Hard Labor

Today was our weekly yard labor day. Kit Kat had to go to work. So she will work another day this week. Momoko asked that we start work early to avoid the heat. We planned to begin at 8am.

The first task was to trim tree branches above the place where our shed will be built. The shed people said they needed 15 feet clearance in the air. Our back yard has a lot of trees. Little Kat and I struggled last week to trim the lower branches. By lower I mean 10 to 14 feet off the ground. There were higher ones to deal with today.

I got the ladder out, and raised its height to match the high branches. For some reason, I was the only one who went up on the ladder. I attacked the thickest branch first. It was difficult to cut down. I felt my one arm in pain as it tried to hang onto the tree for dear life. I stood very high on the ladder. Momoko tried to help from the ground by pulling down on the branch. It ended up falling down on her an injuring her.

The tree with the thinner branches was easier. I still had to climb high on the ladder and hang onto the tree. But the saw ripped through the branches. I had Momoko and Little Kat resize the ladder and bring it out front. Little Kat kicked the bottom of the ladder. Momoko had to grab the ladder as it fell. Mind you, the ladder was extended to about 16 feet. Momoko probably got injured again dealing with the falling ladder.

Momoko and Little Kat were broken, so they took a break inside. I picked up sticks and mowed the leaves from the storm. Momoko and Little Kat continued picking up the sticks as I mowed. I wanted to finish more work, but Momoko and Little Kat were done. I was even feeling exhausted. We still had a lot planned for the day.