Blah blah blah

I've got a wiggly chirping baby on my lap, a big bandage on my hand, twigs and dirt in my hair, sweat drying on me, and I feel really good. I've been out repairing the laurels and cypress shrubs that fell on my neighbor's rose bushes during a recent snow storm. I tied my baby on my back for the clipper portion of the job and then set her up with her sisters while I used the saw.

I decided to saw off some big branches that were too heavy to stake up and would otherwise continue to pull the laurels out of the ground. I hate to trim bushes, or even to pull weeds. I prefer to let them go their own way, so the bushes had gotten really big. I'm surprised my neighbor stayed quiet about them for so long.

I started with a little saw and then went with a bigger, sharper saw. As I was dragging a branch I noticed that my hands were covered in blood. My 6-year-old was horrified, but it was just a small overreactive scratch from a rose thorn. Anyway, bleeding and all, I feel really good for having gotten outside today. I plan to finish the job tomorrow, the minimum amount of plant butchering to clear my neighbor's patio. My oldest daughter mentioned that she hates to cut the bushes, too.