I started today by dressing in work clothes and heading into the back yard after breakfast. We have been so busy doing other projects that we have not had much time to once again tackle the ever-present leaves that fill the back yard. Our lawn service people tell us to just let them mulch all of the leaves, but seriously, how many layers of mulch can any yard handle? After a while, we have so much mulch that there is not room for the grass to grow!
I started in the back corner, under the large live oak, since that is where the majority of leaves have fallen. Florida is strange in that our "fall" is in early spring. The older leaves on the trees fall to make room for the new leaves that are just starting to bud from the warm spring temperatures. We have had leaves raining down for several weeks now, but I believe that the majority of those that are going to fall this year have already done so. Now I needed to rake.
I worked for a couple of hours, cleaning out the leaves behind the sheds and under the base of the oak tree. Raking here in Florida is not the same as raking in Wisconsin. Raking in Florida is hard work. In Wisconsin, one can take the rake and with a few swipes pretty much clear an area of grass. Not so with our yard here which has Florida bahai grass in the back. Bahai grass is technically a weed that somewhat simulates the look of grass. It grows on long runners that do an excellent job of snagging fallen leaves, sticks, and the tines of a rake. To extricate the leaves from the tangle of grass takes several digging motions with the rake. Even then, probably 15 - 20 percent of the leaves and debris remain.
After two hours of hard work, I had completed raking about one-sixth of our back yard. However, I filled two huge black yard bags with leaves, sticks, seeds, and other debris. I probably have another 10 - 15 bags to fill.
After I cleaned up the rakes, I took time before lunch to water the flowers in the back yard. That is a task that I will continue to do until we leave Florida for the summer. If I can give the flowers a good chance to establish themselves, they have a chance of surviving the hot weather ahead.
After lunch, Rick and I drove to Home Depot to get a fence panel kit so we could repair the damaged top rail we discovered yesterday while washing the fence. We took the fence kit out to the car and then disassembled it so that we could fit the 8-foot long top panel pieces -- one of which we needed to repair the fence -- into our car. These are the times that we really miss having the truck here. We brought the pieces home safely and took the piece we needed into the back yard.
To repair the fence, Rick moved the panels apart in the middle and used a saw to cut the top rail in two. Since the panels snap into the holes on the poles, both sides gave us a bit of a struggle to get them out. When they finally let Rick win the tug-of-war battle, he threw the two parts into the yard. Then he positioned the new piece in place. One end slipped into the hole on the pole fairly easily, but the other one again gave us trouble. Rick was trying to force the new top piece into the pole while I was trying (not to well) to hold that pole into place. Jobs like this really let me know just how weak I truly am! In the end, though, the second end of the top piece clipped into place. We now have a repaired fence with a little more stability than the old, broken piece offered. I am sure that the neighbors behind us will appreciate not having to look at a broken fence also.
We wedged the remaining fence pieces into the upper rafters in the garage. God help us if we ever really need to get that second long rail piece down again. Then I came into the house to finally shower for the day.
My work clothes are now in the washing machine. I baked some biscuits for tonight, and after I finish this, I will put together a pan of meatballs for dinner also.
Today has been a productive day as far as getting the back yard into some semblance of order. While everything I did today was not what I wanted to do, in the end I am happy that the jobs are completed. I wanted to warp the loom today; perhaps that I something that I actually can complete tomorrow.
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