Outdoor Chores Completed!

** Update **

Okay, now it's official!

As of today my yard is now 99.5% winterized and put to bed!

Patio furniture stowed, hoses drained and stowed, and took the deck sail down and stowed!

I got my wires crossed thinking this past Monday was the day the town was to pickup the yard waste, however, it's actually next Monday, the 10th. So, my mistake actually worked to my advantage and allowed me to add more bags.

So, I added (8) more leaf bags to the pile, making the total now (44)!

Today, I mowed my entire lawn for the last time this season, making it the 19th time.  What I like to do with the last mowing is to lower the mower deck, so instead of #6, I cut it on #4; nice and short.  Hoping this helps prevent the remaining leaves from getting caught up in the grass and instead make them easier to get blown away.

Here are a couple pics of the freshly mowed side and back lawns.

Also, this year I took a different approach to pruning the (14) tall ornamental grasses I have around the pool and yard.  In years past I would tie them up, then cut each down at the base; (14) easy to move bundles.  However, since I no longer have a way to get these big bulky bundles down to the recycling center, this year I cut then down in handfuls, then cut them up in 6"-8" lengths into the brown yard recycling bags and simply added them to the pile at the end of the driveway.

Not ideal! A lot of work and a lot of time to do it this way but at the end of the day they'll all be gone come Monday, so I'm gonna take it as a win.

I have one planter with a still flowering annual that I couldn't dump out, so this is the .05% remaining to be completely outside winterized.

I ended the day by rearraigning the garage a bit, which then allowed me to pull my car in, where it will be parked out of the elements for the winter months.

Phew, "Calgon take me away"....

Thirty-Six!

(36) is the final number of leaf bags that I jam-packed filled, plus (1) full green landscape barrel, that are all curbside and awaiting pickup today!  

My neighbor across the street spent most of this past weekend out raking and filling leaf bags also, which are curbside for today's pickup!

It's nice having, some, neighbors that take pride in their yards and put in the effort to rake.

I see it as being neighborly; an obligation of sorts, to do my part to clean up my yard of as many leaves as possible. After all it does suck when you do all the work to have a clean yard, only to have the neighbors leaves blow into my yard because they're lazy and can't be bothered to put in the effort. I agree it's hard work and not much fun, however, it's also a necessary evil, and one of many being a homeowner.

You can see in the second picture above, the leaf covered lawn to the right of my across-the-street neighbors, oodles of leaf bags. One windy day could very well blow a majority of those leaves next door, even into my clean yard.

C'mon neighbors keep up!

It's A Never Ending Cycle

As stated in an earlier post, fall cleanup has begun here at the ole homestead, and here's proof -

So far, (24) full and jam-packed leaf bags, curbside awaiting pick up on Monday!

Alas, there's still plenty of leaves yet to fall and oodles to still rake up but I'll chip away at it and rake up what I can between today and Monday.  The more I get up, the more the town will cart off and that much less that I need to pile up in my already full composting area.

Fall Clean Up Has Begun!

Here's a surprise (not), I spent several hours out in the yard yesterday.

It was a beautiful afternoon and perfect weather to start on the ole fall cleanup. The town of Franklin does a yard waste pickup each fall, with mine scheduled for Monday, November 3. I've always taken advantage of this and plan to do so again this year.

So, I started cutting back some of the plants that were killed by a frost we recently had and did some raking with everything being stuffed into big brown paper leaf bags and placed curbside.

There are endless leaves on the ground but still oodles on the trees, so there's still a lot of work coming. I'll chip away at it each day with the goal of filling as many leaf bags as possible by the 3rd.

The other chore I crossed of the fall clean up list was tending to my bird baths -

With water still in them, I added some bleach and let them soak for a while.  I returned with a brush and scrubbed each clean removing the algae, grime, dirt and bird poop that collected over the summer months, see above.

The tops then come off and get stored under cover for the winter.  I've never chanced leaving them out for fear of the water freezing and cracking the tops.  This year, I also plan to scrub the stands and bring them inside also.

There's always something that needs tending to, it's never ending.

And They're Gone!

As touted, the town hired Waste Management crew were here mid-morning on Monday to pick up and remove all 45+ bags of leaves I had at the ready for them.

I was happy to see there were no rips or tears or spillage as they were loaded into the back of the truck and that they're all gone, PHEW!

While I have you let me ask you a question - 

What are your thoughts on neighborly leaf clean up?

Now keep in mind that I'm a bit anal generally speaking and have a wee bit of OCD too but I tirelessly raked and raked and raked and bagged and bagged and bagged, not too mention all the leaves that I also sucked up into my mower and emptied in the back corner of my lot.   So, what are your thoughts on your neighbors leaf clean up responsibilities?

The neighbors on either side of me are clearly NOT outside yard working people and seem just fine with letting even the basic upkeep go undone, which is an entirely different rant of mine.  For example, why would anyone purchase a home for $700k and then neglect basic outside upkeep?  I'll never understand this but I digress.

It's frustrating to have neighbors who do not rake up the leaves in their yard.  It's not just a poor reflection on them, in my opinion, but ultimately their laziness affects me, and the other abutting diligent neighbors, since the winds will inevitably redistribute "their" leaves onto our upkept properties.

When I see my good neighbors across the street busting their arses to rake and bag the leaves, it motivates me to want to do the same. I want to be courteous to them and their efforts, so that "my" leaves don't end up blowing into their yards.

However, sadly and frustratingly, both the neighbors on each side of me are fine leaving "their" leaves unraked.

Again, your thoughts?

See You In The Spring

This pretty much sums up this falls leaf season and all the raking I've done.

It's now official official, my outside yard work and chores are complete!

I spent a couple hours yesterday taking care of the few remaining winter prep tasks - turned off the spigots, drained and put on their Styrofoam covers, drained the hose and put away (it's been so dry I had to take out of storage to water my winter rye the last couple of weeks), brought my two front yard Adirondack chairs into the garage and the coup de grâce, which is the final task I do, installed the reflective driveway markers along both sides of my driveway.

Inside projects only till spring, so time to hunker down!

It Was A Good Day!

Another outstanding day yesterday!

So, I took advantage and spent a couple most of it in the yard.

My bags of leaves is growing and now stands at (46) and as you can see in the picture below, the maple tree is still loaded with leave yet to fall, UGH, so it's very likely there will be more.  Scheduled leaf bag pick up is scheduled for this Monday, 11-14, which will be the last day I pick up a leaf rake for a long while!

After raking I mowed my entire yard one last time, then washed my ride mower and let it dry in the sun.  Once dried, I stowed it in the back corner of my garage, then shuffled some other items around, e.g. wheelbarrow, lawn spreader, etc., so I can now park my car IN the garage.

A couple items left to do before I'm officially done with outside chores and I'll take care of those when the weather officially returns back to seasonal.

The day ended with another nice sunset off my back deck -

Cooked and had myself shaved steak with peppers from my garden, onions and mushrooms, and some sweet potato fries, which was washed down with a couple glasses of merlot.

#Blessed

Just Being A Homebody

This should surprise no one but I spent this past weekend at home and in the yard, taking care of this, that and the other things.

Saturday, I lowered the deck on my ride mower for the final cutting of the season.  I like to cut it short for the winter, plus being short the leaves don't get snagged in it as much and blow on by.  I did a first coat of painting on a new inside project I started, to be revealed here later.  Ended the day with a relaxing soak in the hot tub!

Sunday, I changed my flags, from Halloween to Thanksgiving -

Moving the clocks back an hour had me up at my regular time even though the clock displayed 4AM.  Once daylight arrived, and even though a brisk 38ish degrees, I made my way outside to do some more raking!

Replenished with a plethora of leaf bags I tackled the sidewalk side of things and filled up (10) more bags and rest assured that they're FULL!

My new full leaf bag total stands at a whopping (41)!

Okay, so before heading out to rake on Sunday morning, I spent about an hour readying my crockpot with the fix'ns for beef stew.  Loaded with tender beef, garlic, onions, mushrooms, carrots, green beans, peas and potatoes.  I'm not a braggard but I gotta say, I nailed it! Nice and thick, as it should be, and super tasty!  It was ready by half time of the Patriots games and went well with a glass or two, okay half a bottle of Merlot, with plenty of left overs for a couple days AND I froze some for a later time.

#Blessed

Bag It!

Yesterday was a beautiful day!  Sunny, not a cloud in the sky and near 80 degrees.  A perfect day to spend in the yard and banging out some raking, UGH!

Clearly, I didn't think things through back in 2002 when I planted these maple trees. At the time they were no bigger around than ones wrists but fast forward 22 years and they're monsters now.  With their size comes leaves, seemingly endless amounts of leaves!

As you can see in the pics below the ground is covered, deep too, AND there's equally as many still to fall, ALAS!  Keep in mind that this is just one section of my property, my front lawn has just as many leaves, if not more, so I still have a lot of raking to do...

Before raking -

After raking -

(29) leaf bags jam packed full -

The town does leaf pickup one time in the fall, which is scheduled for me on Monday, November 11, so right around the corner, which is really what's driving me to get as much raked and bagged as possible before pickup day.

Which reminds me, need to sign off now and make a BJs run to purchase more bags, as I'm all out.

So, I Sowed Not Sewed, So There!

You can't tell from these pictures but I planted my Winter Rye yesterday.

I sow it like I'm feeding chickens, just toss it around, then lightly rake followed by a good watering and now we wait.

Wanted to take advantage of the nice weather we've been having, so the rye can get established.

Doesn't look like much but I will post some follow up pics once it starts to grown and then again in the spring when it really takes off.

Heigh-Ho, Heigh-Ho, Heigh-Ho

I spent yesterday afternoon in the yard, taking care of chores.

I did a bit of tree limb pruning, raking and mowing!

Although, the lawn is brown and beat up in spots from the lack of rain we've had, I still like how it looks when it's freshly cut.  Especially now with the leaves falling it doesn't stay clean for very long.  Since we've had our for frost, the leaves will begin to turn and start dropping even faster.

I piled the trailer even higher with the limbs I cut!  It's a good full load now, tied down and ready to be taken to the town recycle center -

For those keeping track, like me but of course, this was the 20th lawn cutting of the season!

** UPDATE: ** We took the trailer to the town recycle center this afternoon and ALL was dumped; it's gone!

Fall Perennial Cut Backs and Prunings

My fall yard clean up is well underway with the majority of the plant cut backs completed.

All my ornamental grasses, which I keep adding to each year, have all been cut back.  I also prune back all my butterfly bushes.  Not all the way, rather about a third, so they don't get to long an squirrely.

All the cuttings have been loaded in the trailer, see pic below, which will go to the town recycle center shortly -

 

I soaked with bleach and scrubbed good my (3) bird baths and flipped them over for the winter.

Really all that's left to do is rake and rake and rake, as the leaves continue to fall.

It's a process I have down to a routine.

Kousa Fall Care

Back in early summer I transplanted (3) Kousa dogwood trees along my back property line.  These dudes grew from seed beneath one of my larger Kousa trees and were quite tall, as you can see below. Hoping these dude take off and provide a little privacy in that back area.

I fertilized and hand watered them all summer long and they're all doing good.

In preparation for any snow this winter I staked them and tied them snug.  I'm hoping this will prevent them from breaking under any heavy wet snow we may get.  I'll loose the ropes in the spring, once safe from any further snow.

Even Trixie approves -

Looking good!

Almost Winter Rye Planting Time

I took a ride the other morning to the Ventura Grain Co, Inc. feed store in Taunton, MA to pick up my winter rye.

I used to buy this right here in Franklin at the Agway but sadly the store went out of business and closed earlier this year.

The nice thing about the Agway, besides be just a couple miles up town, was that you could scoop and fill your own bag with the amount you wanted.  I always did 3-pounds, which was more than enough for me, The smallest bag that Ventura Grain had was a 5-pound bag, so I'll have extra and perhaps it'll last till next fall.

It's still a little too early to plant now but soon, as the evening temps have been dipping into the upper 40's, brrr....

Gather Your Nuts!

I bought a new tool/toy, the Weasel Nut Gatherer, and it is amazing!

For years I've been picking the acorns in my front yard up by hand and raking them throughout the fall, my darn OCD!  But no more, no sir!

This tool, in my opinion, is one of the greatest inventions ever created.  Simply roll it over the acorns with a little pressure and they pop right into the cylinder and emptying it just as easy. 

I bought the medium size option, which is perfect for acorns.  However, I will tell you that it doesn't pick up the acorn caps too well but those typically get sucked up with the mower. Also, I found that it needs to be emptied sooner rather than later, as some of the captured acorns tend to pop out when you try to pick up too many but not a show stopper at all.  The long handle is perfect, no more pending and sore back and no more crawling around the front yard.  Fairly certain the neighbors wonder about me...

Here she is, just arrived -

Click this link here to see a short video I took using it for the first time, a test run - How Does It Work

Here is about a 7-gallon bucket just about full of acorns that I picked up using this awesome toy for the first time and it only took about 30-minutes -

Thank you to the woman I saw using one of these on my walk, who was more than happy to step aside for 10-minutes and let me use/test her Weasel.  I placed my order immediately after my walk and it was here the next day.

This is a game changer!

Leaf Thief?!

While on a conference call the other afternoon, I noticed a car straddling the sidewalk in front of my mailbox, so I watched to see what he was up to.

Much to my surprise an elderly man was taking the big brown leaf bags I had raked on Saturday, nine of them, and loading them into his 4-door sedan; in the rear, in the backseat, even in the front passenger seat too!  God love him, he got all nine crammed in there and all doors shut.

Of course my OCD was bouncing off the charts, as I was thinking about the mess being created inside the car.  The bottoms of the bags being wet from sitting on the ground, how I overpacked the bags and when placed in any position other than straight up "stuff" would fall out, dirt and dust, ICK!

My initial thought was this dude has a screw loose, what in the world is he doing and what does he want with those?  But them it dawned on me, that back in the day when I was a youte, my dad did the same thing only grander.  He would hook up the trailer, see below actual trailer, to the old station wagon and we'd drive around the neighborhood picking up leaf bags too! Back then, we'd knock on the door and ask the homeowners if we could have them first, then load them into the trailer.

My dad would use the leaves in the garden and the compost pile. One of his gardens was in a low spot that would often flood when the spring thaw would start.  I guess my dad thought the leaves would help prevent the soil from washing away when flooded.  I can't say it wasn't weird back then, so I will give the elderly man a pass, as I'm sure he has a valid reason, if only in his mind or perhaps he's kin somewhere in the ole Frye family tree...

Thanks for the walk down memory lane, as odd as the subject is!

#Blessed

Timberrrrrr

It's that time of the year again, so this happened.  Another fall chore completed -

My ornamental grasses did just ok this past season.  They didn't get as big and full as in years past.  The three pictured here were the biggest, so I used a similar method to cut them back.  The last couple of years I would tie each plant nice and tight, then I'd use my hedge trimmer to lop them off.

This year, instead of using the hedge trimmer, I used my hand pruners. More work but my OCD drove me to it, HAHA!  I laid the twine out on the lawn then cut handfuls at a time, laying each across the twine until the clump was all cut back.  When done, I tied the bundles up nice and neat for easy moving and removal.

The other clumps of grasses I have were small enough that I used the hand pruners again but instead of bundling, I cut them up into smaller pieces to fit into my landscape barrel.  More work for me but cleaner and a tad easier to manage.

Kudos to my neighbor who trailers my yard waste to the town recycle center.  I'm fortunate and very appreciative that he's willing to cart my waste away.

Fall Cleanup - Update

Here is an update to my October 3 posting labeled "Fall Cleanup"

This is the end result after cutting my ornamental grasses down.  However, this year instead of using the chainsaw I used my electric hedge clippers, which turned out to be just as effective.

All tied nice and neatly to minimize the mess, both when cutting back and when carting the clippings to the driveway.  Easy peasy now to pickup and remove.

Fall Haircuts

After cutting my lawn I spent this past Saturday afternoon doing some pruning.  It's a regular fall chore that I've been doing for years, this year no different.

I like to trim my weeping cherry trees so they have a more upside down umbrella look.  Otherwise they get all squirrely with new limbs shooting up and out, which defeats the "weeping" looking.

Below is a Kouda Dogwood tree, which I planted when Emilie was born.  Hindsight being what it is, I should have planted it 3 or 4 feet to the right, as it's beneath the electric wire that runs to the house.  I trimmed this tree too, so it's clear of the wire but also I like them short and stout versus tall and lanky.

Before pic taken during the end of our hot humid summer.  The colored leaves are not the onset of Fall, rather stress from lack of water. Hoping it bounces back fine next spring

 - 

After pruning the top - 

Onto the next fall clean up project...

Doing More Cleaning & Purging!

Since we were up in the attic pulling down Christmas decoration, we decided to bring down "other" items as well - numerous boxes.  

Sorted through the non-Christmas items; saved what needed saving, tossed what needed tossing and selling (sold) what needed selling.  The bellow pictures are two examples.  Both items have been up in our attic for well over 15 years now, taking up space and not being used or enjoyed.

 

100+ circa 1980s cassette tapes -

75+ old soda bottles circa 40s, 50s and 60s -

Interesting to go through them and all but in the end they had to go. 

Gone!