Autumn Leaves

really tick me off

[lawman]

Bradford Pear, Trident Maple, Sycamore, River Birch, Dogwood, Magnolia, and some trees I can't name populate my yard. I have a big yard and live in a big neighborhood in the biggest state east of the Mississippi. Yet somehow all those damned leaves manage to end up in my garage.

[wheel]

My neighbor to the east of me put up a fence a couple of years ago. Now all my leaves no longer end up in his backyard. It's a substantial amount of leaves since my backyard is an original bush. It also put an end to my claims that his leaves were ending up in my backyard (clearly they werent' :) ).

I think the garage thing happens because of wind flows, into the garage then slows down or something. I get the same thing in my garage.

I walked around the yard before all the leaves fell this year and tied a string around all the maples so I can tap them for syrup in the spring. Otherwise spring comes and I'm looking at a tree with no leaves and thinking "am I about to make birch tree syrup?".

[Rugles]

Ah, just run over them with the lawn mower and pretend it didn't happen.

By the time the snow falls you will forget you ever had leaves lying all over the place.

[Old_Honky]

Have you thought of closing the garage door?

[lawman]

Of course not O_H. That's such complex reasoning you're the only one who could've figured it out.

[Leosghost]

Can't close the garage door ..there's an inspection lamp, glowing at the back of the garage, to light the way home, for the "lost in rebuild"..;)

[wheel]

Have you thought of closing the garage door?

Perhaps he's got kids like mine where, in any two state system consisting of 'closed' or 'open', believe that the state can actually only exist if 'open'.

[J_RaD]

this made me laugh for a second only for the reason that out of the corner of my eye i always read your name as LAWNman

:-P

[Old_Honky]

Of course not O_H. That's such complex reasoning you're the only one who could've figured it out.

I'm impressed, we Brits are taught that Americans don't understand sarcasm, no sorry got that wrong, of course it is irony. My mistake. :~)

[lawman]

We Americans are taught that Brits are the coolest, grooviest, hippest people on the face of the planet.

[topr8]

... really lawman?

i know you guys think we are the classiest and most sophisticated - hence if you need that role in a movie, it's a brit you throw in ... although i notice we're villains a lot too!

[lawman]

Well, maybe we're not taught that, but we think that. We're actually taught that we kicked the Red Coats out but now we're friends.

[Leosghost]

living in the past..( remember ) autumn leaves..

["coolest, grooviest, hippest people-classiest and most sophisticated"] the Beckhams must have really burst your balloon then ;-))

[topr8]

>>We're actually taught that we kicked the Red Coats

well history is ever written by the home team!

(well actually we're not taught anything about history in schools any more, but that's another story)

[lucy24]

When you tell an American a joke, he laughs.

When you tell an Englishman a joke, he laughs twice. First when he hears it, and then later when he gets it.

When you tell a Frenchman a joke, he... Oh, never mind.

I don't care what you do with your leaves, so long as it doesn't involve a leaf blower.

[Old_Honky]

so long as it doesn't involve a leaf blower

I love my leaf blower, it is like having a super power - you just point and the leaves go flying.

I may not have a garden as huge as you guys across the water (where everything is bigger and better I understand) but my garden is pretty big by UK standards and I have several mature trees which are in the process of shedding right now. The leaf blower is the only practical solution.

The first year we moved in I tried to clear the leaves using a besom, after two weeks I gave up and bought a leaf blower. It is the only way to stay just a bit behind the leaves - you can never get ahead of them.

When you tell an Englishman a joke, he laughs twice. First when he hears it, and then later when he gets it.

I've heard that told in reverse where an American is the butt of the joke, and also where it is an Irishman. I suppose we all underestimate each other in these situations it is human nature.

we kicked the Red Coats out but now we're friends

The English colonists were probably the brightest of our countrymen at the time, the redcoats were the dimwits that stayed behind and chose military service as their only option. They were sheep led by donkeys, no wonder your English ancestors won.

[cmendla]

I'm on 2 1/2 acres with an acre of woods with 90' trees surrounded by a bunch 90' trees. Every year it is an epic battle. My trac vac gave up the ghost a while back. Well, actually, it still kind of runs. It's just that it uses two quarts of 30 weight oil for every quart of gas. (It is allegedly a 4 stroke). The resulting cloud looks like a military smokescreen. The good news is that the mosquito population plummets like a rock (Hard to fly with oily wings I guess)

I had delusions of picking up a new 70 dollar engine and installing it. However, my 'list of stuff to do' is starting to grow like the National Debt. I have to make do with the mulching plate on my mighty craftsman LS 4000. (Remind me to order some spare mandrels for the inevitible meeting of mower and norway freaking maple root. )

On top of it all, I have two 90' 100+ year old oaks about 25 feet from each other. In the previous snow, Oak #1 had sheared off a 12" x 20' branch from the very top. That came down and took out a 16"x 30' branch that was almost horizontal. Oak #2 was rude enough to have a 10" x 25' branch in the way of the falling timber. The result was a tangled mess and a branch hanging precariously from oak #2. I got that down and retained my life and limbs.

So now, I have a tangle of wood that I am cutting up for my eco friendly osburn 1100 woodstove (keeping in mind obama's promise to 'bankrupt the coal industry' and the result that will have on heating costs). However, the Oak, maple and other leaves keep covering the ground and the wood I've cut up.

On the other hand, a brisk fall day with the smell of leaves, 2 stroke chainsaws, chainsaw dust and disturbed fungi is well, invigorating.

[lucy24]

we kicked the Red Coats out but now we're friends

The English colonists were probably the brightest of our countrymen at the time, the redcoats were the dimwits that stayed behind and chose military service as their only option. They were sheep led by donkeys, no wonder your English ancestors won.

That's just begging for a nasty crack about the Loyalists, eh?

[Old_Honky]

That's just begging for a nasty crack about the Loyalists, eh?

I'm not sure what you mean, it was not my intention to solicit a "nasty crack".

My point was a simple one that the people who are brighter and more likely to be risk takers would have been the colonists (I should have said British not English) whereas the British Army was largely composed of those risk averse persons who stayed behind with the status quo. It was a case of those with the "get up and go" having already "got up and went".

[topr8]

some could also argue that the third civil war (wars of roses, english civil war, american revolution)

... was infact a war between a bunch of british colonialists and a mercenary army commanded by a german king ... all i can say is i wouldn't have minded if my forebears had gone over with the pilgrim fathers or later instead of staying on here!

... but back OT ...

i don't have a garden, just a walkway infront of this level of flats ... and there are leaves everywhere (and no trees at this level - how does that happen?) - thank goodness for my old lady neighbours who take it upon themselves to sweep it all up on a daily basis.

(and don't worry i do plenty for them too ... just not sweeping of leaves)

[phranque]

i don't think you hate autumn leaves as much as my neighbor, who has his trees trimmed every year just before the leaves start falling.

[lucy24]

Conclusion based on above digression: Canadians either do not read the Foo forum, or dislike autumn leaves so violently that they can't bear even to look at a thread mentioning them

:)

I'm also surprised nobody has digressed into argument about who's got the handsomest foliage. Geographically, I mean, not "my maple trees are prettier than the ones across the street".

[topr8]

... lucy24 - are you trying to stir up some leaves here?

[ken_b]

Oh whine, snivel, whine.....

Our yard backs up to a 120 acre farm field. When the guy plants corn, after the harvest the leaves(?) all seem to blow into our back yard and the around the house amking a U-turn right into our garage.

The tree leaves aren't much better. Today there was a foot deep pile of leaves waiting patiently for me to open the garage door so they could get in.

But that's just a sample of what's to come when the snow gets here.....

:)