Saturday mornings should be for sleeping

[fenchurch]

Earlier in the week I'd decided that today would be the day to finally start tackling the Big Pile O' Blackberry Brambles out by the side of the house. It's been there for a bit over two years... ever since the local Boy Scouts needed to raise money for camp and we had blackberries in need of pulling. They did a great job clearing the lower part of our property and they loaded as many blackberry brambles as they could into our yard waste bin and several yard waste bags... and then we ran out of things to stuff brambles into. So we had them pile everything up by the side of the house we rarely see anyway, with the intention that rackham and I would take care of them when my shoulders had healed.

Um, yeah. So, now they're a forbidding partially decomposed pile of brittle thorny brambles that REALLY need to be taken care of. Rackham and his brother are spending the day working on tiling the laundry room (it's looking INCREDIBLE in there... don't worry, there will eventually be pictures) and I'm trying to get around 40 minutes of exercise in every day, so I figured it was now or never.

On the plus side, you can kinda sorta tell I've made some headway on the pile (it's even more obvious when you see the four yard-waste bags crammed full of old brambles). On the minus side, it feels like I've barely made a dent. Also, I've only recently started being able to do this sort of work, as long as I'm careful. After 40 minutes, I thought I felt fine and plunged on for another 25. I have since discovered that this type of work is deceptively "easy." I felt great, didn't feel like I'd strained myself or anything... until about an hour after I quit, when it all hit. Yeah, over an hour of breaking up old brambles is a bit tough on the shoulders. And arm muscles. And leg muscles. Ow.

Ah well... at least now I know I need to be a bit more careful with the amount of time I spend working to clear the pile. Plus, I really have gotten a good start at ridding our lives of the thing... someday, we're hoping to finish off that area with some pavers and border it with bamboo, transplanted from another part of the yard. It has shade most of the day, so if we can pull it off, it'll be a great place to hang out on the five or so days a year that we get up to 90°F here. ;-)

Comments

[petzipellepingo.livejournal.com]

Nods. Yard work after any injury can be a lot trickier than you think it will be. And thorny things require extra caution because you really don't want to rip yourself up on those old branches.

[rahirah]

I don't suppose you want to come down and work on our pile of decomposing bouganvilla branches? *g*

[http://users.livejournal.com/opalescence_/]

I'll bet the birds love your bamboo in the other part of the yard. I can't wait to see pics of the laundry room, after hearing so much about it!

Yes, please be careful not to strain yourself working on that bramble pile. (((((hugs)))))

[ayinhara.livejournal.com]

As a person with similar shoulder problems I completely understand the issues. Frustrating isn't it?

[txvoodoo.livejournal.com]

Yard work is great, but DO be careful. Start small - 20 minutes, take a break.

I'm doing this with cleaning now. Made same mistake moving furniture. Ouch? :D

[zola.livejournal.com]

I was looking at calorie counts for the heck of it, and a lot of garden and yard work burns between 400-500 calories an HOUR, so yeah, "deceptively easy", LOL! I've gotten more good out of my "yard workout program" than almost anything I've tried.

That being said, can't you get a permit to burn? As I'm getting rid of some of the brambles and overgrown vines in my yard, I just lug them to the pile, which we light off every so often... not sure of the fire danger out there or the local rules, but that's how we handle the brush and the ashes are a good soil conditioner.

[jedihealer.livejournal.com]

Yes, the older I get, I realize that *BIG* projects need to be dealt with like eating an elephant: one bite at a time. No use getting frustrated and quitting in disgust.

Now I need to get outside. Thanks for the motivation. :-)

from Julia's mom

[(Anonymous)]

I'm so sorry I don't know any other way to reach you.....the worst possible news about allthatjazmyne. I'm still in Renton and leaving for Reno tomorrow - updated details are available on Julia's LiveJournal homepage if you click on her friend kcobweb and read her last entry. My email is joanealmtwa@yahoo.com. I would love to talk to you.
Joan