A Lone Woman and a Weed-Eater

Hello, dear blog readers! First of all, I would like to say that this yard discussion might be funnier with the following link for musical background. (And the video is a little interesting too.)



This week I am in the process of attacking The Beast, AKA the Back Yard (the fenced AND unfenced portions). We have the human-powered rotor version of a lawn mower, which works great except on weeds. Anything long and stalky has nothing to fear from me....That is, until our neighbor loaned me a weed-eater! Due to my inability to start the thing, I had to have multiple lessons on the choke, etc., but once we got it roaring, I managed to mow down the fenced weed patch. After dinner I'm hoping to attack the back yard where the sod stops and the weed/dirt patch start.

In addition to yard fun, the fence blew apart in the storm the other night. There is a large piece of plywood already in place from the prior owners; apparently the gate had already broken in a storm. Now the plywood IS the gate.

Here are some photos of the lawn warfare in all its splendor.

These are the Weapons, from which all microecosystems of predators and prey alike flee in terror for their lives before my path. Large spiders sent flying through the air via the weed-eater....They can go away as far as I'm concerned, especially since I haven't noticed any cats or other small children in the neighborhood lately. The arachnid populace, with whom I have an uneasy truce much of the time, is highly suspect for their disappearance. The anthills might survive, but with some structural damage. Spiders and insects alike now have much shorter blades of grass in which to hide. Yes, folks, when it comes to having yard, I may not exactly be environmentally friendly toward my little neighbor pests.

The Beast (prior to being met with a weed-eater). The neighbor had reported seeing a Copperhead crawl behind the fence into his yard. It was clearly time to say farewell to the weeds. You know how sometimes pictures don't do justice to the beauty of a scene? This photo doesn't quite do justice to the overgrown status of the back "yard."

So anyway, dear blog readers, the yard progresses. Current progress is on hold for today and tomorrow in order to prep the house (i.e. cleaning the floors, bathrooms, and throwing things into closets) for the movers tomorrow--FINALLY! The bald spots in the back yard were not photographed, but our neighbors told me to think of our yard as a bald man needing hair plugs. Apparently, one can use Centipede grass as cuttings. You can take a knife, cut the offending invading limbs from flower beds or driveways, and transplant them to bald spots in the yard with a little water to help them survive, and Voila! Yard "hair plug" transplants.

On a completely unrelated note: so far this week, our favorite quote from Toodler has been: "Poop. E-I-E-I-O!"

Happy Thursday, dear blog readers!