Country Life = a Grapevine battle

We've been patiently impatiently waiting for the weather to break, because we have a big project planned. My husband George has accumulated a substantial amount of junk treasures through the years. Add to that our son Kevin starting up a farm on our property, which requires lots more junk farm equipment. Our little acreage is being consumed by their stuff! Men like to think we ladies are the collectors of stuff. Let me tell you, the men in my life are hard to beat!

Well, except son-in-law Brian, who has a disdain for "stuff". Maybe he needs to sit his father-in-law and brother-in-law down and have a little talk with them.

Or.......... maybe not. He might need to have that same little talk with me. So, never mind.

Anyway, we are breaking ground to build a shed to hold The Hoard.

In the woods.

As much as we love our home in West Virginia, it does have a serious drawback. Those West Virginia hills. The only place flat enough for the shed is in the woods.

Where we find this:

 

I absolutely love the woods. Woods are beautiful.

 

But not this particular section of the woods.

 

What created such a mess?

  

 

 Wild grapevine. Cursed wild grapevine.

Oh sure, it looks really cool. Artsy even.

But from that huge tangled mess at ground level, it starts to spread:

Right to the very tip-top of the trees:

Once it gets that far, the battle is pretty much lost.

I'm sure God placed wild grapevine here for a reason. Though I have no idea what that reason could be.

It doesn't even provide grapes.

So, to clear a spot for a shed, the battle tools came out:

First step: chainsaw.

Second step: Dozer.

The chainsaw is relatively new. The dozer? Not so much. It's been in lots of battles through lots of years. It has many battle scars. But it was up for another one.

 

It was at this point that I put down the camera and shouted, "Where's your hard hat?"

 

He pretended he couldn't hear me.

 

 

And when all was said and done, George and the worn out oh so mighty bulldozer had won.



 

If the weather cooperates, we will soon have a shed in that open spot. And The Hoard will have a new home.

 

Sadly, most of the trees in our woods are elms. And we're losing them. Dutch Elm Disease is spreading in our area, and taking it's toll. We are going to cut quite a few of them out before they die and fall, and replace them with some better trees. Trees that will provide the fall color I long for each year.

 

And, in the spot above this, where almost all the trees are either dying elm or grapevine infested, we are going to remove them, and replace them with an orchard.

 

Which will bring on a new battle. This one with the deer and raccoons.

 

Life in the country is filled with peace.

 

When it's not a constant battle!