The Morning After

It's not over until the fat lady sings, and I'm not singing until it's over. The bottle of wine I was saving to drink after Brodie is neutered - it's now available to drink in celebration of the removal of the last tree. Something broke in the machinery, so the guys had to quit for the day to come back in a couple of weeks to finish. As it is, when I look toward my back yard through the gate, I see light and not a cave anymore. As it turns out - those are not even Arborvitae. They are pyramidal Cypress trees packed into a row back there. I pulled up most of the ivy and Nate cut back the bushes and blackberries. More to come, before I can drink that wine.

I took all 3 pets to the free vet clinic today. Initially, I found the clinic while desperately searching for a solution to Brodie's need to pee repeatedly on the same spot on the floor. I spent the first 3 weeks he was here housebreaking this dog and come Spring, he started marking the hallway in Zach's end of the house. I built a barricade out of chairs and barstools and eventually, he was happy with marking in front of the barricade. Both spots share the curious fact that they are also located over the seam of my house (it's a double-wide). Sometimes, he poops there, but even when I have taken him outside many times and even on outings, he comes back and leaves a puddle in his favorite spot.



So, we went to the free vet, got shots all round on the house, worming, flea meds, treatment for Brodie's yeasty ears and rabies certificates for the county for both dogs. The neutering certificate never happened because he needs a blood test to determine if he's neutered or intact. The vet didn't know what to say because she could not tell if he's neutered, intact or has balls that never dropped. She thought he had some physical characteristics and behavior that seemed somewhat like an intact dog, yet he's not aggressive and is so sweet and funny. I am thinking that this may be a wake-up call - maybe it's time to try walking both dogs for real instead of pretending like they get walked at all. When I look at all the great things that have happened to me recently in a short period of time, I think I can afford to take time for myself and get some exercise and stop killing myself slowly while I spend virtually all my time looking for solutions to my financially disastrous life.

On the one hand -
1- I'm still behind in my utilities - garbage pickup stopped last week and I'm always late with Comcast. I still have other past-due bills that can't be lumped in with all my old consumer debt - things that must be paid ASAP.

2- Still have years of back tax returns that need to be filed and possibly a year or 2 out of that where actual tax is owed. Add that to my mountain of consumer debt that I can't pay. I still need a minimum of $800 to pay my lawyer to get that solution rolling for me and that is not his entire bill.

3- My car has had very little work done on it the whole 9 years I have owned it and I am incredibly lucky that it is still running. Who knows how much money I need to bring it up to snuff. It is an amazing car, needing tires, tranny work, some kind of work on the electrical and no doubt something is wrong about which I have no possible clue.

4- My house needs a lot of maintenance and remodeling work, just because that's what houses need. I've been waiting to finish painting the living room until Brodie is done peeing in the house, so I can finish by laying down the new carpet when I"m done. I never have time for things like this, because I'm always working to see if I can bring in some income.

On the other hand -
1- I have recently found 2 new sources of income - both of them from selling my baskets. These sales channels come with no promises and the income is uncertain and undetermined, but so far, both have proven very promising from the start.

2- someone paid a year's worth of property tax for my house, so I don't have to worry about foreclosure for another 2 years.

3 - all my pets have just received all their health care needs except for the solution to Brodie's peeing in the house and he might just need to be walked . Treating his ear infection might result in a dog who is more capable of hearing and responding to commands. License tags will be purchased very soon as the budget allows.

4 - Have already received at least half of the badly needed tree work in my back yard. What has been done has been far beyond my expectations. When the work is done in a couple of weeks, it will definitely be a wild dream come true.

5 - Because of the yard work done - just what has been done so far, I can actually use my yard and start teaching at home. As soon as I get a new canopy for the Farmer's Market, I can use my old one for a patio shelter/cover and have students take classes in August. I should be able to afford a new canopy when the holiday sales come and after I've had about 3 or 4 more days of sales.

I was just able to think of 5 good things that have happened to me and only 3 of the old stresses hanging over my head. At this point, I no longer have reason to be concerned about my landscaping, I have 2 new sources of income and with teaching at home will have a third. My house is not threatened with foreclosure and my pet's health needs and licensing have been addressed. I think I can let go and give myself a break - take time to walk every day. There is still a lot to do, but so much stress has been lifted.

MY EXTREME BACK YARD MAKEOVER BEGINS

Welcome to my back yard. It is so dark back there, that the flash went on as soon as I approached the gate. The former owner of my house was eccentric. Well, so am I, but I would not have planted Arborvitae across the lot/fence line, knowing that they were destined to reach 50 ft or more, and quickly if not tended, aggressively pruned and thinned. If I planted them anywhere there would be only half or less, as they should never be that close together.

Management of the trailer park (excuse me: Mobile Estates) reneged on a promise to cut the trees (for they had become trees rather than shrubbery) when I bought my house. The neighbor directly behind me got a bid of $3,000 just to have them trimmed back and neither of us could even go halves on that. His TV antenna has been broken by the branches creeping across his roof. Branches have reached my roof, swallowing a gorgeous heritage cherry and valuable lace-leaf maple on it's way.



















The ground is covered with a thick layer of tree detritus or humus or whatever you call that special dirt that forms on the floor of a forest. Ivy has grown rampant all over that rich layer and up onto a concrete bench, old yard fixtures and things I can't even identify.


The fence is useless - bent down and full of holes. My dogs can only go out on a leash or tie-out or they will immediately leap the fence to explore. Notice that the neighbor's electric meter box is on my side of the fence. The former owner was not only eccentric, he was territorial, cutting a swath out of the neighbor's yard as he proudly planted his tiny little arborvitae, never to see them reach their full height and eventual removal. When my brother helps me replace the fence with something dog-proof, I'll give that swath of lot back to the neighbor. He's a nice man who doesn't care any more than I do how much back yard he has. I just think it would make more sense. I still have plenty of room.
I had already scraped up a considerable layer of that special dirt, forging a path for the arborist who I'd been told was on his way, when I remembered to get my camera to document this exciting event in my life.

I took 38 pictures and came inside to put them up as I wait. It is almost 3pm and they said they would be here by 1 or 1:30. I have to admit I am very excited - I feel like I'm the recipient of an extreme yard makeover. Dale said Nate will scale the trees one at a time and send pieces down for him to run through the chipper, leaving me with yards and yards of barkdust. Hell, he can do three trees at a time, they're so close together. I know it's threatening to rain and is sprinkling a bit, but nobody has called to say they aren't coming. I've already told all the neighbors. Jim is worried about his gazebo and the neighbor behind said to use his yard anyway necessary to get the job done.
I guess I'll go scrape up some more dirt and dog poop and start a compost pile and if I still need something to do, there's always the weeding out front that needs some roundup.