Raking:
As we were unthinking enough to build a house on the southeast side of a street, at a bend in the road, I have been paying the price. (Since this house is compass oriented the same as our previous house, I should have thought about that!) The winds manage to scatter the leaves that the neighbors don't get raked up, into our yard. You may recall that, this summer, our sugar maple and redbud trees were removed from the front yard leaving only a gingko tree. The gingko tree has not yet started to turn. Within a few nights of its leaves' turning yellow, the leaves will all fall off.
In the photo, below, which shows about one-fourth of our front lawn, one can see that I've started raking in the foreground. It took me two days (and filling/emptying my 28-gallon leaf bin several times) to "clear" the yard. "Clear" is in quotation marks because the wind has already replenished the supply. BTW: I must admit that there was one (green) gingko leaf in the raking. Raking is part of my exercise program during the fall months.

Yellow Rose:
This is a blossom on the mistakenly-labeled rose that was supposed to have been a (red) Mr Lincoln. I really like it!

Carolina wren:
At least two Carolina wren are year-round residents. That species is one of the few bird species still hanging around. The hummingbirds left a couple of weeks ago, at which time the Eastern phoebes also disappeared. The house finches haven't put in an appearance for a while; but, they are probably still in the area - someplace.

Redbud trees going, going....
When Benny & his crew took out our dead sugar maple, they also (at my request, of course) took out the clump of redbud trees in our front yard - shown, below, as they bloomed this past spring.

A couple of weeks ago, neighbor Fred's dead trees fell into our yard. When he finally got them cleared away (except for a 20-foot limb that remained hanging from one of our trees), I could see the damage done to our redbud tree near the steps to the woods - shown, below, as it bloomed this past spring.

Below are photos showing how Fred left the little redbud tree - with a less-than-adequate attempt to splice back the main header. Note the duct-taped "splice" that Fred attempted to hold one of the main limbs to the header and to let the split header grow back together - to the left of the pink tape.

Tell me how well you think a splice works that is attempted more than one week after the damage. In the photo, below, the split extends 20-25 inches to the right. The photo was taken after I started unwrapping the tape to assess the damage (two weeks after the damage and one week after Fred attempted the splice). As one may see, the main branch had been held to the header by a couple of wraps of the tape. Note that the split of the header extended down-trunk (to the right) for about two feet and that, at best, there was a half-inch air gap between the two surfaces of the "splice" - with bugs already eating away at the heart wood.

There were two other branches that could have benefited by the timely application of a real splice. IMHO, by the time the dead trees were removed, only some very fancy sawing and fitting and splinting could have saved the three branches and leader of the little redbud. Well...bless his heart...Fred tried. The tree was a volunteer that I had nursed for at least 15 years, so it has only emotional value.
I clean-cut the header below the end of the split and lopped off the three main branches that were hanging. It doesn't look like much, but it should be healthy. In time (which, at my age, I don't have!) I'm guessing that the tree will become lovely, once again. BTW: The apparent offshoot from the trunk, about a foot off of the ground, is actually a stump from a tree that I sawed down. It is marked with yellow paint to tell Benny & his crew (scheduled to do their annual work, this coming Monday) that the stump is to be taken out.

There is one more redbud of concern in our yard. It is the only redbud that I actually paid for and paid to have planted - in 2000. Unfortunately, it grew...and our neighbors changed...and our latest neighbors decided (rightly) that they should install a fence to corral their small children and dogs. Further, the neighbors decided upon a dog-eared board fence and set it just enough closer to the property line that my redbud tree was in the way. Adam asked permission to take off a couple of branches. I suggested that, since he is young and strong and owning of a chain saw, he take the tree down, totally. He chose to remove the two branches and that section of the fence was pretty much installed that day.
This past spring the tree bloomed, beautifully - as in the photo, below.

Do you see the problem? The fence had been installed in February. The added weight of the blossoms (and, later, the leaves) caused the large branches to rub against the fence. Monday, I will have Benny and his crew remove the tree. I hate to lose the tree; but, I cannot have it troubling our neighbors. I had thought to ask Benny to just remove the half of the tree involved in the interference with the fence; but, I've decided that such an operation would be difficult and that, at some later time, the rest of the tree would become bothersome. I will have another redbud tree planted 20-40 feet from the fence. I'm sure that it will become just as lovely and, who knows? I might, at least, live long enough to see the new tree bloom if I can buy a large enough tree to start with.
Health Update:
Flu Shot
When Hunky Husband got his Flusone quadrivalent flu shot in early September, I did not go with him. I habitually wait until October on the theory that the shot is only effective for a few months and I want to cover the deepest part of the flu season. I got a Fluad quadrivalent shot on Monday (the 12th). The following two paragraphs are taken from Cover-Tek.
Trivalent
There are hundreds of A-strains that are mutating constantly and hard to predict, while there are only two B-strains. The trivalent vaccine protects against three different flu viruses: the two most common A strains (H1N1 and H3N2) and one B strain (either Massachusetts or Brisbane), whichever is predicted to affect citizens most strongly in a given year.
Quadrivalent
This form offers the same benefits as the trivalent vaccine, with the added bonus of covering both B-strains, so four strains total. Experts see this as beneficial since both B-strains have been detected within the United States in the past 10 years.
Tooth Crown
Friday (the 16th) I had the crown re-cemented on my #9 tooth. I had been warned by Dr Shahzada that the installation might not last long since, this being the 4th crown to have been installed on the tooth since 1966 there wasn't much tooth left on which to anchor the crown. The original installation of this 4th crown, accomplished five weeks ago, had always felt wobbly and didn't seem to me to be properly aligned. I was led to wonder if it had been seated properly and/or if the cement had not properly cured around the perimeter. Thursday night, in cleaning my teeth prior to going to bed, the crown had come off.
I must say that, although Dr S wants to have an implant put in the #9 position, and is consulting a colleague who does implants, this cementing job feels different than did the original. I'm wondering if this installation will prove more durable.
Recent Comments