One of my biggest challenges is going to be SELLING THIS HOUSE. As you read this blog, you may have a picture in your head of a lovely country home...with a well-tended garden and beautiful green grass.
Well -- that was THEN. And this is NOW...
But, alas, John's long slide into dementia actually started five or six years ago. And the result is this place REALLY GOT AWAY FROM HIM...
In May,when John was in Memory Care, my brother Calvin started coming down to help clean up the property. He has a lifetime of experience with equipment -- owns multiple chain saws, three tractors of various sizes (one with an air-conditioned cab). He has bushwacker mowers, weed-eaters that will cut down a small tree, and even a stump grinder that hooks up to his PTO. Best of all -- HE KNOWS WHAT HE'S DOING.
The first thing he had to tackle was the debris from many dead trees...he started a brush fire in our driveway on May 23 -- and it has been burning every day since...
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| John goes out for breakfast on Tuesdays and Thursdays (with his friend Don) -- and Calvin comes down and does most of the heavy lifting when John is away from the house. |
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| Cal has a lot of health issues of his own -- and he can only work in short spurts. But, when it comes to any kind of work that involves equipment -- on his worst day, Cal is worth an entire football team of healthy young men... |
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| He plugs away...every day....on a hot day, he can only work for 20 minutes at a time...but he just keeps at it. |
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| John would lop off branches from the downed trees and keep the fire going. But, lately, he's been pouting...and refusing to help. Cal comes anyway... |
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| When I said the weeds were getting the best of this place -- I wasn't kidding. THIS is the main door into our garage... |
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| The problem is -- John thinks this looks fine. |
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| The area around the garage is just ONE of the trouble spots. |
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| Cal can't just rip into the area with a weed-eater, because there is all kinds of buried treasure...a 20' extension ladder, a variety of garden hoses and electrical cords, rakes, hammers...ugh... |
Sometimes, Cal's biggest problem is deciding which piece of equipment he should use to tackle each job. After he did some major bush-whacking around the garage, he called in the reserves. Three of our great-nephews. Mason and Clayton (both 11), and Oliver, 9.
Cal tasked his kid-crew with picking up the debris and putting it into tubs to carry to the fire. All those YOUNG legs made short work of A MOUNTAIN OF RUBBLE.
I didn't know this was his plan -- or I would have been there to help them AND TAKE PICTURES...
But -- you cannot imagine my surprise when I came home to this...
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| WOW..!! It looks so good, I think it might need a Barn Quilt Block!! |
So thankful that you have such amazing help!
ReplyDeleteTHAT'S FOR SURE....But when I look at those weeds, I keep thinking WE'VE GOTTA GET OUT OF HERE....
ReplyDeleteAnd we can barely maintain our 100'x100' yard. And that's the entire plot with our house in the middle of it.
ReplyDeleteOMG... Cal is Priceless! Can I borrow him? My back yard and around garage are beginning to look very much like your before photo. I am sure it will be a relief to not have yard work in the new place. And yes a barn quilt would look great there
ReplyDeleteAwww! This looks amazing! I think Mason is still talking about the $20 Uncle Cal have him for helping haha!!
ReplyDeleteWhat a transformation! There's nothing like some young, strong bodies--and an older, wiser one directing things--to make short work of a seemingly insurmountable task!! Hooray for Cal and his team!!
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