Down It Comes

January 1 we woke to this . . . 

A hundred year old tree in our front yard which crunched our porch roof

We knew that it probably wasn't the healthiest tree but we figured it wasn't quite

ready to be taken down . . .

Were we mistaken!

And although it is pricey to have a tree taken down,

it's cheaper than the deductible on your insurance!

In back, we had an old tulip tree

Over the years we lived here, we've lost a lot of limbs from the tree

It also had ivy growing up it

Which wasn't good for the tree either!

And we made a decision in January

the tulip tree must come down on our terms

before it came down on our house!

Mr. Miller of Miller's Tree Service came today

Down came part of the fence so he could get his lift close to the tree

And he sawed and sawed away

From tall tree to stubby tree

From stubby tree to just a small part of a tree

And as the guys cleaned limbs and stumps from the back garden,

Mr. Miller worked on the final stage of the tree.

And it is down!

Not all the way down for we wanted a stump left

For we had a purpose for a tree stump

We thought it would make a great fairy house!

(like the one in the picture)

And we're working on getting that done!

Won't the grands be thrilled when they visit and see a big fairy house in the 

back garden?

A big thanks to Mr. Miller for he is a pro.

Trying to cut down that tree in our back garden

Was like walking through a mine field.

There were garden beds, fence, hot tubs, BBQ pavilions, ponds

to worry about.

Plus all of the things that they did move out of the way.

The garden looks different.

It's definitely went from a shady garden to a sunny one.

 

Spring Trees

The trees of Spring are so pretty.

Mother loved redbuds

But being careful with a dollar, she would never go out and buy one

No, we would stop and try to dig up a wild one.

After many attempts at digging one up and not succeeding

(they have roots down to China),

my brother and I finally bought her one as a Mother's Day gift

As because Mother loved redbuds, so do I.

In 1972, Jim and I, after all, moved to The Redbud City

Nevada, Missouri!

I love to look out on pretty things as I'm doing dishes so I like plants that I can see from the kitchen window.

I planted a redbud outside my kitchen window of our first house

but we moved before it grew very big

I didn't plant, but it grew, a redbud outside Linderhof's windows.

This from the upstairs window, directly over the kitchen one

It's grown and is a nice specimen.

Some years, I'll cut branches and bring inside.

On the south side of the house, we had a beautiful pink dogwood

Right outside the dining room window

But it was an old, pink dogwood, planted by Ruth I am sure.

By the time we came along it wasn't healthy and came down.

But when we first moved here in April, I loved to see the blooms outside the dining room window

We replaced it, but not in the same spot

It's till a little tree but today it is full of blooms.

I know you should not covet anything, but I do covet

my daughter's crab apple tree

It's an old tree

And a little mis-happen

because there was some street work done and she begged them not to cut the tree down

And they didn't!

But they did end up chopping off some of the branches on the left side.

It's a beautiful tree

And I did covet it.

Three years ago, we were up when the tree bloomed.

I was quite taken aback by it's beauty

And decided that there needed to be one at Linderhof.

I did my homework about pink blooming crab apples and what varieties there are

But I shouldn't have bothered.

Because by the time I got home, did my research and went out here to search

for a tree

there were few left

And this year, it is abloom!

It is the same variety as Sarah's.

The one tree that was left at Wal Mart that year!

It even leans right as does Sarah's tree.

That, believe me is not intentional,

but when you buy the only one left . . . 

And I can see it from the dining room window!

And it brings a smile to my face!

When you plant a tree, you're often planting it for those who come after you.

I'm sure that that is true of this tree.

And I hope they enjoy it as much as I.

 

The Spring Garden

My favorite garden is probably the Spring Garden

Winter is so brown here

We don't get much snow to cover the brownies

And the garden is really ugly in the winter

Because it's so BROWN!

But come April and the garden comes alive . . . 

Even the fairies have been tidying up their garden.

They planted lettuce and pansies and creeping thyme!

My favorite white daffodil -- Thalia

I simply adore their bloom!

Pansies hold a special place in my heart 

Especially appropriate since one name for them is heart's ease

These are a new variety

a perennial variety

They are cold hardy to -30

But I'm wondering if our hot and dry summers will do them in.

It's a $40 experiment and I hope it works!

They are absolutely adorable!

I love the little grape hyacinths

And I've just ordered 50 more to plant this fall . . .

And am pondering if I should make that 100!

Violas in purple

They, like pansies are high on my list of spring flowers

And I spend too much money on them considering

that they last only until June when I have to replace with summer annuals!

The tulips this year are amazing!

I think there are tulips there that I've not seen before!

These come back every year unlike most hybrid tulips that are great for one season, passable for the second and then they're gone.

I rarely plant tulips because they are pricey and I think of them as one season of bloom!

But not these guys -- they've been here since the first time I planted bulbs!

But, however, since I'm not a garden cataloguer, I don't know what kind they are to reorder and plant!

Tulips and daffodils in the bed by the fence.

I'm thinking that I will turn this space over to all bulbs!

That would be amazing!

With the flowers in the spring garden, garden flowers once again grace my tables.

And I so love to have garden flowers indoors

Especially after a cold winter like this years.