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Leaf It Out

 How many council workers does it take to move a pile of leaves? According to what I witnessed yesterday, it takes four. Two armed with leaf blowers, one to stand next to a small truck and the other to watch. 

Honestly, what exactly is the point of a leaf blower? Is it this?


Because I am (trying to be) environmentally friendly and am also delicate to loud noises, I do not have a leaf blower. I have a leaf rake. One of those that looks like an inadequate, triangular-headed broom. It’s effective in that it does what it should, which is rake up leaves. It is powered by my arms, it doesn’t make any noises beyond a gentle ‘swish’ and the occasional ‘thwang!’ if it hits a rogue rock, apple or abandoned trowel. I wish it would hit a rogue idiot bantam, but sadly they are all still in strong contention for the world record of ‘Longest Living Bantams EVER.’

After I have raked up the leaves (which I am doing now at least once every other day) I pile them into the wheelbarrow and take them to my official ‘Leaf Mould Dumpy Bags’ storage facility which is next to the compost bins. There they will languish for the next year, decomposing to about a quarter of their original volume, after which they will be spread onto the veg garden as lovely compost. Today, I reached dumpy bag capacity, so piled the rest into one of the remaining raised beds which is awaiting dismantling. There are still too many leaves residing on their trees for my liking, but by the end of November, they should all be gone. This I have noticed over the past 6 years - no matter what the climate has been like, the leaves are always gone by the end of November. 

I took the leaf rake to the courtyard today because that, too, is slowly filling up with leaves. It set my teeth on edge a little, raking the rake over the gravel, but I did what I needed to do and my teeth remained intact. I decided against raking the paving slabs though, setting about them with a broom instead. I discovered that trying to sweep up wet leaves with a wet broom isn’t terribly effective. Perhaps not the best job to do today, given it had spent the morning piddling down with rain. But you know, when you get the urge to go with a job, you go with the urge. 

As you can see, my life today has been one enormous thrill-fest. 


Comments

Anonymous said…
I’ll take your day over mine! 🤪
KJ
16 November 2022 at 00:58
Denise said…
Believe me, KJ, I appreciate fully my life now, that I am able to work how and when I like and avoid the dramas of others. Been there, done that! I hope you are okay, though. Sending peace and calming vibes your way. x
16 November 2022 at 07:51
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