Torrefaction

Gardening seems like a good antidote for my infertility-based bummage.  I mean, it won't make me pregnant but it's girly and it's about new life and what have you, and it gives me a (probably false) sense that I'm not a total failure as a woman.  So I'm going to fling myself into it as soon as I can.  The temp's a little too unpredictable yet for anything crazy like rose cultivating, though - killing things isn't going to cheer me up--so I decided I'd get to work on the landscaping side of the equation, carting dirt around in a wheelbarrow, de-rocking the space behind the garage, or whatever else needs doing. Even though that's a teeny bit less girly than coaxing tender seedlings up to the sun, etc.

This is the hideous shrub group - a Juniper with 3 thorn bushes sort of woven into it.  This was here when we bought the house, so it's not really our fault, although I didn't keep up with the pruning last year because it seemed pointless.  I've been limited in what I could do to give it a nice shape. The lower parts of the juniper are masses of dead twigs with the vaguest hint of greenery on the outside, so I can't cut far into it when I prune...or can I?

Meet my new toy, the DeWalt Reciprocating saw.  I opted for the DeWalt instead of the SawZall because the Dewalt is way cuter.  Seriously, that was my whole decision process.  The SawZall weighs the same and does the same thing, but is ugly.  My uterus may be misshapen but damnit, my power tools WILL be pleasing to the eye!

Even the saw blades are yellow!  How adorable is that? 

So the saw and I made this big heap of branches...

...and here's my cute little Juniper bush!  Yay!