When I mowed the back yard last week, I had a lot of clippings from where the grass had gotten high. I raked the clippings into a dozen little piles yesterday. I deliberated on whether to put them on the compost pile or not because some of the grass was already going to seed. I decided I would put them on the compost pile. I was in the process of collecting my little piles of grass clippings and piles of weeds today when I heard the UPS truck coming down our street. (I have a neighbor who keeps them in business.) Well, as I mentioned in an earlier post, I had received a book in bad shape and needed to send it back. A friend had graciously printed a return label for me, Amazon had sent me a replacement book, which I received yesterday. I only needed to box the damaged book and find a UPS drop off. There is a drop off box that wouldn't be too far out of the way when I run an errand to Walmart. My other option was to catch the UPS driver while he was in the neighborhood. (I considered titling this post "fat woman catches brown truck.") I had the book boxed, labeled, and ready to go. When I heard the truck, I tore around the house and up the front steps. Alas, I had earlier gone out the back door, so the front storm door was still locked. I dashed back down the steps, around back, in through the back door, down the hall and into the office. Then I flew out the front door, fully intending to trespass across the yard next door. Amazingly, the driver was not yet back in his truck. By that point I was getting winded and decided if I missed him, I missed him. I slowed to a fast walk as I took a shortcut through the yard of the vacant house next to mine. As he was starting to pull out of my neighbor's drive, I waved with one hand and held my box up with the other. I hurried across the street and handed him the box right through his open door. "Can you take this for me?"
"Let me see. Yeah, I can take it."
"Thanks."
I had to go inside and drink some lemonade and catch my breath before I finished my yard work. When I checked "take book by UPS" off my "to do" list, I put TWO check marks and a SMILEY FACE!
This is what my finished compost pile looked like. (I put some pokeweed in amongst the other stuff to add a little more green.)
Between building up the compost pile and running after the UPS truck, I think I got a pretty good workout.
i have to admit I am smiling, having done the same thing about one door being locked.
ReplyDeleteIt sure sounds like a workout!.
That is one BIG compost pile. I didn't know folks built them that high, seems the ones I have seen are only knee high but maybe spread a little bit.
But it is luck to have caught the UPS man.
Interesting post for sure.. good read..
Maybe a third or more of the pile is made up of twigs that I raked up and that Caleb hauled to the compost pile after the hail storm in April. I'm not sure the pile has ever had enough green stuff to really be a "hot rot" pile, so it decomposes more slowly. Most folks probably keep their weeds under better control than I do, so they don't end up with so much stuff to put on the pile.
DeleteI have a separate, much smaller compost pile for my edible garden.