Manual Labor

The weather last week was warm and sunny, so we gathered up our gear, the tractor and mower, then headed outside for some much needed yard work.

Picture me, dressed in overalls, ball cap, and boots, armed with a hand-held mini chain saw, hedge clippers, and a rake. Although there's no photo evidence, I'm definitely a redneck Southern woman when I need to be. Not quite the sweet little old quilt lady you're used to, huh?

We attacked prickly wild rose and blackberry vines, overgrown weeds, crabgrass, unruly shrubbery, nasty poison ivy, stubborn privet, dead bushes, and a couple of fallen trees. We stripped out all the shrubs around the house to create a clean slate for new landscaping later. 

Even though there was sweat, sore muscles, bruises and a bit of blood, overall we had a good week. We were out in the sunshine every day.  We got lots of exercise chopping, loading and dragging brush and logs. I lost two more pounds. We took our time, laughed, enjoyed the breezes and admired the fall colors. The yard looks better and Jerold bushhogged the back field. 

I'm not sure how it got so out of hand (well, maybe because we played instead of working) but it's almost whipped into shape, at least near the house. Out in the country, there's always something that needs to be done. Could be time to think about a place with a smaller yard so I can sew instead of doing manual labor.