107 Brigham Hill: Chipping!

One of the big outdoor projects I wanted to get done which is sort of time sensitive was Whacking the Forcythia.
I like them well enough - they are holding back the hillside over there - but they had gotten very encroach-y. Last year I could barely get past it with the lawnmower. Cutting them now gives the plants time to regenerate new growth, so hopefully it flowers next year. After I took a big bundle of cuttings for my mom, I started.

If you zoom in, you can see the row of stumps that at this point I'd already cut and chipped.
I'd say here I was about half done.

The last of the pile!

I raked up all the chips and put them down where the shade from the forcythia
had killed everything under it to hold the dirt back.

This took me from about 11 am to about 6 pm, start to finish. I had intended to chip onto the driveway for easier cleanup, but was restricted by the length of my extension cord.
Now I'm standing in my office, trying to decide which Norway maple saplings are going to go next to open that up a little more.

This weekend I also got in some paint remover. The speed heater is great, but it's pretty messy in the house. Maybe I'm not super skilled at it, but It's just not living up to the ease hype for me. I had heard about this Dumond system, so I ordered the test kit.

Fun times in a box!

This is what was in the kit: 1 pair gloves, 1 scraper, 2 scrubby pads, 3 chip brushes,
1 package special paper, and 1 each of regular, high-test, and masonry paint remover.

I've started with the Regular remover in patches to see how long/how many coats it will take.
At the top: 3 coats/removes, little yellow bar is only 2 coats/removes, lower block is 4 coats/removes.

Timing is tricky with this one. You want to leave it on as long as possible to let it work, but if you leave it on too long it starts to harden back up again. It seems to really only be taking off 2-3 layers at a time. It's cleaner, certainly not quicker though.

Those of you who's been through Agile/Kanban training yes, I have a sticky-note Kanban board on my wall.)

Hey, if a method works.

Last week I saw an interesting recipe for Dandelion shortbread cookies on the internet.
So... Why not?

Ahh, humble Dandelion. You're so nice and dry in this picture.
Shortly thereafter it started to rain. soaking me and my Dandelions.

Do you have any idea who hard it is to pull Dandelion petals?
Particularly WET Dandelion petals?
Let's just say this was a one-off experiment.

You make the cookies, roll into a log and refrigerate overnight and then cut into slices.
They were ok. I think the water content of my rain soaked flowers turned the cookies soft though.
I was hoping for a snappier shortbread.

Still trying to get out and get a walk in as regularly as I'm able (though after the Great Forcythia Massacre, I crawled into the shower - that's as far as I was walking.)
It's fun to see what's coming into bloom.