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Oct. 10th, 2009 06:28 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mereilinI've been up for an hour and it's still not light out. I have, however, stopped coughing.
Unfortunately I can't go back to bed, because I have to have both kids at the studio (25 minutes away) for an 8:00 rehearsal. Naturally they're not awake yet; I can barely wake them up in time to catch the 8:00 school bus at the corner (maybe 200 feet away).
This cough is such a miserable thing. I don't really have any other symptoms, although I'm starting to feel really crappy from lack of sleep. And like a fool I spent all day yesterday with my cousin, clearing an overgrown section of the front yard in a chilly drizzle.
To be fair, it needed to be done. It's needed to be done for nigh on five years now, and the rest of the yard is about three years behind it in terms of general neglect. Well, we do keep the grass cut for the most part, but when enough weeds spring up quickly enough to make mowing impossible, we put that section off until one of us has the time, tools and motivation (in that order) to deal with it.
This year has been really rainy, so there were fewer opportunities when circumstances aligned to deal with the lawnmower. Also because of all the rain, all sorts of new and invasive things have cropped up, most notably a magnificent stand of staghorn sumac. Although I think it's fairly pretty, it has completely overtaken my poor lilacs, and so it must die.
But it will be back. In one season it has surpassed 10 years' worth of lilac growth.
I don't know how much I can get to before we're buried in snow. It took the better part of yesterday for the two of us to clear maybe 50 square feet. Out of almost a quarter acre.
And then there's the matter of what to do with all of that crap once we cut it down. Somehow in a pile it seems much larger than when it was growing. I can't even burn it because I can't tell what's poison ivy and what's not once we get down to the maze of roots. It wouldn't be practical anyway because our yard is too small to have the required distance from fire to surrounding buildings, so it would all have to be shoved into an outdoor fireplace with a screen.
Another half hour composing this and the sun's still not out. Ugh. Maybe I'll feel better after a shower.
Unfortunately I can't go back to bed, because I have to have both kids at the studio (25 minutes away) for an 8:00 rehearsal. Naturally they're not awake yet; I can barely wake them up in time to catch the 8:00 school bus at the corner (maybe 200 feet away).
This cough is such a miserable thing. I don't really have any other symptoms, although I'm starting to feel really crappy from lack of sleep. And like a fool I spent all day yesterday with my cousin, clearing an overgrown section of the front yard in a chilly drizzle.
To be fair, it needed to be done. It's needed to be done for nigh on five years now, and the rest of the yard is about three years behind it in terms of general neglect. Well, we do keep the grass cut for the most part, but when enough weeds spring up quickly enough to make mowing impossible, we put that section off until one of us has the time, tools and motivation (in that order) to deal with it.
This year has been really rainy, so there were fewer opportunities when circumstances aligned to deal with the lawnmower. Also because of all the rain, all sorts of new and invasive things have cropped up, most notably a magnificent stand of staghorn sumac. Although I think it's fairly pretty, it has completely overtaken my poor lilacs, and so it must die.
But it will be back. In one season it has surpassed 10 years' worth of lilac growth.
I don't know how much I can get to before we're buried in snow. It took the better part of yesterday for the two of us to clear maybe 50 square feet. Out of almost a quarter acre.
And then there's the matter of what to do with all of that crap once we cut it down. Somehow in a pile it seems much larger than when it was growing. I can't even burn it because I can't tell what's poison ivy and what's not once we get down to the maze of roots. It wouldn't be practical anyway because our yard is too small to have the required distance from fire to surrounding buildings, so it would all have to be shoved into an outdoor fireplace with a screen.
Another half hour composing this and the sun's still not out. Ugh. Maybe I'll feel better after a shower.
