Bzzzz

We've been busy the last week or so. 

Hubster took last week off, so we could work in the backyard and cut down trees. Hah. You know the saying about your eyes being bigger than your stomach? Yeah. Well, our want to was bigger than our can do. 

The first half of the week was hot enough that we struggled with getting overheated while we were working on getting the apple tree down. Then a cold front kicked in, and we had a hard freeze with a couple of dreadfully cold days that followed. Needless to say, we didn't get nearly as much done as we'd wanted. However, we did at least get the majority of the apple tree down, and we got the apples that the worms, squirrels and hail didn't get harvested as well. We had to be happy with that, and we were. 

Of all the trees that need to be cut down in the backyard, the apple tree was the one that was the biggest priority. The branches were long enough we were afraid of one taking down the power lines in a windstorm. That would not have been good. Thankfully, Hubster was able to cut pieces of the branches off before getting to the bulk of each branch, so the power lines were never in jeopardy. 

He was at one point, though. For whatever reason, I hadn't thought of taking before and after pictures until there was only on major branch left on the tree. I figured I'd at least get a few pictures of him chopping that last upright branch down when I heard, "Crap! Jude! Help me!"

He was losing the grip on the chainsaw, and the ladder was starting to move. So the last picture I took shows the camera being set down in a hurry. I was able to get the chainsaw and set it down just in time to grab the ladder and keep it as steady as I could while he clung to the tree and kept himself from falling. He wouldn't have fallen far. His feet were only about 5 feet off the ground. But he'd have fallen on some rather sharp parts of the tree that had broken off before and were vertical, jagged spears that would have impaled him, had he fallen. 

While Hubster was working on the apple tree, Hopper and I were harvesting all the tomatoes we could. There were still quite a few left that were on the verge of ripening as well as lots of green ones of various sizes. We brought them all in the house, covered the peppers and lettuce up and came inside. We were done. I didn't want to take a chance on losing the tomatoes to a hard freeze, but the peppers were all so small I didn't care, if they were lost to the cold or not. Thankfully, they stayed warm enough with the frost blanket and plastic that covered them, and they will hopefully get some size before the next hard freeze comes along. There are still about a dozen peppers out there, and I'm so looking forward to enjoying them!

I've got to get busy with the apples in the next couple of days. I need to wash, core, peel and slice a bunch to put in the freezer for apple pies this winter. I'd like to make some apple butter, too. I just don't want them to go to waste. We figured we'd save some of the seeds to see, if we can get a tree going. These are such good tasting apples, that it would be a shame to not have any in the future. 

I'm tired tonight but I'm feeling the best I have in months. I feel like I'm getting back in a groove and will be able to get back to dehoarding in earnest, if I can just get the girls' health back on track. They've both got some nasty cough and congestion. Taking Scooter into the doctor tomorrow. It makes us a little nervous after her bout last year with pneumonia. 

I'm thinking the best way for me to deal with it is to get enough sleep myself, so I'm heading off to bed. I've got a long day planned for tomorrow.