We have finally gotten back into our Florida routine of working in the cooler temperatures of the morning, and then relaxing and doing some fun activities in the afternoon as the temperatures climb.
Today we awoke early and were at Lindsay's house by 8:00 a.m. While the day is humid (typical Midwestern summer day), the temperatures are tolerable. We went to Lindsay's house to help them take down parts of two large pine trees at the back of their property. Christopher had worked a couple of afternoons this past week sawing through the lower branches of both trees. Today we set up a ladder and attacked the higher branches with a SawsAll. While Rick cut the branches, I assisted him and piled the beaches for Christopher to load into the wagon behind his riding lawn mower.
Once the wagon was loaded, he drove it up their hill and to the curb on the street. Owen has a little Gator battery-operated truck with a small truck bed in the back, so we added some small branches and twigs in that so he could haul wood up the hill also. He actually carried quite a bit in that small truck, so he really did help!
We topped the first tree, leaving only the larger main trunk. Gary, Christopher's dad, has some chain saws, so he will have to come with one of those to take the trunk down to the ground. Our SawsAll just does not have the power nor the blade to complete the job.
The second tree was even taller and larger, so Rick climbed the ladder and trimmed as best he could. That tree, too, now needs the attention of a chain saw.
Once the trees were down as far as we could take them, we came home. Since we were sweaty and dirty, we decided to complete some small tasks in our own yard. We started by finishing our edging. We had half of the lawn edged a couple of days ago when our old edger died. We have been using that same edger for probably 20 years, so it owed us nothing. We replaced it with a new edger from Home Depot. The new blade is sharp and true, so the new machine made short work of what was left to trim.
As I cleaned up the edging debris, Rick moved on to the windows. They were filthy, but a good cleaning system of window cleaner, a broad cloth applicator, and a squeegee made a world of difference. We did not take the time today to totally disassemble all of the screens and windows, but even getting the top layer of dirt off the outside of the windows has greatly improved the view from inside the house. I can see blue sky again!
The final task of the morning was to mix up some insecticide and for Rick to spray around the perimeter of the house. Our house has been crawling with spiders, and the ants are starting to congregate on the sidewalk, so the time had come to spray again. Rick had not done this before because we seem to get rain every other day. We have a chance, now, to go a couple of days without rain, so this was great opportunity to finish that job.
By that time, we had come to noon. The temperatures are starting to rise, so this afternoon will either be inside or at least resting in the shade. The hammock or the back porch both are welcoming options.
After all, this is summer, so no one should have to work too hard. At last we have learned to accomplish what we can in the morning, and to not feel guilty about doing what we want to do to relax in the afternoon. And if we do not get everything finished in the morning, there always is tomorrow.
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