Happy Thanksgiving!

For the past two years, Lindsay and Chris have set up a Thanksgiving tree on their dining room buffet.  Each day in November, leading up to Thanksgiving, they hang leaves on the tree, writing down things for which they are thankful.  If I were to add a leaf to their tree this year, after this morning I would write, "I am thankful for a SawsAll."

Strange?  Not really.  You just have to know my husband.  We got up this morning and before I was even finished with breakfast, he was proposing that we go into our front yard to work on the mound of dirt we had to move in preparation for adding a garden and preparing the front for pavers.  He promised that we would work "just for a couple of hours."  Ha! Once he gets going on something, he does not want to stop.  By my watch, working from 8:30 until 11:45 am does not constitute a "couple of hours."

We started by trying to remove all of the grass.  The grass that we have here in Florida does not compare to the whimpy, soft grass we have in Wisconsin.  Our grass is bahai grass which has thick blades and long roots.  Additionally, the weeds intermixed with the grass gave us a first-class battle.  But that was just the beginning.

After we had the grass removed, we still had mounds of dirt that contained fallen palm seeds (which look like little acorns), twigs, stones, and some of the most intertwined, stubborn roots known to man.  Have you ever wondered how palm trees can withstand hurricane force (think 120 mph) winds?  Well, not only are they incredibly flexible, but they also have a ball root system that will defy any shovel used to remove them. Yes, the folks who removed the tree yesterday did grind down the main root of the palm tree, but they left plenty of auxiliary roots stubbornly in place.

Rick uses the SawsAll to cut out another slice
of palm tree roots.

For the next two+ hours, we shoveled, pulled, and finally used a SawsAll to cut out huge chunks of root ball.  That was the only way that we could get the roots out of the ground.

This is a solid mass of roots about the size of
a piece of typing paper.

I kept wishing for something to sift the thousands of roots and seeds out of the dirt, but I did not want to sacrifice one of my good sieves from the kitchen.  Then I spotted just the perfect sieve: an old patio table with a lattice top.  The holes were big enough to let the dirt fall through, but small enough to filter out the worst of the root fragments, stones, and acorn-sized seeds.

The sifted dirt leaves a small pile of debris that
will go into the trash.

Note the comfortable "chair" on which I sit!
Both my butt and my back were killing me
by the time I finished.

By noon, we both were exhausted, but the major work of the day was finished.  The garden area is now free of the major roots and stone and lighter since I think I removed at least 2000 seeds!

The picture below from the left-hand board to the house shows the area we cleaned out today that will be the front garden of the house.  I have not decided exactly what plants and shrubs I want to add to the area.  Whatever I choose must give Gladys a little curb appeal and color!

The last picture shows the area to the left of the board that we dug out today, and the mound of dirt that we have to remove tomorrow.  The area to the left of the board will someday be the area into which we add the paver sidewalk.

The dirt to the left of the board will have to be taken
down to the top of the 2 x 4 in the ground.  

So yes, in addition to my loving family and wonderful friends, I am thankful that we had the use of a SawsAll today to finish our "couple of hours" of work this morning.