, but since I currently have custody of a car, hey. I will take advantage. *grin*)
3. Changed my sheets and towels, and put my laundry into a bag and cart in preparation for actually washing it tomorrow.
4. Watered my houseplants; mixed their periodic dose of fertilizer into that water.
5. Sorted and folded the clothes I want to sell or donate to charity.
6. Snipped four baby spider plants and put them in water-filled glasses to grow roots.
7. Played fetch with Dottie for about half an hour. She does not quite grasp the concept of 'bring the toy back to the human,' but I've convinced her that she should at least bring the toy back to the same room I'm in, because I do not have the energy to play keep-away for extended periods of time.
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Context: when I moved into my current apartment, back in... I think 2009? Anyway, there were a couple shrubs attempting to grow along the side of the driveway, right up against the wall and foundation of the house. I probably should have just uprooted them at that point, but I don't tend to think about yardwork until things reach a crisis point, so six years later they had gotten very overgrown. The bigger one was two stories tall and beginning to encroach upon Upstairs Neighbor E and T's windows.
I'd started trimming them back a little in the spring and fall, to keep the driveway from getting clogged up and also to prevent the smaller, whippy branches from making demonic screeching noises against my windows in high winds. It was a bit of a futile effort, since my stepladder isn't tall enough to let me reach all the branches in question, but it did reduce a chorus to a solo, which was better than nothing. However! Today while I was doing yet another round of pruning, Diagonal Neighbor P walked past, noticed I was using a tiny pair of handclippers, and asked if I wanted to borrow her handsaw.
I am not normally very good at answering when opportunity knocks, but this time I was ready. :D
And so the two 'trees' are no more, the yard waste compost heap in the back yard is twice as big, and I will never have to suffer those demonic screeches again.
A good afternoon's work, I think. *dusts hands*
-----
ETA: Other things done today include:
1. Took Dottie on an ADVENTURE! In other words, we walked up the Cascadilla gorge trail, then came back down via Collegetown and the gorge rim sidewalk. The gorge trail had been closed for a couple years while the Cornell Plantations did extensive repairs and improvements, but it's open again now and a lot safer and better designed. (Among other things, there are small drainage channels in many stretches of the walk, they moved the entire Stewart Avenue staircase about six feet south so it's not under a persistent drip from the gorge walls anymore, and the final ascent up to the Schwartz Performing Arts Center is completely re-engineered. Also there's some nifty signage.)
2. Bought groceries and filled my parents' car with gas since I had a 20-cent-per-gallon discount. (My grocery store's loyalty card offers 'gas points' in addition to general discounts. Normally this is useless to me, but since I currently have custody of a car, hey. I will take advantage. *grin*)
3. Changed my sheets and towels, and put my laundry into a bag and cart in preparation for actually washing it tomorrow.
4. Watered my houseplants; mixed their periodic dose of fertilizer into that water.
5. Sorted and folded the clothes I want to sell or donate to charity.
6. Snipped four baby spider plants and put them in water-filled glasses to grow roots.
7. Played fetch with Dottie for about half an hour. She does not quite grasp the concept of 'bring the toy back to the human,' but I've convinced her that she should at least bring the toy back to the same room I'm in, because I do not have the energy to play keep-away for extended periods of time.
You can also read this entry on Dreamwidth, where there are currently (
comments)