Serious Family Time

Every year, Art and Mary Lemley (along with Violet's Auntie Paige, the spaniel), drive all the way out from Iowa to visit us and to completely transform the quality of our home. On this latest trip, we (and I use the term "we" loosely, as I mostly just sit and watch) completed 29 separate projects--everything from replacing the water heater and trimming the tree in the back to repairing our door lock and programming a universal remote. It is though we stepped out of the Iron Age straight into the 1780s, whatever that feels like.

The most amazingly significant project we created was the removal of about 100 yards of ivy along the side of our house. As you can see from this "before" photo, the ivy was massive (use Violet for scale), and, according to our neighbor, had been there for as long as I have been alive!

With the aid of a chainsaw and our now-patented "cut and bail" removal technique, we made serious progress. The next photo was taken in the middle of the process. Notice the incredible tangle of ivy, as impenetrable as the deepest reaches of the Amazon Rain Forest. But this poor ivy had never met the Lemleys!

This final shot shows the point at which we ended the bailing and began the fine-toothed work of clearing out as many of the ivy roots as we could. Yes, we had rented a dumpster for the purpose of collecting all the green waste and hauling it away. We also gained another half-square of sidewalk, which is good.


Now I know you're probably thinking "Justin, what's with the ivy? I'm here to see pictures of Violet and to read your incredible witty commentary." But you really just have to see this to believe it. The amount of work this took was extraordinary, and it just goes to show how lucky Violet (and her parents) are to have such generous and helpful family members. We were so grateful for the help and we always look forward to their visits each year.

And although we do complete a project or two in between visits, the list for 2008 has already begun.