Stephanie Uses Power Tools

By: Stephanie on 5:23 PM

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As you may or may not know, my work hours were recently slashed in half. This means I'm working 10 hours a week, leaving me with nothing to do for the other 158. If you subtract time I spend sleeping, eating, riding the horse, driving to various locales, and generally lounging, I currently have approximately 30 hours a week of free time. Some of you might be envious. I can hear you thinking, But Stephanie, you can exercise! You can start knitting! You can train the dogs properly! You can take naps and watch Food Network! You can spend your time baking fresh cookies for your loving boyfriend who's currently paying half of your bills! Gentle readers, I know. And a chunk of this free time is definitely spent napping and watching Food Network and doing the cleaning and laundering of the nice co-author of this blog. But friends, let me tell you, that shizz gets old. One can only spend so much time every day browsing the online sales at Dover Saddlery, Bit of Britain, and LL Bean. Or watching old episodes of Eureka and Doctor Who. 

So, feeling both motivated and guilty, I decided to tackle some house and yard-related projects that have been unpleasantly lingering for months. (Sort of like that weird smell from the garbage disposal.) Yesterday, I mowed the front lawn. It'd sprung up, all bright green and lush from the rain, and was way too tall to look neat. When I was finished, I decided I might as well get out the weed eater and do the trim, too. When that was finished, I figured since I was already sweaty and gross and covered in plant matter I should probably go ahead and trim the hedges. The result? A very neat lawn! But not neat enough. Our crepe myrtles all seemed to die in the unusually harsh winter. All of a sudden, they blossomed a few weeks ago. It seems they've sprouted a ton of new growth around the dead stuff, which makes them look really, really ugly. They used to be beautiful- tall and full and colorful. Now they're half dry, dead, brown branches and half pretty green foliage dotted with pink blooms. 

I tackled the removal of the dead branches on one of the plants today, using Johnny's Milwaukee reciprocating saw. The dead branches are thick and hard- too much for the little hedge clipper. Using advice from Southern Living's Grumpy Gardener, I trimmed back all of the dead growth I could find. It wasn't too difficult, but I was then faced with a new problem: the new growth had been supporting itself on the dead branches. Without them, it was too weak to hold itself up. It drooped to the ground, making the majestic myrtle look more like a weeping willow. I made the executive decision to commit crepe murder (I think of it more like assisted suicide) and trim the fresh branches. There are still a few tall branches supporting themselves, and a slew of small growth toward the bottom. I'll be reading a bit more on trimming these suckers before I get the pruners out. 

Frustrated with the garage's work bench, I spent the rest of my morning reorganizing it. I discovered the jackpot of power tools stashed in there. Johnny's got a circular saw, two drills, a jigsaw, the aforementioned reciprocating saw, and a belt sander. Lucky for me, I was a proud member of FFA in high school and learned a lot about how to properly wield power tools through agriculture classes. (Not saying I was the best welder or built the greatest rafters, but I got by.) 

So, what does Stephanie + power tools equal? Who knows? All I have on my agenda thus far is jump standards. Once I've acquired some 4x4 pieces of wood, training for my upcoming horse trial is going to kick into high gear! 

Other projects on my radar: repainting my bedroom furniture, building Johnny some sawhorses, installing a toilet, and repainting the hallway bathroom. No promises on taking pics or blogging, but I'll do my best.