After selling our home, I have been living with my youngest son, Sam, in an extra bedroom. His in-laws are carpenters in California who came to Oregon to convert his garage for a place for me to live. We, (Sam, I and some help) moved all the things they had “stored” in their garage into a Tuff-Shed we had built on their property. They have finished their work on the garage now and have returned to California.
I have been with Sam about a month and have kept busy.
I have a plot selected on the south side of his house and covered it with cardboard to kill the grass so I can dig it up in the spring for a garden space.
To get ready for the carpenters, I helped him empty his garage so it could be converted into a room for me to live in. We found two shelves in the garage we had to remove. They were old 2×12’s 20 feet long. Each were very heavy and I expect hard as nails. I'll have to cut them to the length of what I can dig up for the garden borders. I will need some soil to raise the ground level
Sam is not an outdoor type person with yard work. He does mow the grass, but leaves the pine cones on the ground. I have raked up the pine needles and pine cones and thought of running them through a wood chipper but the advertisement for the chippers say "they don't work on pine cones." So my compost pile is about 6 feet wide by 7 feet long and 3 feet high. I will try to turn it some but I do hope it starts composting before winter sets in. Oh, some pine cones are still falling at irregular times that I add to the pile as well as the new fallen needles. I watered it well and then added some bark chips that were growing gray mushrooms. Maybe that will be some "compost starter."
I have been trying to clean the fence line of dead and dying arborvitae trees with the green ivy growing on both of them. The nursery said nothing much works to kill the ivy, just keep pulling it out. The arborvitae trees had been pruned a fence height (about 5 feet) but many had started sprouts below the fence height and these are now up to 18 feet tall (my guess). These should have all been pruned and shaped before now. They and the ivy just have to go.
Some of the arborvitae trees are loose in the ground and can be pulled out with some effort. The others, I was just going to cut them close to the ground and let their roots decay. This last week I got Sam’s electric chain saw out and was going to get too work on some of them. I hadn’t but as I held it in front of me, where I could read it, it said, “Do not use this saw if you have a pacemaker.” Well, guess what?” I have a real live pacemaker in me good for another 4 or so years. It must be the magnets in the motor that would or could mess with the pacemaker.
PRAY FOR ME.
I thought about buying a chain saw but after I had got my work done, what would I do with it? I will just rent one when I am ready for it.
Progress for my work is slowing down somewhat. The fall rains have started here in Oregon so I have to choose when I work outside. I don’t have any “rain gear” to wear while I work outside although, while working (arranging) things in a small 3×5 foot garden shed, I did find two unopened clear plastic rain suits. I don’t know if they are pliable now or stiff and ready to crack. I will check them before I buy anything for the rain. It has started here. It somehow directs my work schedule. If it has rained in the night, I don’t start outside as early. But maybe it is the sun. It is not getting up as early now that it is late October and November starts tomorrow. In the daytime, I get more drink breaks and rest breaks. I don’t have to keep working when the sprinkles start. I can rest, get a drink and even just set and play a coloring game on my phone. Carol got me started with it. She liked it and had me download it. Games can give me a relaxed feeling but when my mind remind me I should be doing something else, it gives me troubling thoughts. “I should be doing something else.”
You know, I just got a phone call from Hawaii. No, it wasn’t a “crank call.” It was Sam, checking in on me. It is about 8:30 here and about 5:30 there.
I was writing some of these thoughts to Al Christi earlier today and said, “maybe I'll have to write this up and post it on my stubstack.com.” I guess I should stop and get it posted.
8:30 PM 10/31/2024
Larry E. Whittington
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Glad you read the warning on the electric saw - not to use it if you have a pacemaker. I have a chain saw and will be glad to give you a hand. I also have a little trailer to haul the brush away.
I hear you about slowing down with the outdoor work when it's cold and rainy. Remember - 'Oregonians don't tan - they rust'.