Pluggers by Rick McKee for March 23, 2024

The Crotchety Pluggers Motto: I’m old. I’m tired. Get off my lawn!

This Plugger never played Pick Up Sticks (at least as a game). ;/

Pluggers know better than to mow over sticks!

Eh me bearly pick up steeck during walk in woods.

Then he’s stuck with a stack of sticks to dispose of.

Pick them up to be used in a campfire to roast a marshmallow or two ;-)

Which reminds me, there’s a fallen ‘stick’ near my driveway that requires a little chainsawing.

Don’t remind me, I’ve got lots to pick up.

Ugh every time there’s a wind storm (which is common in this area) I have to go out and play pick-up sticks, and branches and bark and whatever else.

Advice to all: Never buy a river birch tree.

I tried to pick up a branch that blew into my perennial garden, only to find that it is inexorably mated with one of my rose bushes!

Plugger finally got rid of all the leaves.

wow—pick up sticks, donald duck comic books, soda fountains, car clubs with club plaques on the rear bumper, pegged pants, duck tails -just brought back some smiles to me how about you??

Yeah, the sticks were smaller, called me by my first name, felt like velour and smelled like winter. It was a looooong time ago.

…or both!

pluggers have dogs that help the carry the sticks. Of course Help is a relative term when it comes to dogs.

I played Pic-Up-Sticks with my great niece and nephew today. Lots of fun AND they enjoyed it, too.

For decades we paid a gardener (company) to deal with the small amount of grass we have in the back and on the sides of the house – we had a semi-circular driveway put in (on a small piece of land) as we live on a 4 lane main road and backing out is almost impossible so almost the entire front of the house is the driveway. We also had them clear the snow for us. Then the gardener disappeared the year we had more snow than in decades and we had to deal it with it ourselves. He apparently had gone back home. Anyone we contacted about snow clearance told us “Commercial only, no residential”.

So we did the best we could – took both of us to mow the small backyard, both of us to clear the snow and I kept hoping my aging husband would not have a heart attack nor would I – luckily we did not.

About 3 years ago we had a big snowfall which was not bad as it was light and fluffy and we had cleared it away. We live on a 4 lane county road – the storm had started Friday night and continued to Sunday morning. We did not see a plow – but the cars on the road tamped the snow down and it could be driven on. Then the county finally sent plows. We now had the driveway (circular so two cuts to road to clear) filled with dense, heavy, ,packed snow. We went out and started working again. We got the driveway cleared – then started on one of the cuts to the road. It was waist high, packed snow. A nice fellow in a pickup truck had us move and hit the snow in each cut to break it up for us. He went to help more – but the police went by and chased him away.

We decided we HAD to hire someone for the snow and the mow as it was too much for us. I asked a neighbor who they used and made an appointment. It turned out to be the good Samaritan. We thanked him profusely and hired him. I no longer worry about the snow. Of course we have had two very light years of snow since we hired him. I no longer have to help with the lawnmower. God sent helper.