Friggin bamboo

We ordered the lawn mower (173cc 21" Kohler Rear Bag Rear Propelled Lawn Mower ) today and the end of the bamboo is sooooo very close. After we cut it down and then clean out the bottles, tires, and trash, we basically have to mow it every week for three years. Other effective methods involve a mattock or backhoe. One of those is ruled out by laziness and the other by the slope of the yard.

We were debating tonight if we had clumping bamboo or running bamboo. After mindlessly staring at pictures tonight I have found the answer. If you look in this picture from the State Preservation Office, it is clear that this stand of Bamboo is older than Harris and I are.




If it were running bamboo, the entire neighborhood would be covered by now. While extensive on the lot it by no means covers the entire surface, so it is clumping bamboo. However, we're pretty sure it was added after the period of significance and can be killed.

We hope that we will have it all cut (but not yet dead) after Madeline's nap on Monday.

Before taken from the back corner of the house.


Todayish taken on a spot near the original that was previously covered.

Hack and Slash IRL

Harris and I took advantage of Madeline's nap and the warmer weather today to get some hacking and slashing of bamboo. We also put an advertisement on Craigslist and another on Freecycle to encourage folks to come and get bamboo on their own.

Here's the progress as of today. While there is a slope, it's not THAT much of a slope. The pile is that majestic.


We spent about an hour and a half each over there, so we'll clock this at 3 hours total. We're estimating we have about 3 more total hours of hack and slash remaining. We're then going to rent or borrow a leaf blower once it's dryer and blow all of the leaves into the corner. Hopefully at that point we'll have hauled off all of the bamboo and will be able to mow the hell out of it.



Interesting things found today:
Tires
Bottles
Cups (that strangely match the ones used at the group home next door...)
An eddie bauer bag
another part of the toilet.

Bottles

Guess how many bottles we will find on The Twin of Lizzy !!

Specs:
Lot is .088 acres with a front dimensions of 67.50 feet on Elizabeth St.
Last time NIS cited it was : 8-12-2010 ((Weedy/Junked lot closed by compliance)...right...)

Rules:
Closest without going over wins*
No dumping of new bottles
Guesses must be submitted here in the next little while.

Winner will receive bragging rights re: mad math skillz!! and a surprise!

Bonus points if you correctly identify which bottle (king cobra, budweiser, wild irish rose, etc) is the most common.

Land! Take two!

We signed the papers this AM and if the snowpocalypse stays at bay a little longer they will be filed at the courthouse this pm.

We paid $3,520.65 for the bamboo jungle next door (inclusive of fees). It is formally known at 503 N. Elizabeth St and clocks in at .088 acres. It is unbuildable without permission from the board of adjustment and then, you could only put a very small single family house on it. We purchased it because we were concerned that the yard for lizzy was very small and did not want to have a rental house or for sale house next door to an overgrown bamboo jungle next to the former shooting gallery.

It is currently covered with bamboo, ivy, and empty King Cobra and Budwiser bottles.

We will be clearing the lot and using it as a side yard for Lizzy. There are some beautiful trees waiting to be liberated from this jungle. Pics to follow shortly.

Plans :
Clear sidewalk in front of bamboo forrest
Hack Bamboo
Count bottles
Clear trash

Lizzy Current

And since the last post was rambling and only half related to Lizzy, I give you

LIZZY CURRENT



There's a little fine tuning of this to be done; After those changes are made I can create Lizzy Proposed.

Ramblings

Our heat at Oakwood broke this morning and after a 3am freak out (WHAT IN THE FUCK IS THAT MELTING PLASTIC SMELL) in which we all got dressed, told Madeline she needed to be a brave and cooperative child and wear many layers, and made multiple trips to the crawl space, Harris discovered that the breaker/switch/fuse whatever thing that powers our heat pump was literally melted.

The irony that we own three houses, two of which have no heat, and none of which we could stay in was not lost on me. We have high hopes that our HVAC crew will show up by 9am and will fix the heat.

Harris and Madeline are asleep upstairs which leaves me to stay awake downstairs and await their arrival. I've made brownies, cleaned the kitchen, and will probably finish the laundry before they do.

Anyway, I also realized I needed to update the totals section here and on the separate spreadsheet we keep. We had to renew our vacant house insurance policy. Because the housing market is crap (which makes no sense to me) vacant house policies are hard to get and the only one we've found so far is a company in Arizona who will give us 3 month renewals. Great right??? As soon as we start construction we can get a construction policy or something. However, we're waiting for tax credit application approval before starting construction so here's hoping...

Again. Anyway.

We bought a pair of these today on sale at Sears for $15.88. FISKARS!

Being me, on our way home we stopped by Lizzy to try them out. I had to cut several strands of bamboo before I realized that yes, it was cutting that smoothly. We might be looking at fewer hours now.

We've gone back and forth about the best way to get rid of the bamboo. Chainsaw or loppers, and loppers has finally won out. Elena Chainsaw Turner came over to scout the lot today and agreed that the level of trash, bottles, junk, undergrowth, and slope meant that the chainsawing would probably be...not fun. Add to that her theory that as a grass it would gum up the blades often enough that you'd rather just hack it and Harris finally agreed to let me lop it all out.

Our new plan for the yard is to
1. Cut down bamboo, vines, and small shrubs.
2. Haul trash, bamboo, and logs to curb.
3. Dispose (trash/recycle) all of the crap.
4. MOW baby MOW!
5. Find land pin.

zomg

any day now! ANY DAY NOW!