Cleaning up the yard

Andrew has been working really hard on our yard. We had to purchase different types of clippers, a rake, a leaf blower, and gloves to start this project. We have beautiful trees that take over most of our backyard, which is wonderful in the summer for shade...but now that it's fall, there are several inches of leaves EVERYWHERE!! Andrew took it upon himself to trim the Japanese Maple that sits beside our driveway. Trimming that tree took a certain pair of clippers, and then trimming the hedges beside our house (that are horrible) also needed different clippers. The hedges beside our house start out very large beside the road and they taper down as get to the back of the house. Andrew had his work cut (pun intended) out for him. He did a very good job at not making our house look like it belonged in the trailer park.

Raking the leaves is another issue entirely. Portia has made herself at home in our backyard and marked her territory by digging "booby traps" in the yard. The trees then cover these traps with their leaves. The holes might be a foot deep, but you won't see it until your ankle has completely twisted or you have stumbled over yourself in the yard. I think that Portia and the trees have a conspiracy against us. The leaves have to be moved, not only for the grass to grow but for our safety as well. The leaves are so bad that you can't even see the walkway or the steps to take the dog out at night.

During the process of working on our yard, Andrew was able to meet our neighbor on our left side. We have lived here three months and we hadn't even seen her outside to introduce ourselves. It turns out that she has been in China! I haven't been able to meet her yet but I'm sure that she has plenty of good stories.


Over this weekend, I watched the movie UP with some of my clients. It was the sweetest animated movie that I have seen in a while. I loved it! I loved it so much that I made Andrew watch it with my that same day. I highly recommend it to anyone, but get your tissues out. My children (clients) didn't understand why Ms. Dana was crying,haha.