Here in the rurals of Oregon, we have lots and lots of trees. No duh, huh? Trees are nice I love trees, the five acres we live on is very treed. However, there are also drawbacks to trees. For instance trees die then they have to be cut down and cut up into little chunks that will fit into the wood stove, then they must be packed to the wood shed and stacked neatly so the wood will dry out and can be burned to heat the house. Yep thats right here in Oregon we sometimes still use wood to heat with, especially if your as poor as we are right now!
The other draw back to trees is that some types of trees shed thier leaves in the fall. Now that creates a very pretty phenomenon called the changing of the leaves wwhich is just beautiful.
AND THEN THEY FALL! Hence the name for this time of year, fall. Thats when a guy like myself usually becomes intimately aquainted with the implement of pain that you see in the photo.
Now I know it's not fall, fall would be the easiest time to rake those dreaded fallen leaves. But no, not me, oh no, I'm too stupid to rake up my leaves in the fall before they get all soggy and heavy.
If you are the industrious type and get to your leaves actually in the fall while they're still nice and dry and light you may use the nifty implement in the photo on the right.
Ms. Lea, my beloved wife, doesn't like leaf blowers, as they are noisy and shatter the silence, making it impossible to hear the sigh of the wind though the trees. On principle I firmly agree with her, in practice? Sorry, nope it's just too much of a pain to rake.
In truth it wasn't my intention to rake or blow at all. I mean here we are ten miles out in the woods, it's all natural landscape, right? Wrong! You see, I got a letter from the county, providing my with all sorts of rules for rural living, among them, any combustable items, wood, tall grass, weeds, and yes leaves must be kept 200 feet from any building on the property. It's a fire thing!
SO. Guess what I did all day, yep, got it in one, raked. I was so industrious that I managed to get 50 feet from one building. One building, one building out of four. By the time I get it all done it'll be time to start all over again. bummer!!!!