1. I thankful I can prune my ficus trees. Today was the day. I really didn't wake up thinking that was what I would do today, but I've learned that when I feel the need to do something, have the desire, and the energy, it's the best time to do it. A few years ago we were the recipients of a couple of ficus trees. They weren't too big at the time, but they really like our house and they do put on quite a bit of growth each year. Even though we have vaulted ceilings, we didn't really want trees that grew to the ceiling. For a long time, I didn't even realize they could be pruned. A couple of years ago I found some videos on youtube that showed ways to do it. I also just got brave, and thought, what's the worst thing that could happen. I started pruning, and took care to protect the floor from the oozing sap from the limbs where I pruned, hence the little pieces of white paper towel stuck here and there on the tree. After a while the towel pieces can be removed when the sap clots, for lack of a better word.
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| Ficus tree after being pruned (paper towel pieces stuck on limbs where it was pruned) |
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| The crocuses are blooming and the bees are happy. |
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| Grapes are ripening. |
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| Criterion apples are starting to sweeten. |
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| Waist-high garden planter
4. I'm thankful for the amazing clouds I've seen this past week. The one I saw on my way to the town yesterday, when I didn't have my camera with me, of course, was a cloud like I'd never seen. I would have turned around and gone back to the house to get my camera, but I'd promised my husband I'd be back to the house with a pizza before the big game started on TV. By the time I got home the cloud had moved far from view, and no doubt was either hidden by other clouds, or had changed somewhat in shape. After some google searching, I discovered a link that shows the kind of cloud I saw. It was a cumulonimbus cloud about 3/4 the height of the top left-hand photo in the link.
5. I'm thankful for finding that after using the blog hop tracking form I made, it really has made my life a little less stressful. Some of you who do a lot of blog hops may be able to keep everything straight in your mind each week, but that has been a challenge for me.
6. I'm thankful for new discoveries, even if it is something as little as actually seeing an arrow showing you that if you turn it that way, it really does do what you'd been told it would do. I always feel just a little bit dumb when I make discoveries like this. It is one of those DUH moments.
7. I'm thankful for actually having some ground-soaking rain this week. Oh, how the plants have needed that. Hopefully there has been enough hard rain in some of the areas with wildfires in the northwest to give the firefighters hope of being able to put the fires out.
8. To know that something I said as I respond to blog hop prompts may have been of help to someone is really rewarding. I'm thankful for those kind of experiences.
9. I'm thankful I am now able to walk longer on the treadmill and use the exercise bike longer and on a more difficult setting. After walking outside the past couple of days on our property, I realize that I'm still not really as stable as I'd like to be on uneven ground. Everything in a season and a time. . .
10. I'm thankful for my husband's help without even asking if I needed his help. Today, he just hopped up and took over as I was attempting to clean the kitchen floor. He saw a way to help, and just did it.
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Lovely!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed rain too today. U seem to be loving gardening like my mum. Bful pictures of fall and that cloud sure looks majestic
Best wishes
Thanks for visiting. The rain is very refreshing, especially after so many hot dry days of summer.
DeleteCrocus blooms in the Fall? I thought Spring. Anyway, it's amazing that you can find the information on You Tube or the internet to do just about anything. I like the way you say that if you've got the time, desire and energy to do something, do it now. The moment may pass. Glad your movement on the treadmill and bike are improving, as will the outdoor stability. Have a good week. See you on the Six Sentence Story link up.
ReplyDeleteI do believe we have some Spring crocuses too. It depends of the variety that is planted as to when they bloom.
DeleteYes, I guess I'd better start thinking about the new Six Sentence Story prompt. I hope you have a good week too.
Beautiful pictures. Nature gives us no choice but to be thankful! Glad to that you're better.
ReplyDeleteAnd helpful husbands - what would we do without them? :)
Glad you enjoyed the photos. You are so right about the beauty all around us in nature, if one just looks. I do appreciate my husband's help.
DeleteThe grapes and apples look amazing!!! You are so lucky to have them within arm's reach.
ReplyDeleteIt is nice to be able to have some things growing on our property to eat and enjoy.
DeleteI know when my oldest was recovering from his broken ankle, walking on the uneven lawn took the most time for him to manage. Like Val, I thought crocus only bloomed in the spring.
ReplyDeleteFicus have that milky type of sap don't they? My mother has had one for years that we all have to duck around when we eat in the dining room because it's so large.
If I remember right we do have some crocuses that bloom in the Spring. Some varieties bloom in the Spring and other varieties bloom in the Fall. There are a lot of different varieties.
DeleteYes, the sap of the ficus is a sticky milky type sap. The reason I pruned mine the other day was because I kept having to dodge some of the limbs.
Such a cool garden. We have a few raised beds but not that high....i like those!
ReplyDeleteWe had the lower raised beds for many years, but have taken them out now so we scale down the lower type of gardening go to the waist-high garden planters. It just makes more sense for us now.
DeleteIvy has a cool garden. They have a few raised beds, but not that high…she likes those!
ReplyDelete(lol… I just couldn't resist… one of the fun things about this bloghop and something I don't seem to see as much as before is 'thread jumping' which is, a cool sounding term for interrupting other people's conversation and otherwise trying to be a smart alec*!
*I bet that is not a current expression, 'smart alec'… oh well, it seemed to fit.
You have rather impressive skills with the camera, I must say!
(and the idea of a raised bed garden totally makes sense, not just as a way to save the back, but it might be easier to protect from the deer that we have in the woods. Deer that seem to eat pretty much anything that doesn't move.
Well, you don't have to worry about using the term 'smart alec' with me. It may or may not be used much these days, but some things I still remember, and that is one expression I remember.
DeleteMy husband and I did discuss the possibility of putting the waist-high garden planter closer to the house, but decided it was best to put it inside the deer-proof fenced garden area. Although we haven't seen too many deer of late, it won't be long before they show up again, because the apples are ripening, and some of our trees are not inside the area with the deer proof fencing.
Waist high garden beds are an awesome idea!
ReplyDeleteCrocuses are the FIRST flower we get in the spring, usually in very early March.
The pieces of paper towel on the cut ficus made me giggle, thinking of men putting a bit of toilet paper on their faces when they cut them shaving.
Maybe you saw my comments above, but in case you didn't, there are varieties of crocus that bloom in the Spring and other varieties that bloom in the fall. I believe we have some that bloom in the Spring too.
DeleteI also thought of the men/shaving connection. Kind of funny. :-)
Pizza trumps clouds.
ReplyDelete:-)
Well, both are things to be thankful for, for sure.
Yes they are. LOL
DeleteI am always awed by the different clouds in the sky. Those grapes look fantastic. I saw the comments about regarding the crocus as I also didn't know they had fall varieties. Mums the word around here in the fall ;)
ReplyDeleteMy husband informed me that the kind of crocus we have blooms both in the Spring and in the Fall. I'm not sure what kind we have. Mums grow here also, but we don't have any planted.
DeleteGood for you for pushing on with the walking and movement. It gets more important every year. Wow, you must have two brilliantly green thumbs. The plants and fruits look just lovely.
ReplyDeleteThank you. Our bodies certainly don't let us forget how important it is to stay agile and fit, and if we don't do that, the more of a jolt the reminders.
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