May 22, 2022
Remedial Groundskeeping.
Banality is below the fold.
The second story of my house, as seen from the garage roof
not pictured: how slick those shingles actually were
The hole under my window after remedial groundskeeping
The roof after remedial groundskeeping
The side of the second floor after remedial groundskeeping
My knee after remedial groundskeeping
As compensation here is TokyoGenso's take on what the Tokyo Big Sight would look like if the groundskeeper had a stroke:
I've been cleaning here and making somewhat grim discoveries. The house was unoccupied for a few months ( due to my stroke
) and when I came back I could only do the most perfunctory maintenance. I still have great difficulty bending and have purchased one of those old-person claw poles for pinecones and sticks. In my long period of perfunctory yard maintenance, not just the hedges but the ivy has gotten out of control.
) and when I came back I could only do the most perfunctory maintenance. I still have great difficulty bending and have purchased one of those old-person claw poles for pinecones and sticks. In my long period of perfunctory yard maintenance, not just the hedges but the ivy has gotten out of control.
So I've been working on the ivy and yesterday I FINALLY made it up the ladder and onto the roof to sweep off the pine straw.
No the other roof.
I live in a split-level 'late 60s house where the part of the roof over the garage is less accessible, being rather higher off the ground and surrounded by pine trees in the back yard. (despite being a fairly small house, I have 4 flights of stairs)The other day I got the low roof over the living room cleared off with some difficulty, but was frankly chuffed that I'd negotiated the ladder and swept that bit without mishap. However, my extendo ladder is broken and is rather wobbly going any higher than that. I am also wobbly, still having balance issues after the stroke and 2 discrete sets of wobbly did not seem wise to combine with heights of ~12 and 20 feet respectively for the edges of the garage and second floor roofs. This week however, my brother-in law dropped off his new extendo ladder, and, fully confidant after by brief foray onto the low roof, I set out to do what I assumed would be a short, uneventful bit of groundskeeping.
Previously I had had to sweep the two lower roofs every month or 2, lest things get bad. After 9 months of neglect the pine straw over the garage was over 6 inches thick and had been wicking water under the shingles, there was water damage and a hole from a limb in the side of the house. I got all the straw off which revealed a slick layer of slime.....
.....This nearly ended me as at one point I was scampering frantically on all fours like something out of a Road Runner cartoon as I drifted backwards down the roof, far away from the ladder. . Eventually, I braced myself with my knees, which had better traction on the slick roof than my feet, and, waking on my knees I got to the peak of the roof and could rest until the sun dried the roof out enough to crawl down it safely. Today, I got up on the roof again to remove the limb and apply a mobile home roof patch. I've got the patch on, and will determine how much water damage there is next week.
I got the Ivy off the side, but am still having some balance issues so I fell. On the way down
I was able to stop myself before I slid off the roof by again grabbing the shingles with my...knees.
All in all, my return to yardwork over the last week has been a humbling experience. I'd gotten confident from having been able to do my regular job, which is quite physical. However, while I have a fair amount of upper body strength, my ability top do non-repetitive tasks is limited. I actually threw up while cutting the grass, with a powered drive lawnmower and that is hardly an example of extreme sports. Wrestling the lawnmower and, indeed, just starting it used muscles and movements outside my routine and wiped me out. My flexibility is dreadful, I had great difficulty today just raising my leg enough to get into the shower, though the knee was actually a factor there. The typos on this post have been horrendous, and would have not been corrected but for spelllllchek.
My speech still occasionally slur and I sometimes have vapor lock of the brain. I have a mild case of psudoBulbar affect which is humiliating and offensive, so I don't go out much. (Though that has been improving. I've been forcing myself to watch disturbing or funny stuff and struggling to man up).
My "running" is comical, more like high speed waddling, but at least I'm running.
So I'm nowhere near fully recovered. And it really hit me like a ton of bricks this week.
Also, I hate ants...alas, it's that time of year.
In other news, work hours have been extended further. We are almost up to where we were during the height of the COVIDiocy. There is actually less stuff being shipped but the supply chain issues are playing havoc with workflow and scheduling....and there seems to be a lot of panic buying.
Two of my IRL friends have come down with COVID.
I'm still having all sorts of technical issues with the Twitch channel, though I haven't been able to do much with it given my workload and general state of 'exhaustedness'.
On the other hand, I am employed. I am improving, and aside from the aforementioned neurological issues in good shape. I don't live in a deep blue state and I don't have to drive but 7 miles to work.
So I'm doing way better than a lot of people.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
09:36 AM
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Don't talk yourself down. You did a freaking huge job there, even for the totally ablebodied. Your house shrubbery must have some kind of druid blessing on it.
Posted by: Suburbanbanshee at Mon May 23 14:45:07 2022 (sF8WE)
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