The Sputter and the Alfalfa Bushes

June 4th, 2019

Sadly, I never did find that earbud….  At this point my guess it that it has either drowned or been shredded, either case would serve it right.  I started my mowing process on Sunday. My time was amazing although I was a little sore from working out the day before.  However, in spite of that, I was going right along and thinking I was gonna get this done cutting another ten minutes off my time… until the SPUTTER!  Well darn it, wouldn’t you know… with half a backyard left and beating my own PB I ran out of gas. And no, I did not fill it, I looked in the little hole before I started and could see the gas so figured I was ok….  WRONG! I can tell you that as sore as I was, I sprinted to the garage for that gas can… I was not ruining my time. And so….yes….I still was able to cut 5 minutes off my PB for a run-mow time of 50 minutes. Win!

The real challenge this week, however, has not been the mowing, it has not been the weed whacking, it has been trying to cut the top off of my bushes and making sure I am not wallowing in any sort of poison anything.  First, the poison possibilities. I have no idea what poison oak or ivy looks like, I could have gone in and googled it honestly, but I was already outside and all these leaves were growing up the bottom of my tree…. so... I messaged a friend of mine who worked for the National Park Service and is an expert at all this stuff, sent pictures and without touching any leaves directly, started whacking trying not to breathe too much.  Fortunately for me, my guess was correct and I have promised myself I will look online to see the actual poison possibilities because I do think I may have some behind my air conditioner. If all else fails I will just send my poison person connection more pictures since he at least seems to know what he is talking about.

The top of the bushes has been a whole other story.  I have been avoiding this item on my extensive list of things I need to do because I know full well that I do not have the inches to get to the top.  I pulled out my seven-foot ladder, I grabbed my shears and my electric trimmer and I headed out feeling determined, I had this! OH wait! NOT! You see even with a seven-foot ladder which gets you to the top of the bushes almost, it does not get you to the middle of the bushes….  And because I am 5’2 and my arms are half of that, it was just not happening. I reached, I leaned, I lunged….. And I started to have these horrible nightmarish visions of falling off the ladder and being lost or scratched to death in that bush. To compound these fears, recently my cousin fell/jumped off an extension ladder dropping 18 feet while siding his home and shattered his heel and although it might be interesting to add to his story at the family reunion in July, I personally do not feel the need to compete.  Anyway, currently, my bushes are trimmed beautifully, aside from the alfalfa sprouts sticking out of the middle of each of them. I sure hope my neighbors are feeling my flowing levels of creativity at this point. My daughter's boyfriend is 6’4 so he has offered to help me and he works for food so I think we have a deal!