I
went to the office in the morning and had a fairly productive work day
in the air conditioned comforts of the office (cold enough that I needed
a sweater!)
Summer is the time when several of my colleagues go on vacations abroad. When they come back, they bring souvenir goodies. Today, I found someone had brought back these mini-boxes of candy coated chocolates. I loved Smarties as a child:
 |
| Candy Coated Chocolate |
One
of my friends gave me some avocadoes from her tree; I will share them with my
daughter:
 |
| Avocadoes |
They are not ripe yet, but they'll ripen in a few days.
When I came home, this was the sight that greeted me:
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| Fallen Eucalyptus Branch |
Another branch had fallen from the self-trimming eucalyptus tree! A bigger branch, this time! The new growth at the end of the branches are too heavy, I guess. I sure wished I had that chainsaw, still!
 |
| From a different angle |
Anne, I thought of your mom and her self-trimming tree.
Thank goodness it fell on the bare lawn and not on the roof of the house! I felt a little upset by this turn of events. Once I went inside, I called my gardener friend and left a message for him. I will ask him to start trimming some of the branches, if he can, or ask if he knows a tree trimmer. Maybe time to buy my own chainsaw?
It was too hot to do anything right then, so I had a cup of tea and watched the evening news. Then, at 7:00 p.m., I put on my gardening gloves, took my handsaw, and went to work!
My
cousin was watering her garden and she called out to me, so I went across the street to say hi
to her and talk about the fallen branch. She said neighbor E was out
of the country, on vacation, otherwise he might have helped me with the
branch. While we were talking, a complete stranger who was walking
past us offered to deal with the branch for me, but I didn't know him
and I was wary of accepting his help. So, I thanked him but said my
gardener will deal with it for me. It is sad; it might have been a completely genuine offer of help, but I was afraid he might have had an ulterior motive.
I came inside and rested a bit. Then, had dinner (a scrambled egg and toast; I had had rice, fish curry, and cabbage for lunch). Called one of my friends and wished her for her birthday. Except, it wasn't her birthday, today! Her birthday is in September! Today is her youngest granddaughter's birthday. I told her that, very often, I remember people's birthday before the day and after the day, but often forget on the day! So, if I forget to wish her in September, consider herself wished! LOL.
My neighbor T called me and we chatted briefly.
I didn't finish my to do list for today, but I made a good start on it.
Wednesday's To Do List:
- Office - DONE
- Launder sofa dust sheets
- Water the front garden - CLEARED the fallen branch, instead!
- Tidy the kitchen - STARTED; put away the dried dishes from yesterday, did today's dishes, cleared and wiped down one counter, wiped the stove top, took the trash out.
- Water the houseplants - DONE
- Office - DONE
- Launder sofa dust sheets
- Water the front garden - CLEARED the fallen branch, instead!
- Tidy the kitchen - STARTED; put away the dried dishes from yesterday, did today's dishes, cleared and wiped down one counter, wiped the stove top, took the trash out.
- Water the houseplants - DONE
- Clean litter box - Will do before I go to bed.
Thursday's To Do List:
- Office
- Launder sofa dust sheets
- Water front garden
- Tidy the kitchen
- Tidy the family room
- Pick up daughter from airport
Today, I am grateful for:
- The falling branch didn't damage the house or any car parked by the curb in front of my house.
- It fell at a time when I am well enough to deal with it.
- Avocados from my friend
- Air conditioning at the office
- One more sleep and daughter will be here!
How was your Wednesday?
Smarties are my most favourite.
ReplyDeletePlease be careful with the tree Bless. I would hate for anything to fall on you! X
Smarties aren't normally available here, unless at a few ethnic stores that import them.
DeleteYes, Jules, I'm being careful. I want to get that tree trimmed as soon as possible. I promise.
I too used to love smarties! you could make a packet last a long time too.
ReplyDeleteOne of our neighbours used to have a Eucalyptus tree - which grew amazingly fast. She lives next door but one and when the wind was really strong it would bend so much it almost reached our garden. Hers didn't keep itself in order and sadly she had to cut it down. Obviously not native to this country, but it's always sad when a tree goes.
We grow what trees we can by seed ( acorns etc) and even though there is a limit to what we can have in our garden we either keep them in pots or give them away. We see trees - especially the long life ones - as a bit of a legacy for the future.
You did well with what you achieved - Definitely shows you are gaining in strength - but don't overdo it.
DeleteYes, trees are a legacy aren't they? I've not had much luck with the trees I've planted, but this eucalyptus and a pine tree have defied the odds! I want to concentrate more on fruit trees, as the ones I have growing in my garden now are showing signs of stress from our recent drought. My peach tree died and the replacement peach tree also died. Now, my cherry guava tree looks like it, too, might be dying. But, I've plans to plant another peach tree and maybe one or two other fruit trees this fall. Trees, especially fruit trees, are a symbol of optimism, I think - that we will live long enough and still be here to enjoy the fruit, several years down the road! :)
Smarties are the best chocolate ever! My daughter is also coming home for the weekend- I hope you have a great time
ReplyDeleteSiobhan
Siobhan, hope you have a lovely visit with your daughter when she comes home, this weekend. Hope all is well with you.
DeleteI understand falling branches all too well and they are a pain to deal with. Next time we're dealing with one, I will have to remember your positive attitude and the fact that I am healthy enough to clean it up.
ReplyDeleteI will admit I wasn't very happy when I pulled into my driveway and saw that big branch on the ground! There was a minute or two when I felt like crying, but, then, I said a prayer of gratitude that it fell where it did and not on the house. I thought I could try to deal with it to the extent possible and felt blessed that I felt well enough and was strong enough to clean it up to the extent that I did. And I am glad that I recognized when I had done enough!
DeleteThat was so nice of your co-worker to think of you on their trip, and of the other to bring you avocados. Such a saving too! I'm happy your daughter is coming to visit you! Mine will be here on Sunday, we'll celebrate her birthday, and then I'll drive her back to her college town on Monday. I can't wait to see her, phone conversations are frustrating because the connection is usually pretty bad and texting takes too much time, lol.
ReplyDeleteI was chuckling, thinking of tiny you with a big chainsaw :) Way to go for cutting down as much as you could on your own. Yes it might be wise to get a tree trimmer to come take care of pruning the tree, especially if it's close to your house. We have the trees around our house trimmed every few years. The large one above Greg's shed really needs to come down, it's shed really large branches on its own and so far we've been lucky that they've missed the shed (Greg built it on his own from the ground up several years ago and the county made him build it to hurricane code so it'd be a shame to lose it to a tree branch!). But it's also right on the property line between our property and a city easement that hasn't been enforced by the city. We've already paid several thousands of dollars to get other trees that were on the easement taken down because back then we were worrying about the kids playing in the backyard so we're not eager to pay to remove that one too but also I don't have the energy to fight with City Hall about it so we'll probably end up paying for that one too. Our city is kind of a hot mess. Be safe with that tree and the chainsaw. It was wise of you to recognize that you were tired and that accidents happen when people are tired!
Nathalie, I'm so glad your daughter will be visiting you this weekend! I hope you have a lovely visit and please wish her a happy birthday from me. I remember you writing about celebrating her last birthday and I can't quite believe it has been a year, already! Wow!
DeleteYes, the tree needs to be pruned or maybe even cut down! I planted it to get some shade but it has grown too tall!
Haha. You are well ahead of the game by phoning people up and wishing them Happy Birthday a month in advance of their Special Day. I had to laugh, especially after having a discussion on remembering anniversaries. Too funny.
ReplyDeleteI either wish them well in advance or after the fact. Sigh. One year, I forgot a good friend's birthday and she was upset with me. Until she found out that I had forgotten my daughter's birthday, too! I mentioned her birthday to daughter when I said goodnight to her the night before, but forgot to wish her when I called her in the morning of the day! I said, "Good morning" and daughter said, after a short pause, "Don't you mean happy birthday?" LOL. Imagine that!
DeleteBLess your heart.. How frustrating that the branches fell. But happy they didnt hit your roof. I agree , it is so sad, that we can't trust people any more to help.. You are right, it is too dangerous to accept help from strangers now. sad..
ReplyDeleteYou be careful.. You worry me with your doing too much.. That tree cutting is HARD work.. take it easy.. smile.
Thanks, Judy. The adrenaline rush kept me going! But I knew better than to push myself. After two years of not being able to do things, I feel happy that I am beginning to feel I can do stuff!
DeleteFor fun there is a delightful advert on Youtube for smarties from the 60's - I can still sing that silly jiggle to this day and yes they do taste different to M&Ms
ReplyDeleteTake care getting that branch cleaned up - let your gardener friend handle it.
Smarties were what I knew, growing up. I didn't have M&Ms till I came here. I like them, too. :)
DeleteI cleaned up most of the leafy bits, but the big branch is there for him to tackle. I keep thinking there must be something I can do with the branch...need to think about that, a bit.