I know tomorrow is Mother's Day, but I have to talk about my husband today! He has been a workhorse around here lately, today especially. Just last weekend he spent some time creating a raised garden bed for me. I am so cheap, I told him I really wanted him to utilize some lumber we already had on hand. This meant it was actually more work for him. But he did it, because he just wanted me to be happy.
All of this, knowing I don't exactly have the best track record for having a green thumb. I think the possiblity of fresh tomatoes and peppers for salsa at our fingertips caused his brain to forget. Or he just loves me.
Today he tackled the tree line. We have lived in our house for 12 years, and I have to admit we let that tree line revert back to the wilderness it was when this house was built. Our house was part of the first neighborhood built in this area of our city. It had large lots and was full of wild plants that just seem to keep coming back. The original owners (we are owner #2) had planted a line of pine trees on the edge of our property. It was great, but it also caught a lot of pine needles as well as became a breeding ground for saplings. In his defense, there was a major wild plant thriving in that line of trees that made it very easy to ignore.
Now, for those of you who aren't the outdoorsy type, that is poison ivy. Not just any poison ivy, but some serious mutant poison ivy. It isn't all that big, but it is abundant on our property, especially in that tree line.
Alas, we had come to a point when it had to be addressed. Almost four years ago we had a huge fire. It destroyed 4 trees. We still have two trees to take down, and last year pine trees in our area began getting a disease that was destroying them. One of ours for sure has it, we are holding out hope for the few that are left. Which brings us to today.
Roger donned some heavy duty, Tyvek coveralls, taped the openings closed around his limbs, and slathered himself in ivy block. He wore heavy duty rubber gloves all day. Also on hand was a $35 tube of medicine someone recommended for if he did get some on him. We pretty much figured this was inevitable as he is highly alergic to poison ivy.
I can't believe how much he accomplished today!
BEFORE
AFTER
He took off the bottom section of branches on all of the trees in hopes it will be easier to keep the ground clear, and removed all of the undergrowth from this tree to the road - about 20 feet. There is still work to be done, three trees still need to come down. And we have about 6 inches of pine needles to rake up. But it will be so much easier to get them out with all of the undergrowth gone.
While I am very happy that this is getting taken care of, it is more about what kind of person my husband is. He is hard working. And he puts others before himself. He could have had our youngest son help him, but he is perhaps even more allergic than Roger to poison ivy. He could have continued to ignore this area of our yard (I do!), but he knew it had to be done and did it. He is incredible! And just as he was finishing up for the night, he was called out on a service call for work. He didn't grumble, he just went and is taking care of someone who is broken down. Thankfully it is right up the road from us. Hopefully it will be an easy fix. He deserves for it to go easily after all the hard work he did today!
(Update: It was a very easy fix. He is home relaxing now. He made a comment about his very busy day. I said, "you were. I blogged about you." He rolled his eyes, and blushed a little. Too funny!)
