My LOVE-HATE Relationship With Trees

I have a LOVE-HATE relationship with trees. Not all trees, just the two black walnut trees in our front yard. 

 I LOVE the trees, but here's the little buggers that make me HATE the trees!

Each early Fall I find myself picking up dozens, hundreds, no, pails full of these darn black walnuts that plunk to the ground. Just when I have a batch retrieved, plink, another one falls. Then his friends follow. Plink, plink, plink!

"Why don't you buy a nut gatherer?" said my college friends that were visiting recently. After a few snickers, and some dirty jokes running through my head, I thought, what have I got to lose?

Here it is, but as you can see by my face, I'm a bit skeptical.

But this nut gatherer quickly became my new best friend. It took me about 15 minutes to fill these pails, and NO bending over! Of course, I have filled these pails again, and again, and again, and again. Five days, before the walnuts stopped dropping, but NO bending over! 

So a huge shout-out to Jim and Mary for the recommendation to buy the Garden Weasel Large Nut Gatherer. No, I am not getting paid to endorse this product, I just know there is someone else out there having a LOVE-HATE relationship with black walnut trees.

Plink, plink, plink. Dang, there's more!