Progress Not Perfection . . .

Yesterday afternoon and this morning were spent working on the backyard. My first post yesterday included a couple of photos of the "before" situation there. Here is what has been accomplished in 24 hours:
I have cut back, pulled, raked, pulled some more. I am thrilled that I can finally see the birdbath and it actually has water instead of leaves in it now. Need to level it as it has gotten off-kilter in the past 3 years but the first photo shows that the birds are already happy about it.

Once I have cleared up to the ivy line I will bring in some pine straw mulch and put it in. We're having a huge drought here in GA and because the soil is mostly clay it is very difficult to loosen. I sprayed it all down once I cleared it so it will be easier to till later this afternoon but I think it's a losing battle.

Based on what I've done in the past 24 hours I think if I spend 1-2 hours every night this week I can get a handle on this situation.

The huge drawback is this:

Yup my friends, this is POISON IVY and it seems to be running rampant on the fence line this year. I am really strong. I own and can use power tools. But faced with PI I am a wimp. I am so terribly allergic that I start itching when I see it. If I come in contact I usually have to go on steroids. Seriously. If I pull weeds that are dried up and dead but came within PI range within the past year I get the rash. It is bad and I have had enough bad experiences that now I'm paranoid about it. So I uncovered these babies earlier today and immediately sprayed them down with Round-Up (which doesn't help - that oil stays active forever but at least I made it SUFFER!). When I have to clear PI I have to put on long sleeves and gloves and face masks and go do it and then immediately rub myself down with Tech-Nu (great product) then shower and scrub my whole body with a wire brush and put whatever I was wearing into a hot washer that is half clorox. Today was not a day I wanted to do that. So I worked around it. Still, I just have this funny feeling that somehow I will get it.