here today...gone today...a little adventure

[zeeprogrammer]

No one was harmed except my wallet...

The day begins with finding out my fridge needs $400 of repairs.

After work T and I head for the pool. Good therapy for my knee. And I admit, even after 34+ plus years of marriage...I like seeing her in a bathing suit (or less).

She: What was that noise?
Me: Sounded like it came from the neighbors.
She: You sure it isn't the branches on that tree back there?
Me: Yeah. But I do hope we can move before it has to come down.
She: There it is again. I think the branches are falling.
Me: Sounds like the neighbor dropping some sacks or laying in firewood.
She: Hm...maybe. I worry about those dead branches.

A few minutes later...she's getting out of the pool...

More noise...a bit louder...

She: CARL!!! RUN!! RUN!!!

I'm thinking "Run? I'm in a pool."

I turn around and half of a fifty+ foot ash tree is coming down towards me.
The top lands about 7-8 feet from me.

So I was wrong.

She: Weren't you scared? I'm still shaking.
Me: No...(perhaps stupidly). Whatever was going to happen was going to happen.

She: It's on my garden (around the pool).
Me: I'll take care of it.

I get out the electric chain saw, hack it up, and remove it from the garden.
The hero.

She: That's covered with poison ivy.
Me: Crap.

I've never had poison ivy. I've handled it and never been bothered. But you never know when you'll become allergic to something.

A soapy shower.

Now I sit here...wondering...
Is that the usual old man scratch habit?
Is that an itch?
Should I scratch?
So far I'm good.

This all happened within 30 minutes of her telling me what she got for a bonus today. Add the kids...and no bonus. Sigh.

We can only tell each other..."Like we said back home...it could be worse."


Crap.

:big:

 

[Deanofid]

You tell a good story, even when it's not a good thing, Zee.
Keep your fingers out of your eyes, and.. other parts.

Dean

 

[ksouers]

Glad everything turned out OK and everyone is safe, zee.

Just goes to show, you can't trust wood!

 

[metalmuncher]

Glad you're safe and well, you never know when your time is coming. One of our neighbours went out on his motorbike yesterday morning and never made it home again. Don't know all the details yet but seems he went under a car. Take care of yourself Keith.

 

[Twmaster]

I'm like Zee.... When my number gets called in the bingo game of life it will be my time.

Glad you didn't get hurt Carl.

 

[tel]

... 'course a real man would 'ave thrown 'imself in front of that tree to keep it from bending the garden.

 

[zeeprogrammer]

... 'course a real man would 'ave thrown 'imself in front of that tree to keep it from bending the garden.

None available. Remember? I don't have a grill, bowling ball, or lawn tractor.



Thanks everyone.

 

[90LX_Notch]

Carl,

Here's a little of the "surface" knowledge I know about Posion Ivy:

The reactive agent is a resin that stays active for months. That being said, if the resin is on your shoes and you tie them, you can get Posion Ivy weeks/months later.

It takes about a week for it to appear on you after handling it.

Bob

 

[tmuir]

Wow close call.

Glad you are ok

 

[b.lindsey]

You do have a way with a story Zee....just happy it tirned out ok in the end.

Bill

 

[Troutsqueezer]

Something else about poison ivy, if you've never had it, you're most impervious to it. The more you get it, the more susceptible you are to it. So you may be OK. With 10 acres of it, I know some things about it.

-Trout

 

[mklotz]

Carl, I'm very glad to hear that you and T weren't drowned by a tree. I'll go out on a limb here and guess that you were both ash-en after the experience.

Thanks for the reminder about poison ivy. I remember it well from my childhood in Pennsylvania. (Hmm, yet another negative memory of the East coast.)

I moved to California primarily for the weather but it was a real bonus to discover that LA's semi-desert environment is too dry for poison ivy - or most of the other 'poison' varieties of vegetation. [It's also too dry for most of the flying insects that made summer back east so miserable. There's the occasional mosquito but flys are rare (maybe the lizards eat them all) and the no-see-ums are, unsurpisingly, not seen at all.]

My immediate problem is with English ivy - the stuff that some idiots plant as decoration. I just paid the gardeners a lot of money to clear it out of my side yard but it's trying to make a comeback. It laughed at the high strength RoundUp I applied so I sprayed it with kerosene. That just killed the weeds around the ivy so they have a clear field in which to flourish. The damn stuff is like bamboo.

Do any of you have a magic formula for killing ivy? Or do I have to make a flamethrower or pull a Romans-at-Carthage and sow salt in the side yard?

 

[kvom]

Living in GA I'm well aware of poison ivy and how to avoid it.

Unfortunately its relative poison sumac is alive and well in California, Marv's assertions to the contrary. My one encounter with this plant required some expensive steroid cream to overcome.

Glad that tree wasn't a few feet taller. ;D

 

[zeeprogrammer]

Thanks everyone.

Marv...are you 'branching out' into landscaping or gardening?

 

[mklotz]

Kvom,

California being as big and climatically diverse as it is, I imagine there are places where all sorts of nasties thrive. I should have added that I was speaking about the suburban area where I live. Although heavily planted, none of the nasties have managed to invade here. Being close to the coast may make a difference too.

Carl,

Me garden? Nah, I've got a brown thumb. All the real gardening gets done by the gardeners. But this isn't gardening. This is war - pitched battle, me against the plant kingdom. Maybe I should try *cultivating* the ivy. That would kill it for sure.

 

[Dan Rowe]

Marv,
I have an old plumbers blow touch which might just be the thing for ivy control. The time I fired it up in Califorinia the natives went a bit funny they were all terrifyed of brush fires. They make long tips for roofing for the Siveret propane torch, that might be a bit more civilized and just as fun.

Dan

 

[Foozer]

Romans-at-Carthage and sow salt in the side yard?

Good solid layer of rock salt, water softener 50# bags works well for weed control. With the rain fall here in the northwest it still takes a good 9 months for it to be washed out enough for the (UGH!) blackberries to start up again. Crossbow, from a good feed store will solve the ivy problem as well but is not to friendly to the neighborhood critters. At least with salting the ground the neighbors wont be knocking on your door with cold corpse Fluffy in their arms.

 

[tel]

None available. Remember? I don't have a grill, bowling ball, or lawn tractor.

Sheer decadence, no wonder civilization is crumbling. (I'd better rush out and buy a bowling ball)

Yep, rock salt or flossy salt will kill ivy, but you gotta lay it on pretty heavy.

 

[Maryak]

Carl,

Happy to read that you and T came off unscathed, must have been a scary experience.

Marv,

Make up a solution of aresnate of lead in a glass bottle, in the top of the bottle place a wick. Find a good sized root underground and drill a hole in it. Arrange the bottle such that the wick now goes in the drilled hole. Bury the lot so nothing else can get at the solution, then sit back and watch it die.

Hope this helps.

Best Regards
Bob

 

[slick95]

I'm sure glad no one was hurt Zee 'cause I'm still laughing out loud while I'm typing...you a funny guy

Jeff