Bonfires and Brambles

Living out in the country has it's advantages...especially if your husband is a PYRO...and especially since the previous owner left much to be burned.

We've had fun having bonfires in our pit in the backyard.

We've burned:

The strippers' dancefloor

The leftover pergo flooring from the kitchen that we didn't end up using in the laundry room.

Baseboards that we replaced

The old kitchen floor

The old Deck

Scattered pieces of wood scattered throughout the yard.

Tree limbs that are just lying everywhere.

Brambles--more on this later.

Ping pong table

Poker table

Doors with holes punched in them

Cabinets

...and the list probably goes on...but I can't think of anymore right now. It's been a lot, allowing us to spend many evenings sitting by the bonfire. ;)

We've got a little bench for Decker that is just his size.-- it came from the remnants of the old deck that has since been replaced, but had just been left to rot in the yard. ;)

Love the smell of dandylions...

Our yard hasn't been maintained in probably years. As I've walked around in the backyard, my clothes and my skin would be attacked by what I called "brambles". I don't know where I learned this term or if I made it up, but I've been getting a lot of questioning looks when I say there are "brambles" all over in the backyard. When I say it I'm referring to this pile of weeds that I pulled out of the ground. They are thorned weeds to blackberry bushes and they just sprawl all over the yard tripping you and hanging on to your skin and clothes if it can. So I spent an afternoon pulling up as much as I could and added it to our burn pile. What a great feeling to see that all go up in flames.

As of today, 5/13, I googled "brambles". And surprise surprise: Wikepedia has a most interesting definition:

"Brambles are thorny plants of the genus Rubus, in the rose family (Rosaceae). Bramble fruit is the fruit of any such plant, including the blackberry and raspberry.

Bramble bushes have a distinctive growth form. They send up long, arching canes...Many types of brambles bear edible fruit, and many have recurved thorns that dig into clothing and flesh when the victim tries to pull away from them. Some types also have hair-like thorns."

Well what do you know? I'm not as crazy as everyone thinks. ;)

Now that we've got a lot of the yard cleaned up and burned, we now have an even bigger woodpile to burn...

We had to have six trees cut down. Some were sick and some were leaning too far into the house. It was sad to see, these fall down. But, I have a feeling that this wood will last us a long time!

LONG LIVE THE BONFIRE!