Snows 4″ Overnight

snow 02

When it snows 4″ overnight and you live in a rural area that beautiful white stuff creates some chores that need to be done.

snow 03Peter has taught me that the key thing about happiness in winter is to stay on top of the chores instead of putting them off. In other words, 4″ of snow is easy to deal with when compared to dealing with 4 feet of white stuff that is starting to get hard. Ice.  If I don’t let the snow levels get too overwhelming, the beauty of the season remains a very much enjoyed item.

snow 01Thank God for Peter Woelk. I thank my lucky stars many times during winter as I notice how much he does. I was given a considerate and dependable grown-up man who takes care of winter snow removal. He does it without complaint, guilt, or resentment! His advice is so relevant, when shoveling a roof, sidewalk, or clearing a path to the car a little accumulation is so much easier to deal with.

sled Isaac Hurley 01The larger jobs are what I think he just loves to do. We all know he loves to drive the Kubota, so, clearing the driveway and our part of the road is something that falls under the “enjoyable” chore list for him. But, still, there are a lot of people that avoid even these simple chores like a plague. After the chores are done it is time to go outside and have some fun.

Sycamore Tree

Sycamore Tree 02Beauty and the Beast

We decided to cut down a Sycamore tree that I planted 25 years ago after finishing the reno on the storage shed by the garden. The sycamore was one of those expensive landscape tree purchases costing a whopping $60 in 1995. Which is a lot, to a single mom’s budget. I really loved this shade tree cooling our mobile home over the years.

A Sycamore is actually a gorgeous large hardwood with lots of big green leaves and is perfect for shade in yards and parks. However, if you have even a slight allergy to its pollen it can make life quite miserable. It became a real chore to mow the lawn under it. You would start coughing as soon as you started mowing and then experience a sore throat with swollen eyes, and coughing for a couple of days after, even if you used a mask and eye coverings. Sycamore Tree 01We set up to sell art at a downtown garden show. The booth next to me had a professional tree trimmer in it. I happened to mention to him how irritating the mowing under our Sycamore had become, and the guy laughed. He said that whenever people wanted a Sycamore’s trimmed the price went up. His crew has to wear a full suit to prevent respiratory and skin irritations associated with them. That was shocking to find out but reassuring at the same time.

Finding that out 2 years ago has had me thinking that tree maybe wasn’t such a good idea. When I looked up at the buds on the tree limbs this spring I told Pete that I had enough of the allergy stuff. So, we decided to go ahead and take it down.

Sycamore Tree 03Check out the massive root system. Taking this tree down as a project had a comedy show of I N T E R E S T I N G events attached…. really. Honestly, I’d tell you about them but then I’d have to kill you. Internet BS is not allowed for this top-secret event, so, you’ll have to come to see in person to get the story on the rest of this adventure.

Here is a link to more information about Sycamore trees if you are interested. Pay attention to the problems paragraph a few paragraphs down.