Are We Having Fun Yet?

O.K. So I think I've told you before that there must be something wrong with me. I love to tackle HUGE gardening projects. I love to get dirty! I love to get knocked over with falling trees and caught in inch thick vines. I don't know why, I just do! And, quite honestly, the only thing that really keeps me from doing more of it is the thought of happening upon a snake or two. I have lived with snakes around me for most of my life and I still DON'T LIKE THEM!

So yesterday, while most people were at the beach or a bar-b-que, I decided to get out the ladder and tackle the vines and branches that were once again creeping up and over our fence from the 17 acres behind our house. If I go up high enough on the ladder and lean over a bit, I can do a fair job of getting the stuff down. Yesterday, I asked my hubby to pull on some of the branches to allow me to chop them even further down. As we were doing this he said "why don't we go behind the fence"? He hasn't offered to do that for awhile, so I was down that ladder and heading off in a flash. He used loppers and I went in with a pruning saw and clippers. I tell you, in an hour or so, we were bumped and bleeding from all of the stickery vines, but we had a 4-5' path along the fence all the way to the end. We were so darn proud of ourselves.

But, when we looked at the fence from the inside, there were still a number of branches hanging over our pool and they were coming from some trees too large to fell with any of the tools we own. So, we got cleaned up and "crashed" a bar-b-que at my daughter's house. We had a nice visit with everyone and by the time we left, our son-in-law had offered to bring his chain saw over and help us finish the job today.

And true to his word, he was on our front porch bright and early and the fun began. We got a number of other trees down and now our fence is empty of vines and branches. It is amazing what a difference it makes. The pictures don't really show you how much came down. Everything you see here is piles of cut trees and branches-and this continues the entire length of the fence.  Soon everything that still looks green and growing will die off and we will really be able to admire our hard work.

Doesn't the fence look wonderful now? Not a vine in sight! And those trees that look like they are looming right over our yard are really quite a ways back!  I have a few more chores to get done out here today and then I think I will put my feet up and call it a weekend! Hope everyone had as much fun as I did. Oh, and yes, we happened upon 3 of my not-so-little slithery friends. Maybe they are as afraid of me as I am of them-but I doubt it! Stay tuned. We have a busy week with retirement parties and graduation and award ceremonies, but if I can find any free time, I think I will start putting out 4th of July. Stay tuned.