Dead Before Halloween

Rick and Stephanie got an unexpected opportunity to visit Gladys this fall, so they flew down on October 26 (which is teachers' convention for Rick) using some of the free accumulated miles we all had.  Since the Governor robbed Wisconsin teachers of bargaining rights in an effort to break the unions, (unfortunately, he was pretty much successful in doing so), teachers' convention was cancelled this year, but most schools had some semblance of a contract that allowed the teachers time off.  Rick figures this is the last time this will ever happen, so he used some personal days and the convention days to make a five-day trip to Gladys. Sadly, I could not afford to be away from my students for that long since the college does not have a teachers' convention in the fall, so I stayed home while Stephanie enjoyed a few days in the sun.

This was Stephanie's first time to see Gladys, and she got a taste both of beautiful fall weather and of some of Gladys' bad habits.  Rick had the water turned on for Gladys on Tuesday, October 25.  By the time that they arrived late Wednesday, Gladys had peed on herself again!  The water connection leaked where a bathroom sink will someday go in the main bathroom, and Rick and Stephanie arrived to a three-foot puddle.  Stephanie learned the first rule of visiting Gladys-- always know the way to Lowes or Home Depot.  After some work, Rick was able to pretty much abate the leaks although he said that he has a bucket installed under both bathroom sink connections.  Leaking sinks will not be a problem once they leave because we again will turn off the water to the house, but this certainly is a problem that we will have to solve once we return in June 2012.

Workman cutting trunk of the tree.

While they were down there, Rick and I decided that we needed to have the leaning tree in the back yard removed, hence the name of this blog.  The tree is down and dead before Halloween which is much sooner than we thought we would be rid of it.  The roots were half out of the ground, the tree was not healthy, and it grew around our electrical wires so that if it fell, the wires would go with it. It also dropped dirty, huge pods all over the yard.  We spent $500 to get it taken down, but it was certainly worth the hassle.  I have attached a few pictures of the process.

Grinding up the exposed roots and stump.

We hired a firm that was recommended to us, and they did a great job.  Rick said they very carefully dropped the tree, hauled the lumber away, and as the photos show, they also ground up the stump -- including all of the exposed roots that caused all of the problems in the first place -- and smoothed out the yard.

No tree! Now we have room for a lanai... someday.

Now that the yard is smooth, we can someday remove all of the stepping stones and pour a large slab foundation for a lanai.  We would like to have a screened porch that goes from the end of the Florida room to the end of the garage.  Someday...  Unfortunately, the other tree in the picture above also needs to be removed since it is 90% dead and fairly rotten.  We found evidence of termites near it in the summer, and it also will threaten the house if it falls.

Flower buds on the giant cactus

Stephanie sent a couple of other pictures just to show me what I am missing in the fall.  The first is of the 20 foot cactus in the back yard that has suddenly decided to bloom again.  Naturally, it will come into full bloom when we are gone.  It was just starting to bloom when we left in late July, and now the fall show of bright pink blossoms will again be enjoyed only by the neighbors.

Hibiscus in bloom.

She also said that my hibiscus on the south side of the house was beautiful, and she sent evidence of that too.  The hibiscus, at least, was kind enough to bloom all through the summer, so at least I got a chance to see those blossoms. The blossoms are usually quite large, and against the green foliage, they make quite a show.

They have had a fun time down to see Gladys.  Steve and Chris are down there also, so they have been able to see their house and to enjoy some time with them on this vacation.  Rick, of course, does not want to come home.  I do not blame him.  He said that the temperature should reach 77 today; the temp was 33 here in Wisconsin when I went to church this morning!  We can both smile though, because a very bad winter is predicted, and in the past two days, the East Coast has been hit with a terrible early snowstorm.  Parts of Massachusetts have received 24 inches of heavy, wet snow.  I'll take my future winters in Gladys any day!

I wish I could say that I would post again around Easter time, but I doubt that we will be able to fly down at that time.  Rick does not get much time off, and neither do I.  This will probably have to suffice until next summer.  I hope that Gladys has a safe, snug winter.  I cannot wait to see her in late spring!