After thinking how we could pull out the remaining bush, and coming up with all sorts of strange approaches, we got down to work.
Jean dug and cut roots.
I came home and tried using a pole for a lever, with a little success.
Then I saw the old skateboard rail, and we tied it on with a chain, strapped on the pole and pulled and pushed.
Jean cut more roots away, and finally
We pulled it out, no diesel, no 4WD, no big truck, just armstrong.
And it looks great!
Now we start working on the grass
We talked to Roy and he came over with his big truck.
We hooked up the chain and started pulling
Not much happened.
So we called Todd, with a bigger truck.
Dodge Ram 3500 Deisel, Big!
He made short work of two of the stumps.
And left a big hole, but we were so grateful!!
Our Hero
He couldn’t pull out the center one, so we’ll have to dig some.
All that is left, the center one
We decided to send the bushes on their way, what a job!
Before, growing for a zillion years until it was taking over the neighborhood
We started attacking.
Snip, Snip, what a chore!
We worked at it, asked someone if they were interested in being paid to take them all out, but Jean started doing some and kept doing more.
After Jean went to work. She Rocks! A few days into it.
We put out more bags than we were supposed to.
The trash man was nice and took them all.
So we decided to work on digging out the stumps.
A drain shovel, narrow and efficient
The awesome Utility Bar - 5 feet of root hacking
We had slow going so we tried getting it out with fancier methods.
Wrap a chain around the trunk, hope it doesn't fly off!
I finally used the strap Jean gave me for Christmas.
Tie down winch applies tension
I tried to pull it out, but it takes more horses!
Using the power of a pully
The aspen tree provided a solid anchor.
All to no avail, it didn’t come out.
We got some chains.
Two 12 foot chains, and a 9 foot chain, should reach to the sidewalk.
But we cut down the trunks and hopefully we’ll get a friend to hook up his truck and yank them out.
Jean cuts the last limb.
It's a Happy Day!
The new look
I hope he doesn’t get too high! Stretching….
Loves to read it seems.
And he got it!
It seemed like time to check out the clearance stuff and look! a new hat!
We were helping Alicia and had little JJ plug in the humidifer (he loves to plug in anything), and he turned it on. Then Jean put him down for a nap. I went to get him a while later and was surprised by what I saw. He didn’t seem to think anything was strange.
note to self, check to see if the humidifer is set to low before you leave the room.
we welcomed home Cameron and his parents.
They even let us hold him.
What a time for Thanksgiving!
Our latest bundle of joy-
Cameron Spencer Schick
Weight – 9 lb 13 oz
19 1/2 inches long
Born at 3:30 pm November 23, 2009, Utah Valley Hospital, where his mother and grandmother were born.
Cameron 6 hours after arrival
Alicia had a fairly normal labor of a few hours and an uncomplicated delivery. What a blessing! She’s holding up very well. Dustin did great cheering her on.
Alica didn't want her picture taken, so this may disappear
All that healthy eating and triathalons paid off.
We came over to take care of JJ, what a dynamo! Hat’s off to any who care for little bundles of energy!
Next we wnet off to the County Health to get the second phase of JJ’s flu shot. That was interesting.
The place was well organized, and we didn’t have to wait in any lines. I got permission to take a picture of the shot, and it happened so fast that I missed it.
Ow! He didn’t cry for long.
Later JJ went for a walk with Grandpa, his leg didn’t bother him. We found an interesting street sign.
We decided to fill in a couple of corners in the basement. You never know if a little hole leads outside, and provides entrance to unsavory characters. I went to Home Depot and had to choose between getting an 80 pound bag of ready- mix for $4 or a small bucket for $7. The Bucket won. We decided to document it. First the hole in the corner:
The bucket of concrete mix. High priced, but so convenient. I didn’t get a hernia lugging it around.
Being a small job, we used our smallest wheelbarrow to mix up the concrete.
Carefully measure the right amount of water, oh wait, we just poured in some more, like it was brownies in a bag.
Then squished the bag, until it was all mixed up. We cut the corner off and just like frosting a cake, I squeezed a bunch into the hole and smoothed it out. When we had enough in the the hole, I just threw the rest away, including the small wheelbarrow (ziploc bag). What ease! Smoothing out the concrete with a putty knife finished the job. Now it looks like this.
Repeating for the other hole with a new bag, but this one didn’t flow like the first. Now we feel secure and safe. Cleanup was so easy. Now we don’t have an opened paper bag of cement spreading grit around.
