The front yard has a gentle downward slope (as many Portland homes do), and I hate it. The plan is to build a retaining wall that we can then fill in with dirt and plants. We went out to take measurements last week and suddenly remembered the large stump that we inherited. Hmmm... Not knowing what kind of tree it had been, we didn't know how deep or aggressive the roots might be. We went at it with some shovels until a neighbor came by shaking his head knowingly. "You won't get that out", he said. "It was a huge holly and I cut it down." Why anyone would do that is beyond me. He suggested that we call his friend who has a stump chipper who might take care of it for $100 or so. We've been sleeping on it. It is in a corner of the yard where the wall would need to go. So, I bought Doug a Sawzall for his birthday and I think we might just go crazy on that old stump ourselves!
I have found it very frustrating that everything we want to do with our property seems to require that we do something ELSE first. Wagh! Wagh! That is the cry of the new home owner.
4 comments:
Dana, a few sticks of dynamite might do he trick there.Glad to hear that you are settling in. ur
Keep on going, you! So glad you fixed that stump and told it what's what.
Shawn wants a sawsall too, and has birthday coming up. A bit afraid of what he might do with it though. It's not that he's not skilled, more that he likes to take little things, (like a drippy kitchen pipe) and turn it into all the cabinets ripped out, tile pulled up, huge sections of the house unlivable. Yikes!
LOve to see pics of the place. Glad to hear you're Portland homesteading. We all are in our little opposite corners of the country. Literally!
~Sub-trop Di
p.s. Thought of you quite a bit in Normany (Basse)!
Diana! So nice to hear of your amazing stint in Normandy! Are you still there? If so, I would most definately wait to invest in the sawzall til back in the states. Alas, it did not take care of the stump which is too thick. It is however useful for metals such as chain link and for trimming hedges and tree limbs. I imagine it's like valium for men. Just comforting to know they have it. Considering Shawns tendencies, you may want him to sign a disclaimer!
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