"Mental Health Day"

Actually, it's more a case of "I'm maxing out my PTO again!" day...

I'm takin' tomorrow off to run some errands, get my hair touched up, and probably putter around in the yard for a few hours.

I'd started hacking-down some of the cannas a few days ago. I normally use an ancient pair of K-Mart Hedge Clippers (the old fashioned "chop-chop" monster-scissors variety). But with the quantity of stuff that I have to hack down, that really wasn't the most productive tool...

So, while thumbing through the Sportsmans Guide Catalog, I spied a machete for a decent price. "Heeeeyyyyyy!!! That could work!" I could don my fedora and hack-and-slash my way through the jungle, Indiana Jones Style, right?

Welllllll... For twenty bucks, I shouldn't have had my hopes set *too* high! But the item description clearly said stuff like: "Whack! Clear foliage with a single swipe!" and "fine razor's edge with "toothy" serrated saw on top."

Okay, they were right about the toothy serrated saw (which I haven't tried b/c I've already got a good pruning saw). But the "fine razor's edge" is cerainly open to debate!

"Well, maybe if I whack REAL HARD..."

Nada! Not even on wimpy half-dead cannas - which are just fleshy-stemmed plants, maybe 1" in diameter.

At first, I was worried "What if I slip and hit my leg?" - and envisioned myself with some gaping, gushing leg-wound. HA!!! This thing wouldn't cut warm butter!!!

I wouldn't even attempt to cut anything woody with this thing. It'd probably bounce-back and I'd end up giving myself a concussion!

I have an ePal whose S/O is into knives, so I've sent off an inquiry. What little Googling I've done seems to indicate that inexpensive machetes aren't worth the effort to even TRY to sharpen. :::sigh::: I'll hope for a better answer than the one I'm expecting to get!

So I suspect I'll be doing LOTS of deep-knee-bends and hacking away - ever so slowly - with our antique hedge clippers tomorrow...

But once it's done, it's done! (At least for THIS season!)

Then, if my energy holds out, I'll probably whip out the cordless drill and jigsaw - and think about building my Self-Contained Planters. Then maybe rummage through the shed and try to retrieve my Jiffy Peat Pellets so I can start my tomato and pumpkin seeds in the bathroom.

It's supposed to be 69* and sunny tomorrow - so it'll feel good to get outside!