Eeeeeeeeeeeeevil.

It constantly surprises me how much of farming is killing things. I spent hours yesterday pulling the pretty princess pictured above out of all manner of unfortunate places. She loves to snuggle up with anyone, and seems to have no standards. Left alone, she'll take over, insinuating herself into every crack and crevice, insuring that no one else can get close. I hate that bitch.

For those of you who, like me until recently, don't know who that is, that's poison ivy. And yes, The Coasters were singing in my head ALL DAY.

I had to pull the ivy out before I could start reclaiming a chunk of land that Mother Nature has been trying to take back for years. I can't go in with a weed whacker (or "string trimmer" for you professionals) until the ivy is cleared. Whacking is will only lead to more ivy. More ivy is bad.

So I pulled out a garbage bag full of the stuff. I dressed up in the functional equivalent of a haz-mat suit so she couldn't inflame my soul (or skin). It took a good couple of hours, as you have to get as much of the root as possible, otherwise you're wasting your time. She's impressively persistent.

And now a word from our sponsor:

"Measles make you bumpy

And mumps'll make you lumpy

And chicken pox'll make you jump and twitch

A common cold'll fool ya'

And whooping cough can cool ya'

But poison ivy, Lord'll make you itch!