What we didn't know is that all of our trees would be late leafers and plot against us in dropping a majority of their leaves in about a one week span of time. Last week's massive wind storms certainly helped them along.
This isn't even all of the yard...
You know what I'll be doing today.
Somehow I don't think this little lady will be much help...
Update:
2 hours
5 huge tarp-fuls of leaves dragged all the way around the house and down the hill... with the added weight of Baby in the mix!
And all I've done is *mostly* clear the area around the deck...
In my defense some of the leaves in this area were more than a foot deep!
Please note the amount of leaves versus that house... that is a lot of leaves!
14 comments:
Hey-raking is great exercise! But I think you are going to be hurtin' tomorrow.
WOW.
That looks like quite a job. As in, several days' worth of raking. Good luck!!!
Oh yeah, it will be a workout (note I have not left the warm comfort of my kitchen yet... or my hot chocolate). It's 3/4 of an acre of leaves. It's going to take awhile. Unfortunately it's literally freezing out! And it's supposed to snow tomorrow. I really want to get these up before they get wet.
Suck them up with the lawn mower!
What happens if it snows on top of the leaves? Do they get moldy? Is a leaf blower helpful with leaves on the grass? Seems like it would be..you could blow them all in a huge pile, then rake them into a bag? Seems logical to me. However, those things might be expensive?? In any event, I envy your spacious yard; I have none here in California.
Elizabeth,
I think we might have too many to do that with. Although I'm not sure... just based on what the neighbors have done. Either way... we don't have a mower. Well, we have one, but it is an electric push mower. Not in anyway appropriate for the size of this yard. We've been using a mow service every 3 weeks or so to come and cut it. Next spring we'll get a riding mower.
Jen,
Our leaf blower is electric so the cord issue is an issue in terms of distance. Either way I am a complete spaz with that thing... always end up blowing the dirt out of the garden but can't seem to move the leaves where I want them! It is embarrassing. Mr F has better control of it.
Once it snows the leaves kind of turn nasty. If the leaves are thick they don't really decompose all the way and just end up with a bunch of brown mush in the spring. We've made that mistake before...
After making so little progress I think I'm going to have to call a yard service to come suck them up.
i can see that raking will be part of the home school PE curriculum for next year. ;)
gooddog,
LOL!!!! You say that only because you don't live with her. She is straight up the laziest kid I have ever met (and I say that with love...)
Of course now it is sleeting... so mission aborted. Maybe forever.
Call someone to suck them up and quick. Once they freeze you're screwed.
Yeah...we made the mistake of leaving the leaves the first winter we were here. Killed all of our grass. Last year, Hubby did all of it (we have an agreement that he doesn't do laundry, and I don't do yard work). This year, he decided to hire someone to clean the gutters and deal with the leaves. They were here last week, and apparently, they have to return this week to finish. That was three guys. I don't know how you're doing all of that by yourself without blisters, but you're my hero.
Deb,
You called it.... blisters.... yep, I've got them.
The way I figure it I still have 12 hours to go, and with the weather turning I don't think I have the 6 days that will take me. I'm calling a professional. Plus, even if I got them all, where would I put them? I've already lined one street, today I'll do the other. They can't suck them up if I don't get them to the curb anyway.
I was thinking along the same lines as gooddog. Shame Kid won't go for it. It's not just PE of course, there's the discussion about the nature and science, plus the maths - estimating volume, weight, time taken etc. Then there's engineering and design - best way to tackle the problem, designing some weird and wonderful apparatus to do the job for you. And there's art and craft, plus English, if you want to write something about autumn (fall). You could probably cover the whole curriculum LOL!
Perhaps Kid could do some leaf inspired art while watching you clear them up? Actually last year we did laminate some of the nicer leaves and made a nice mobile out of them.
Mr Bumble loves (and I mean really, really loves!) raking up leaves. Hetty not so much but she will help. Mind you even he would be overwhelmed by that lot I think. Our garden is much smaller and the weather has been reasonably pleasant while we were doing it. Good luck with it!
BTW We have a neighbour who spends hours blowing the leaves off her front drive with an electric blower. She doesn't bag then up though, so the wind blows then all right back on again a few hours later. Then the cycle starts again! Causes us no end of amusement, and some annoyance (the damn thing is really loud) every year!
I just spotted the headband in this post. Awesome.
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