A huge project I had on my list was to get brush piles cleaned up and trees trimmed. I needed to do this so I can put up a fence in the back yard. The dogs will love to be outside off leash. We have wildlife to entertain them for hours. However, the brush piles are in the way of where I want the fence. There are scrubby trees that need to be cleared as well.
Upon a neighbor’s recommendation, I called a guy who came out the next day for an estimate. His price was right and his timing was better. He and his crew could clean up the large piles of brush the seller left at the edges of the property. Even better, he could use a chipper and give me mulch. I had two very large trees that needed to come down as well. Both had been damaged by storms and would cause more damage if they fell toward the house. They could leave the felled trees in the woods behind my house to decompose.
The crew showed up the next day as I was running off to feed horses. They had their marching orders and while I wanted to stick around to watch them take the big trees down, I had to go and hoped they would still be working when I got back. I returned a could hours later and they were finishing up. By that I mean packing up gear. I was astonished! The brush piles were gone but they discovered some things hidden underneath. PAINT! Someone left paint cans, mostly full, under the brush. There is also leftover paint in the side yard in the trees so I was not expecting more. Neither were the tree guys so they ran over them with their equipment. White paint everywhere! There was part of an old broken push mower or plow left in the yard that they found in another pile. I think they found it there. They cleared an area for me to maybe get some use out of the cement table left there. The bench seats were crumbling though.
Back in the woods there was also a flipped over shed. When I closed on the house, the seller said he didn’t know who the owner of the upside down shed was. He said that he was not even sure whose property it was on. My contractor and brother-in-law flipped the shed right side up. When I met the neighbor whose property is close the that shed, I asked about it. I didn’t want to make anyone mad messing with their stuff. Not the best way to make friends. He told me the shed had belonged to the previous owner and was blown over the same time the trees were damaged last July. He also said there was a pile of junk still out there that had been in the shed. I went to have a look at the junk pile. So many VHS tapes, Christmas decorations, extension cords, broken electrical equipment (I guess broken because they have been out in the elements for several months), a mirror that looks like it has bullet indentations in it and so much more.
The only reason I can think that they were ambiguous about the shed is so they didn’t have to clean up the junk that was in it. I know they are busy hard working folks with kids. So now I need to clean up the leftovers. I did give all the bakeware that they forgot in the oven drawer to the neighbor who is still in touch to pass back to them. Maybe I should just ask for $35 to cover the dump fee. This reminds me of the three huge tube TVs at my Texas property that washed down the creek while I lived there. It cost $50 (and the help of a neighbor with a tractor) to get rid of those at the dump. I just didn’t need more work here but at least it will help with making the property my creation.
Getting some more freelance photo work would help right now. I’d like to get a shed for the back yard to store Christmas decorations and other things that I don’t need in the house but want to hold onto for now. After the shed will come the fence. I can’t figure out which style though. I know there was a time when chain link was considered low brow but I like the way the black chain link looks and you can still talk to neighbors and the dogs can see what is going on. I’d still be able to have the pretty view into the woods as well. A privacy fence needs more maintenance but would keep the dogs from barking at everything they saw. Privacy fences also seem antisocial. It’s not like I am having nekkid hot tub parties that I don’t want people to know about. Then there are the taller iron ones that you can see through but I feel might be on the pricey side of things. It’s a good thing I am short on funds so I won’t be making any rash decisions.
We ran into a deer at 5am this morning when I took the dogs out. It bounded up the street and thankfully Alice didn’t chase it further than the property line. That answers my question about deer eating flowers and shrubs in the yard.
Nell Carroll Photography 