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Wednesday, January 31, 2018

Those darn old leaves

Poppy thanks you for the many birthday wishes! 

He also said, referring to the picture I posted, "Mel! you need to ask me before posting a picture of me! That picture is awful! Looks just like I am an invalid"!  It's okay though, he got over it. 

and speaking of Poppy, he kept his word and helped me rake leaves...this was Saturday.


he raked AND used the leaf blower...starting way back there...


it was slow going...


and as the piles got too big and heavy to blow...

I raked them onto a tarp...

A mule's harness would have helped.

A few times, he had stop and help me pull the heavier loads.


We talked about not raking this back section any more, from the porch down to the pond, but remembered how bad the ticks used to be. Why, you couldn't go outside without getting several tick bites. It was awful!

And here, at the opposite end, is where we quit for the day.  Reminds me a little of the old farmer holding the pitchfork in that famous painting. 

Dumping that last load!


Leaf dump site!

What could be more boring than a leaf post. You're probably as sick of hearing about leaves as I am! 

Yesterday and now again today...it's freezing cold!! I've just come in from feeding the animals and breaking up buckets of ice, and my hands feel frozen too. It's 25 out there!

Hope to be back soon...with a cheery, colorful post!!

Love,
Henny


47 comments:

  1. Poppy looked just fine in his photo. My husband complains too, but to no avail. You sure do have a big collection of leaves! The Native Americans in California use to burn all the leaves and weeds off the ground around the natural growing walnut trees in the Clear Lake area of California (up in the mountains above the Napa Valley) to keep the insects and weeds down and to nourish the trees. Ash is one of the best fertilizers. Maybe you could just burn yours in small areas?

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    1. Thank you! That's interesting. We have never burned the leaves. There are just so many of them, but is would kill the insects.

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  2. You have a lot of property and a huge amount of leaves. It's always harder work raking them after they have been rained on and snowed on. I'll bet it feels so good to look out and see them all cleaned up. I love the little bridges over your creek bed. Your place has so much charm and just looks like a wonderful place to live . . . I know there's a lot of work that comes with property like that, but who's afraid of work, right? I call our little place my gym membership, but that's only in the Spring, Summer and Fall. If there is no snow to shovel I break for the Winter, LOL.
    Have a lovely day, you both deserve a rest after that.
    Connie :)

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    1. Hey Connie. As much as I complain about the leaves, I do enjoy raking them. You are right about the exercise. It's as good as having a gym membership. I love your place!!

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  3. Wow!!! That is a whole lot of leaves!!!! I am glad there are two of you to get the work done. Have a great day! xo Diana

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    1. Hey NanaDiana! It was good to have help this time. I usually do it all myself! :(

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  4. That is a lot of leaves and hard work, I should imagine its on a par with a 20 mile hike so keeps you fit. You certainly both deserve a rest now.

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    1. Oh wow, I bet you're right about that! Thank you.

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  5. Wonderful thing about leaves is when they deteriorate into the soil, you will have rich dark soils to place in your gardens and beds. Leaves also can be added to a compost and even into the chicken run. The chicken will eat off the bugs and tick for protein while scratching the leaves and breaking them down. The leaves will deteriorate into rich soil in their pen. You all are very blessed with a large amount of leaves, that is a lot of hard work.

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    1. Thank you for visiting and leaving a comment. You are so right about the leaves being good for the chicken lot. I pull a load or two into their lot every time I rake. They find bits of grass and "stuff" to eat. Then there are lots of earthworms.

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  6. Isn't it nice to have help in the yard! Tell Poppy he looks handsome in all his pictures including the birthday one! Don't overdo all that outdoor work - raking can sure get a back to hurting.

    Take care Henny!

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    1. Thank you Bonnie. I'll tell him. I'm sure he will appreciate that. :) We both had aching backs after all that raking, but it went away. "Thankfully"!

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  7. Looks like you have gotten a good early start to your clean-up. The tarp is the best way to move leaves! I like to pile mine up on the edge of the back grove for compost. The leaf-mold is sure good in potted plants and on the garden. The oak leaves are full of acid and good on tomato and potato ground. Phil/Minnesota

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    1. Thank you Phil. I use leaves in the garden too. Sometimes even between the rows to make paths.

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  8. I'm sure it's much nicer to have company while you are raking and with two it should go at least twice as fast. That's an impressive pile you have created!

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    1. It really is! At least we can laugh every now and then. Thank you Cynthia.

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  9. Lots of hard work raking up those leaves. At least it gave you a good workout! : )

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  10. That's a huge job! But I'm just enjoying the fact that there is sunshine and DRY leaves there. Ours are all mush.

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    1. That's so true, Linda. I hope you get several sunny days soon!

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  11. Raking is such a tough job...it requires muscles I do not like to use because they hurt!! I don't have leaves, but I do have pine straw which is a mess. Also the requisite pine cones to boot. I have raked about four times already and then we had a burn ban. I don't even know if we are still in one, but it is too cold to bother! Happy Belated Birthday to Poppy!

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    1. Oh, raking pine straw is a job. Pine straw is heavy, and those pine cones drive me crazy. It's funny how my neighbor has nothing but pine straw and he dumps all that he rakes up into our driveway. I love it. But then, I don't have it year round! He never wants any of my leaves. :)

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  12. Oh girl, Poppy sounds just like my Mister! Every time I take a picture of him, he will tell me not to put it on the internet! Men are so funny. Why, they would give it a second thought before posting a picture of us!

    We have been in the high 60's for the last two days but by the time I go to bed tonight, it will be cold and tomorrow will only reach the high 20's. Crazy weather!

    Grace & Peace,
    Pam

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    1. We are having the same crazy weather here. Oh, if I ever sit down in the living room, dead tired and fall asleep, it's the camera that wakes me up. He loves to catch me looking my worst!

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  13. That's a lot of leaves! I'm sure you are relieved to have that job out of the way for another year.

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    1. It is a relief! I've still got several loads to get up today. Can't wait to finish. Thank you Lynn!

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  14. I had a good laugh at Poppy's comment. I thought he looked just fine!
    Those darn leaves are such an everlasting chore. I guess it's the price you pay for the lovely treed yard you have. When you get old you'll have to hire some young, able-bodied young fellow(s) to do the work for you!

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    1. Hey Granny Marigold! We do enjoy the trees, but we really left too many when the house was built. I am old! :) and every year we threaten to hire someone to rake. It makes me feel good to know that I made it through one more leaf-raking season!

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  15. Wow Henny, I think those leaves are multiplying !
    Lots and lots of work, you both did a grand job :)
    Hugs,
    ~Jo

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    1. Sometimes I really do think the leaves are multiplying! :) Thank you Jo!

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  16. diane in northern wisJanuary 31, 2018 at 5:43 PM

    So glad to see you've done so well in ridding your lawn of those leaves. Wow...you have a lot of trees and that means a lot of leaves! So sorry you have to deal with that every year. Glad your hubby is helping you with such a huge job. Always enjoy your posts Henny...whether about leaves or delicious coconut cakes or sweet animals. So sorry it's so cold again there. We are having an extremely cold winter here too...and going into another very cold spell starting with below zero tonight. At least it's February tomorrow! Take care.

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    1. You are always so nice, Diane! I am excited about February too. January went by really fast. But getting through February means spring is close.

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  17. Sounds like you had a very productive day, but I am sure you are glad that it's over and done with.

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    1. Thank you for visiting and leaving a comment. I am glad that big job is about done! Your blog is amazing!

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  18. I think Frank hates leaves has much has you do but dont the shade feel good in the summer time. I love all of your blogs.
    Love you bunches

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    1. Hey sweet Vicki! Oh yes, those trees are wonderful in the hot summertime! I didn't know Frank was a leaf-raker! :) Love you!

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  19. All that I can say is, WOW. That is one serious amount of work.

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    1. Hey Pam! We were both worn out! I do enjoy that kind of work though.

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  20. Wow, good for you, Henny, that's a HARD job!!! You certainly got your workout, didn't you? And your property looks lovely! Spring will be here before you know it, that's for sure!

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  21. Happy Birthday to your sweetheart. My husband's birthday is January 24.
    Wow, what a big job. I do understand the want to get it cleaned up because of ticks. I HATE ticks. I hate, hate, hate ticks. I have a story as to why, I will have to blog about it someday. ;-)
    Stay warm, we have terrible cold wind here in Wisconsin -30 wind chill.

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  22. That is a lot of leaves! I am glad that you had his help! Bitter cold here again and snow expected this week-end. Ready for spring! Nancy

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  23. It's pretty cold here today too. I'm not look forward to going to the chicken barn this morning. Luckily our leaves here blow right out with high winds. However, the winds keep the house cold too.

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  24. My goodness that is a lot of leaves to rake up. You certainly wouldn't need a membership at a gym. =) I love all those trees on your property.

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  25. You are getting control of the leaves! I used to use a tarp also and old bed sheets work well too. It is such hard work! I went back to look at Poppys birthday photo...it looked fine to me:)

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  26. HP, I've been busting up frozen water for my chickens this year too. Sometimes it's quite thick and I have to bash the waterer against the wall to break the ice out! Your leaves are wonderful ... you know, all those leaves are excellent dirt in the making! Don't call it a leaf pile ... call it your compost pile! Think of all the happy worms living under there.

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