Brush 'n Bulky

Tucson collects brush and bulky twice a year, and it happens this week. We had to get our trees trimmed and our kitchen leftovers sorted out, which was a nice change from inhaling dust in the kitchen (more about that in the next post).
Trimming the trees was a lot of fun! We got a pair of loppers* that were SO good, it felt like cutting butter, even if the branches were thicker than 2 inches! Incredible! While I'm here, I might as well mention how pleased I am with the lawn mower we got. I used to mow the lawn at my parents house all through my teen years, and although the activity gave me time to come up with solutions for some troubling issues (e.g. my English teacher), and shaped my triceps for years to come, I never really liked it. First, it was a HUGE lawn. Second, the lawnmowers we had - and we had a few of every kind! - were never as much fun as the one we have now. We had fuel-powered push mowers, electric mowers, and rider mowers, and each had its problem. But our reel push mower is excellent! I always thought it would be hard to push a non-motorized mower, but it turned out to be even easier than the heavy gasoline push mowers. Not to mention the fact that it's not half as noisy. Anyway, I highly recommend it!
So our pine tree got a hair cut,

It's not the best view of the tree before the trim, but you can see how low the branches hang


Now it looks more like a tree!

...and we also had to thin the mesquite, so it won't fall off (we will have to do it twice a year, as per previous owner's recommendation). We also had to cut down a really nice agave plant that was in the way of the ditch we will have to dig to connect the main water pipe to the water supply. As I mentioned some time before, Lloyd the plumber found that it's too corroded and needs to be replaced. Removing the agave was really sad, but its 3 kids were spared at least, and I think they're doing well.

Finally, here's the pile of brush and bulky, which I'm pretty sure is the largest in the neighborhood:

Left to right: scrap in bin (shouldn't have done that - they took the bin!), poor agave in cardboard boxes, pine branches, old kitchen, mesquite branches.


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*Our loppers are bigger!