trees

I was so proud of my Lombardy poplars in the fall of 2008.  In a few short months they had grown from twigs to trees.  Those weeds in the background are part of the reason I wanted the neighbor's place hidden; that, and I wanted a little privacy.  

You can see that those babies are now doing the job, after only two years.  The trouble is, Lombardy Poplars don't live long.  Also, they send out shoots everywhere, so you have little trees sprouting where you don't want them.  Because of the way they spread, you must make sure they aren't too close to the septic lines; we did that.  
I had a plan:  I'd plant Norway Spruce trees on the east side of the poplars; once those got a good start, we'd remove the poplars.  

See near the base of the first poplar, on the left?  I know it looks tiny, but it's actually about three feet tall.  

This shows you the row of spruce; some don't show up too well because we had a slight problem.  Four of them died, and this year I replaced the dead ones with new baby spruce trees.  

Like this one; isn't he cute?  

A couple of them got mowed the first year.  So they suffered a setback.  

Here's the other one.  


I have a problem: In order for the spruce trees to make it, we're going to have to remove the poplar trees this year because, obviously, as close as they are, they'll smother or crowd out the little trees.  At this point I wish I had not gotten the Norway Spruce trees; the poplars are doing such an excellent job.  They don't have a long life span, but we could have planted more when they began to die.  
But because of money invested in the Norway Spruce trees, I refuse to sacrifice them.  
My only hope is that I will live long enough to see the spruce trees doing their job.  

Well, it's hot

My sister-in-law introduced us to "beer-butt chicken" yesterday. It's so named because you stick an open can of beer up the chicken's butt and then grill it. If the picture looks a bit cloudy, it's because I brought the camera out of my cool, cool house out into the hot, wet outdoors, causing it to steam over.

I haven't had much to say lately, I know. Not that I ever did have much to say; but that didn't stop me from saying it anyway. I've been enjoying all the comforts of my "new" home.

I lived over sixty-three years without air conditioning. For sixty of those years, I pooh-poohed the idea of having A/C. After all, my grandma got by just fine, canning and cooking and quilting through the hot Missouri summers. What a bunch of pansies people have become, I'd tell folks, with a sneer on my face.

Now I have a cool place, and I'm converted. With high temps nearing 100 and humidity so bad it feels like you'd do well to develop fins, I thank God every time I step into my cool, comfy house.

I now have a front porch, and I usually drink my first cup of morning coffee there, watching hummingbirds drink sugar-water from the feeder.


Sadie has been enjoying the porch with me; sometimes she lies down in front of the deck box, like below. Other times she'll set up camp on the bottom step.


I know it's hard to tell in this picture with Marvin's weeds in the background, but the Lombardy Poplars we planted in spring are as tall as I am now. Hard to believe they were only twigs last May.
Life is good here in the Missouri tropics.