up on the rooftop

One of those "projects" that we [Alex] hadn't gotten around to yet was cleaning out the gutters. Did you know that if you don't clean out your gutters regularly they start to grow little mini trees in them? I've discovered that over the years. It sounds cute when I say "mini trees," but it's kind of gross.

Alex on the roof; surveying his territory. Notice the little trees sprouting in the gutters. Also notice the fronds of the walnut tree arching into the left-hand side of the frame. A couple hours after this photo was taken, I was standing on a ladder--the one pictured below, in fact--hacking away at stray limbs. Wearing a dress with my sunglasses slipping off the bridge of my perspiring nose, I wasn't quite the model tree trimmer. But I did enjoy myself and when I said, "this is fun," and Alex almost fell out. He married a woman who hates nature and yard work. This is true, but he also married a woman whose patience has never been her strong suit and when she wants something done, she wants something done now (and now means before she even thought she wanted it). So when our realtor advised that we cut back a few of the branches on the tree, and I found myself with a ladder and a hacksaw on a sunny afternoon...what's a girl to do?

But gutter cleaning and tree hacking weren't the only day's activities. Prior to my manic tree clipping episode, Catcher and I were drawing on the street. This is the birthday cake and birthday hat he wanted me to draw: