Taming the Urban Wilderness - or "Thank God for Friends!"
We rolled easily into this weekend last night with dinner last night with my best friends Jennifer and Elaine, and their respective partners Ken and David, plus Jennifer and Ken's adorable children. The food was so good — and we ate so much — and it was so fun just to hang out! We left at the end of the evening with baby hand-me-down loans as well: 2 carseats, a pregnancy pillow, and maternity clothes (just in time, too!)
All that was a pleasant prelude to today, when we finally attached the back yard at Patrick's house. When I walked around back this morning and realized how much the recent rain had made the weeds grow, I almost started to cry. It's a large yard, with a big hill, and it was a complete jungle. I exaggerate not. Weeds that seemed like trees, over 10' tall and with thick, woody stems. Big brambly overgrown raspberry bushes (that have never born fruit). Thistly spiky things of all sorts. Long, winding vines. It seemed absolutely insurmountable.
I started to clear a path down the steps, and Patrick started at the top. Soon Ken and Jennifer and the kids showed up, and Ken was absolutely a hero at getting the hillside under control. My friend Krista came and helped me pull down the weed-trees at the bottom of the hill, and then Elaine and David arrived with a bevy of tools and a burst of enthusiasm just as ours was seriously flagging.
By the end of the days we had cleared the hillside, given a preliminary mowing to the whole yard, weed whacked the side beds, cut down all the "volunteer" trees, cleared the vines off the fencing, cleared the bluestone patio, cleaned up the small pond, burnt the brush, replanted the raised beds, and stacked up about eight BIG piles of weeds. In general, it looks like a yard again (or it will after we borrow a truck to take the yard waste to compost.)
I can't believe how much we got done.
All that was a pleasant prelude to today, when we finally attached the back yard at Patrick's house. When I walked around back this morning and realized how much the recent rain had made the weeds grow, I almost started to cry. It's a large yard, with a big hill, and it was a complete jungle. I exaggerate not. Weeds that seemed like trees, over 10' tall and with thick, woody stems. Big brambly overgrown raspberry bushes (that have never born fruit). Thistly spiky things of all sorts. Long, winding vines. It seemed absolutely insurmountable.
I started to clear a path down the steps, and Patrick started at the top. Soon Ken and Jennifer and the kids showed up, and Ken was absolutely a hero at getting the hillside under control. My friend Krista came and helped me pull down the weed-trees at the bottom of the hill, and then Elaine and David arrived with a bevy of tools and a burst of enthusiasm just as ours was seriously flagging.
By the end of the days we had cleared the hillside, given a preliminary mowing to the whole yard, weed whacked the side beds, cut down all the "volunteer" trees, cleared the vines off the fencing, cleared the bluestone patio, cleaned up the small pond, burnt the brush, replanted the raised beds, and stacked up about eight BIG piles of weeds. In general, it looks like a yard again (or it will after we borrow a truck to take the yard waste to compost.)
I can't believe how much we got done.
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