Hey Pam! . Hope you had a good Mother's Day. One of my grandmothers taught me a lot, including... girls can do things too... and...no whining. She grew up on a farm, had a bunch of sisters (either 8 or 9, I'll have to check again) but just one brother (the youngest). lol
Back to trees... The pear tree is trying to recover. The deer will eat off those leaves. Grass is spreading down to the driveway now. New growth on the oak tree limb where the pear tree used to interfere. That limb will have to be cut off some, otherwise it will break at the trunk. That will be a mess. Added to the to-do list.
Sunday 5/12 Heavy rain Saturday night, should have been enough to cause a leak in the barn roof, but there was none, not even damp insulation on the ceiling. Fingers crossed. Replaced the mower blades. Still not cutting perfectly even but barely noticeable. Could be a slightly bent shaft? Ended up mowing the whole lawn just to check it out, and it didn't even need mowing (imo). The neighbor will be upset I got ahead of her. Found the rattle without getting off the mower seat. A bar connecting the wheel to the steering is bouncing against the pulley that comes from the engine, when you turn sharply. This bug was crawling up the wall near the empty spider cage. Turns out to be the nymph form of those ugly Wheel Bugs (aka Assassin Bugs) I found last fall that bite. I should have killed it. It might be after my spiders. Electric current is showing up to 1000 volts on the fence on the inner pasture. Found at least one problem but it started raining. Maybe I'll tackle that tomorrow. Speaking of roofs, the roofer never got back with an estimate for the mobile home, and it is an easy job. Thinking back, I talked to 3 different guys, 2 just on the phone, and all 3 seemed to be trying to push me into making an insurance claim for hail damage. That would be ridiculous. I'll give them a call, but already inclined to look for someone else because of that.
Mountain Music - Alabama "Swim across the river Just to prove that I'm a man Spend the day being lazy Just being nature's friend .. Climb a long tall hickory Bend it over skinning cats Playing baseball with chert rocks Using sawmill slats for bats" Skinning Cats "When I was a kid you would shinny up a tall thin sapling and let go with feet and hope like crazy your weight would bend the tree to the ground. That is called skinning cats." .-anonymous (best muted)
Similar to swinging birches mentioned by Robert Frost: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44260/birches
It Needs More Cowbell I belonged to an all girl cheering club in high school, called the Spartanettes. We were assigned to bring a particular item for each football game. One week we were all supposed to bring a bell to ring. My grandfather put a handle on this old cowbell for me. I had, without a doubt, the loudest bell in the group. "More Cowbell" is a comedy sketch that aired on Saturday Night Live on April 8, 2000. The sketch featured guest host Christopher Walken as music producer, Bruce Dickinson, and regular cast member Will Ferrell, as fictional cowbell player, Gene Frenkle. As a result of its popularity, "More Cowbell" became an American pop culture catchphrase. More cowbell can stand for anything that a person is longing for, or feels is lacking.
There is a cowbell in the recording of the song Don't Fear the Reaper, but you can barely hear it. It got in there under similar circumstances to the SNL skit. I noticed the drummer was the one who couldn't keep from laughing in the skit. Interview with Albert Bouchard drummer of BOC.
A couple of years ago I had one lemon and two peach trees. We discovered tho that their roots were impinging on my water/sewer pipes and I had to lop two of them. I still have one peach but it is a poor bearer of fruit. I do have two fruit bearing mandarin trees which usually gives me a good yield if I get to them before those pesky cockatoos have their fill..
We planted two maples in the front of our home about a decade ago as part of a refurbishment. I love them when in full multi-color bloom in late autumn (fall) just before they fall. Then I spend the next fortnite raking up the pesky leaves. That I dont love
One of the worst trees for invasive roots may be the mulberry. They have bright orange roots that look like carrots. My neighbor had one, and the roots clogged up a drain pipe running from my basement.