Yardwork And Pains

A couple of weeks ago, I had a tree service remove some dead or troublesome growths and grind the stumps and some roots.  I had them leave the grindings in place so I could add them to my compost bins.

The posts on the back are counterweights to make lifting the tops effortless.  I have since added latches on the front to thwart raccoons and ropes on the sides to pull the tops back down.  The boards on the front are in slots for removal to get at the material more easily.  The backs and sides are framed with 1/4" wire mesh.  It is my own design, and I am insufferably pleased with it.  Mike McGarth (a former editor of Organic Gardening magazine) saw the pictures and declared it "the best compost bins I have ever seen". 

That's not the point of this post, though (I just thought I should explain the picture).  And it was time to move the contents from one bin to the other for aeration and mixing.

Yesterday, I finally got around to shoveling the stump and root grindings into buckets.  Those Tidy Cat 35# litter tubs are sturdy and useful!  I have about 2 dozen of them.  I tried using the shop vac to pick the grinding up, but they clogged the hose.  So, it was rake and shovel work.

I filled most of the buckets.  I dumped the grindings, saved dry grass clippings (from a trash barrel), and kitchen waste (from one bin) to the other in 4" layers.  The one bin of kitchen scraps was filled with roots from the neighbor's "junk" trees.  Wow, I was feeding the very trees that shade my garden!  Really annoying; I'll have to find a sneaky way to kill those things...

The new, better, mix should produce compost faster and I'm happy about that.  

But even that isn't the point of this post.

I took out my small electric tiller and mixed the remaining stump sawdust with the soil.  You can't grow grass in pure wood grindings; they pull all the nitrogen from the soil while decaying.   The tiller is easy to use.  I have to stop every so often to remove wound up roots and grass, but that is easier than dragging out the big gas-powered one for small areas.  

The point is that I spent 4 hours holding tools.  I knew I was going to pay for that later (and I did).  I get finger-clenches from gripping things too long.  It's both painful and awkward.  Try preparing dinner sometime when you can't hold a knife!  Makes typing darn near impossible, too.  And the constant hand tremors (DDT exposure as a teen) don't make things any easier.  It makes my "hunt&peck" typing "huntier&peckier", LOL!  In fact, I tried to post this last night and couldn't.

Mom had finger-clenches too, but from Parkinson's in her 80s.  She acted as if it was more "cosmetic" that painful at the time, but I know better now.  I don't think I have that (yet), but the effect is the same.  Muscle ointments like Aspercreme and gels with ladocaine help but they take a while and cease working after a couple hours.

But at least I did get the grinded stuff removed, the areas tilled and raked level, and ready for grass seed.  Yeah, is is a bit late for seeding, but I have the seeds and they won't last forever (already a year old) so I might as well try.  I'll give them a dusting of slow-release nitorogen fertilizerGrass is tough stuff when it germinates, and the forecast doesn't suggest a frost in the next 2 weeks.  I might cover the spots with clear plastic for protection from cold nights (and birds).

Darn, those finger-clenches are troublesome.  And later come the leg and rib muscle cramps in bed.  Sometimes it feels like the muscles will pull off the bones!  I have to get up (not easy while the legs are cramping) and walk around the house 15-30 minutes until it stops.

I'm not comparing that to more serious medical/bodily problems.  Things could be a lot worse! I am relatively lucky about bodily ills.  But sufficient to the day are the pains of the day and I hate mine.

But I will still keep doing yardwork and other things that cause problems afterward for as long as I am able.  And I suppose that is the point of this post.

Thank you for reading this to the end...  😁