raking frenzy

I spent six hours working in the yard today. It wasn't raining, so I had to get out there and get however much done that I could. I managed to tidy up the front and one side of the house. If you have ever lived in the northeast you know what I mean when I refer to "heart-attack snow." It's the wet kind, so sloppy and heavy that you go out to shovel your driveway and it pretty much kills you. Well, the pacific northwest has taught me about heart-attack leaves. I had to rake the entire yard and tow away canvas tarp after tarp full of leaden leaves. Then there were all of the millions of tiny sticks and twigs and bits from the windstorm.

looking out from the front porch to the right

and to the center (with the tiny chicken A-frame)

and over to the left

But then I got to play with my toy. Oh, how I love my leaf blower. The leaves are too heavy to blow around, so I use it more to tidy up in the end. And to try to whip all of the little maple helicopters out of the gravel and off into the woods. I must have spent an hour pottering around with that thing. And when I was done the driveway was pristine. The propane delivery man made me jump out of my skin because he appeared behind me when I happened to be blowing next to the propane tank. He laughed and laughed.

you can actually see the driveway!

The porch is finally cleared off again, ready to receive my influx of aviary lumber. Tomorrow morning we're off to the store to buy, among many other things, twenty-eight 2x4x10' s. And 13 plywood sheets of different types. I made out my shopping list tonight for the lumber and some incidentals, stuff that I can't possibly carry by myself. The rest (baling wire, hardware cloth, trim and hardware and roofing materials) I can pick up on my own. But tomorrow Charlie will help me get the really ungainly stuff home. Then I have to build the thing!