Friday 23 October 2015

Cleaning the eaves of leaves & other fall chores

Fall chores

Hoses are detached. Leaves have been mulched, 4 or 5 times now! (We have a lot of trees!!!) Goldfish in, plants indoors, and the mental checklists are getting crossed off. Next, outdoor furniture into the shed. But in the meantime...

First, I had to bring my canoe home from the lake. It really is the end of the season. I stuff the canoe into the car and haul it back across the street. I do love my canoodles and my neighbours are very kind to permit me to dock it for the summer on a remote part of their property! I have so many photos of wildlife from my canoe trips! There were still geese and ducks on the lake, as well as a mysterious conflagration of debris. I waved goodbye.



This is the poem I wrote for my neighbours. I will give them this, as well as a nature calendar I created with my photos.

Next, cleaning out the eaves

So, I'm climbing up the ladder, and hubby, holding the ladder, suggests we could hire someone to do this. There's a vote of confidence! Seriously, that's another item on my list, if I can't do it myself, perhaps it's time for a smaller place! It's a serious concern about being a homeowner.

Last year, I took the camera off of my neck, rested it on the roof to do the other, lower part of the roof. I have troubles getting my butt back up to the higher roof (see the 2nd photo), as I'm only 5'4". But I made it! I accidentally left it up there last year and had to haul out the ladder again.

It's a great view, and we still have some yellow. The pine trees have dumped their needles, leaving a lovely circles of fragrance under the tree line. Aside from hubby, the ladder holder, Dorah and Annabelle were quite curious about the large squirrel on the roof!

 

I was very careful!
I spotted this guy on his roof with the leaf blower.
What was he thinking?!
"Falls account for 85% of seniors' injury-related hospitalizations,
and falls are the cause of most hip fractures among seniors."

9 comments:

Kay said...

Oh my gosh! You climbed up to your roof? That really is scary. I'm glad you were OK, but please hire somebody next year. Yikes!

William Kendall said...

That is a big job!

And just when you think you're done raking, the wind blows some more leaves in.

Christine said...

What a thoughtful lovely poem for your neighbours. Yes, it's the end of a season, sigh.

Nancy J said...

Are you able to buy the gutter netting that slots in and stops leaves getting jammed up? . We paid the chimney cleaning man ( plumber) this year, a great idea. Friends who are generous, beyond any value you can think of, and for them, maybe nothing at all, but to you, enormous ,Love that poem .

Yamini MacLean said...

Hari OM
Love the lines for your neighbour... heartfelt; but, oh my! Up the ladder?! I was once so nimble, but know I cannot do it now. We do, finally, have to surrender to time! YAM xx

Red said...

I was going to say. "Old people shouldn't be on the roof." But then I thought. "Jen isn't old!" Your last quote is so right. I still get on the roof.

Out To Pasture said...

I'm sure the kind neighbour will appreciate your fun thank you poem. Soon, I'll also be cleaning my eves troughs. I joke that I'm safer up a ladder than on the ground because I'm so much more careful. Not to mention the satisfaction of one more chore finished and a well earned winter rest coming.

Powell River Books said...

Fortunately our eaves are far from the trees, but we did have to clean out the woodrat food piles from our shed on shore. We caught and relocated the woodrat before cleaning, but two days later another one moved in to the vacated territory. Doesn't take long. We tried to catch him before we left for the States, but no luck. We may have another cleaning job when we get home. - Margy

Jenn Jilks said...

I am old, Keith! Trying to be careful.
With hubby's cancer, I've been over eating and I should work on that.
I'm 59 this December. It's a bit of a surprise. When did this happen?
I think you are our role model, you just have to keep your mind, body and soul active!