TREE REMOVALS

 We had a tree service in yesterday to remove some trees and to trim up a couple.  They got it all done and it has changed the openness for viewing the river.  Three of the trees taken down were dying and the fourth was always dropping limbs.  We had two trees in the front yard trimmed up and it really makes it brighter in the front yard.  Took a lot of pictures and have trimmed it down to these.

 This is one of the trees in the front yard that needed trimming.

This is how it look after being trimmed.

This is the other tree that needed trimming.

The after look.

This is an old Cedar tree right outside the kitchen window that was dying.

Down it comes.

They stuck the whole tree in one piece into the chipper.

There is the end of the Cedar tree.

This was the Willow tree that was so messy and not really of any value.

This was just as the tree was coming down, but the tree service truck blocked the view.

The also stuck the Willow tree in the chipper in one whole piece.

The end of the Willow.

The new view with the Willow gone.

The two Pine trees in the middle of the picture were the other two trees removed.  They were dying.

Preparing the first one.  He climbed 3/4 the way up the tree and tied the rope.

Rope tight and ready to be cut.

Making the last cut.  I didn't get the tree falling, but it came down quickly.

This is the top half of the trunk of the first Pine tree.  The machine ate it right up.

End of the log.  They kept the bottom half to make into firewood.

Making the cuts on the second Pine tree.

It also had a rope tied up in the top and came down easily where they wanted it.

Pine trees gone and a new view to the river.

Patrick

DUCKS AND FLOWERS

Despite the rain and wind storms and the very hot weather, our outside flowers have weathered well and are looking good for half way through the summer.  Hope they make the second half as well.  We also have many ducks in the area.  We had three sitting on the dock this evening almost like they were "social distancing".  There are between 25 and 30 others that come around a lot and we discourage them from staying because of all the mess they make.  They are mostly the young ones from this years hatch.  They will make some hunters very happy this fall.  Enjoy the pictures.

These are the "social distancing" ducks.  I think it is a mother and two daughters.

Pretty purple flowers.

Some sorta red ones.

These sort of look white, but are really yellow.

Some pink ones.

This is a Day Lily that has the pretty purple flowers.  All the other ones have yellow flowers.

This is in a pot at our front door.  There were two other flowers in the pot, but they didn't make it.

This is a patch of Hostas  in front of the house.  Lots of flowers on them this year.

Patrick

NEW INDOOR PLANTS AND OUTDOOR GARDENS

We have two new types of indoor plants.  Two to replace one that died and two we haven't had before.  Our Christmas Cactus finally bit the dust this spring.  It had been on the decline for awhile.  Now we have two new ones that we hope will make it big time.  We also got two new Aloe plants.  Haven't had any of them for many years.  I use to have them, but they either died or got tossed along the way.  They are great for soothing a burn.  Just nip off a tip of one of the arms and rub it on the burn.  They also help with an itch sometimes.  My garden is up and growing, but I think this may be the last year.  I can't get them to grow like they use to, and I have tried several fixes to no success.  I think maybe I have tried to much and have the soil all screwed up.  The plants are nice and green, but just not growing big like they should.  The Cucumbers are taking for ever to grow and start spreading out.  Hope they make a crop.  I do have two nice Tomatoes and a Pepper plant in pots that are doing well.  I notice this morning that there is one Tomato on one of the plants already and several more blooms.  I am also experimenting with some Radishes in a pot.  The tops are growing well, don't know yet if they will makes Radishes.  Here are some pictures.  Enjoy.


These are the two new Christmas Cacti.  The one on the right has been planted for about 10 days.  The one on the left was planted today. 

These are the two Aloe plants.

The garden

The pot garden.  The Day Lilies are blooming nicely also.

Patrick

NEW TOYOTA

Pat picked up her new 2020 Toyota Highlander yesterday.  It has been a struggle, but well worth it.  The new one has been at the dealers for almost two months, but not ready because they couldn't get the leather material for the seats and we didn't want to take delivery until it was all ready.  The dealer tried to talk us into taking the car and bringing it back when they got the material.  We said no.  The material was coming from California and couldn't be shipped because of the virus thing having the company shut down that was sending it.  It did finally get here and looks great.  Pat traded in her 2009 Toyota Highlander on the new one.  For being 11 years old, it was in excellent shape and only had a little over 69,000 miles on it.  Hope the new one does as well.  Here are some pictures of both cars.

This is the 2009 model that was traded in.

Another shot of the 2009 model.

This is the new 2020 model.

Another shot of the new 2020 model.

Patrick

MISC. STUFF

Some pictures of recent things going on around the Murphy/Anderson residence. I will explain at each picture.

This is our Crab Apple tree in full bloom in the last week or so.  We are hoping it pollinated our Honey Crisp Apple tree which is near by.

This is the only shot I could get of an Indigo Bunting that visited one of our bird feeders.  He didn't stay long and I haven't seen him since.

This is my Cherry tree with some of the blooms still there.  It was really pretty white a few days ago and I didn't get the picture then.  Hope it has lots of cherries this year.

This is our Honey Crisp Apple tree in bloom.  If we get one apple for each two blooms it will be a good crop.

Pat and I went for a boat ride today.  She didn't want her picture taken, but I prevailed.  Looking good in my estimation.

After the boat ride today we sat on the deck for some libations.  This shows what the temperature was at the time.

Even though it wasn't real sunny, it was bright enough to make me squint.  Maybe I needed another libation. Pat took the picture and did a fine job.  Just had a poor subject to work with.

Patrick

Flowers for 2020

This past Monday we got the flowers for in front of the house and yesterday we got the hanging basket flowers for the back side of the house.  Hope they do as good this year as in the past.  They are all set up with the drip watering system and just needing sunshine now.  Below are the pictures.


These are the type I get each year and re-pot them in this stand that was made for us by a very good friend.  Thanks again Chuck.

This is the pot that sits on the ground in front of the house where the Hostas are located.  You can see one starting to come up in the background.

One of the hanging baskets in the back.  That twig was left there by a Tree Swallow that perches on the Shepard's hook quite often.

Another hanging basket.  We always have one yellow one each year.

Another hanging basket.

And last but not least, another hanging basket in purple.

Patrick