Tree removal, snow and a very nice neighbor

Along with a lot of the US we got quite a lot of snow!  The day before it started we had 5 trees taken down in our back yard and some others trimmed.

I love trees and it was a tough decision, both financially and mentally. A very large split tulip tree was vey close to the house and if it fell it would have destroyed our home.  Likewise a large pin oak tree that was leaning toward the house would have destroyed the end of the house if it fell.  Now we have had experience of trees falling down on our previous property.  Fortunately, they were not close to the house there. But we know it can happen, and didn't want to take the risk.  Two smaller trees were dead and we would have cut them down ourselves in the spring. Finally, a split oak tree along our fence-line was leaning over the neighbor's property behind us and was dead.  If it had fallen it would have destroyed the back end of their house.

It was a hive of activity.  Two large cranes, two Caterpillar bob cats, a large trailer for the logs and a very large wood chipper for the branches plus 15 men. They had to take down the new fence on one side to get the equipment into the back yard.  

The very tall pin oak leaning towards our house

The dead split oak tree back left, leaning over the property behind and the two spindly dead ones in the centre

The very tall and large split tulip tree which was very close to the middle of the house

We were devastated to have to have them removed but safety has to be our main concern.  Last year, prior to us buying this house, some very bad storms came through this area and took down a lot of trees and a lot of homes were badly damaged.  They cleared away all the mess they made and put the fence back up.  Very little damage was done.  There are a couple of dents in the back lawn we will need to fill up with dirt when the snow goes away.  They were caused by the crane's stabilisers. And one pop up cover for the excess drainage was broken.  Must see where I can buy a replacement for that!

Last night our very kind neighbor from across the street cleared our driveway for us.  This is the first direct contact we have had with any of our neighbors.  Hopefully, this has opened up the channel of communication with her.  Have to find a way to repay her kindness.

We finally got to see my husband's new Primary Care Doctor at the VA clinic here in town.  That is a relief. He was still covered by the VA but his PCP was 100+ miles away until we could get the transfer finalised.  Now all of his providers are either at the local VA clinic or the nearby hospital.

I get to see a nephrologist next week here in town who will take over my kidney disease care.  I think it is stable and as long as I continue to remain stable, all is good.

We have to go outside this afternoon to blow and sweep the snow off of the vehicle. The sun is out even though it is below freezing so some snow is melting slowly.

Hope all is well with you all and you are keeping warm and safe...

Making life a little easier

Our new home, now we are mostly sorted, is much easier to keep clean and tidy.  It doesn't get as dusty and dirty as our country home did and I was finding it difficult to keep on top of things when we lived there.

My daughter and her family usually club together and send me some cash for Christmas, which I really appreciate.

On a visit to our favourite fish and chips restaurant before Christmas I noticed that the person cleaning the tables was using what looked to be a motorised carpet sweeper to clean the floors. It was made by Shark and he said it was rechargeable,  It was doing a great job of picking up the bits from the floor.

I googled it when we got home.  It is what it looks like, basically, a motorised carpet sweeper and it claimed it was great for pet hair.

Maggie our white American bulldog, who we have had since she was 5 weeks old and is now in her 11th year, sheds little short white hairs all the time.

I took the plunge and purchased one from Walmart which had them on sale for $49.99.  The regular price is supposedly $69.99. I used some of the Christmas gift money from my family.  We put the rest toward a new hard drive for my husbands MAC mini which freed up his old one so I could use it in my MAC.

I have to say this thing is amazing.  It is lightweight, has a long handle, picks up all the bits and dog hairs and I can do the whole house on one charge.  I am not being paid for this review, just wanted to let other folks know how good it is. And, no cords to trip over.  It is a pleasure to use. Much nicer than using the vacuum cleaner.

On other fronts, we had our furnace/cooling system extended into the sunroom yesterday.  The furnace people came and put another ducting run under the floor into the sunroom.  During the daytime we leave the door into the sunroom open and the heat from the house and also the heat from the sun coming through the windows keeps it nice and warm but in the summer it isn't enough to keep the sunroom cool.  Also we close and lock the door into it at night, for added security, so it gets very cold in there overnight this time of year.  Hopefully, this will be the answer and nothing else needs to be done.  We had discussed putting a mini split ac/heating unit in there but that is a lot more expensive.  Fingers crossed this will be the solution.

Finally got caught up with all my chores and washing so planning a reasonably easy weekend and will watch some play off games.

Hope all is good in your worlds.

Not tempting fate!

 Every year I pick up something from the Christmas stuff on sale, at much reduced prices, ready for the following year.  This year, I had gone through all my Christmas stuff and downsized it because of lack of storage space in our new home.  So I really didn't need any more!

I was discussing this with my husband, when I thought, 'Am I tempting fate by not sticking to tradition?'  We both agreed it was better not to do that, so I dropped what I was doing and hi-tailed it to Walmart.  I got a nice haul of wrapping paper and some nice sparkly bells to hang on our walls.  Now I had bought a set of these bells before Christmas for nearly $7 and was happy with that price as they are really nice and sparkly, and I love sparkly! They were now $1.75 a set, so 3 more sets jumped into my shopping cart.

The wrapping paper fit into my wrapping paper container so no more space needed but the extra sets of bells needed a tote of their own.  But my Christmas stuff is now really nicely organised and I hope the totes will all fit nicely back into the shed. And I kept up with my tradition, so all is good.

The house is back to normal. I miss the colourfulness of Christmas though!  Only another 10 3/4 months and I can get it all back out!

Take care everyone!

What will 2026 bring?

2025 was a year of big changes for us.  We sold our wonderful country property and moved to the city. After 20 years of living in the middle of nowhere, with no traffic coming past our home, we moved to quite a busy road with lots of traffic.

It has taken a lot of getting used to I can tell you! But there are lots of advantages too.  In the early hours of Christmas morning, my husband went into another neuro crisis.  I had to call the ambulance as he couldn't move or talk and was having myoclonic shaking.  They arrived quickly and took him to the hospital ER which is just a mile or so away.  They stabilised him and had him under observation for several hours. When they were satisfied he was responsive and able to move and talk, they released him.  A five minute drive and we were home.

We went to bed and slept until the late afternoon so Christmas dinner and gift unwrapping were put off until the next day and we spent the rest of the day not doing much.

I have spent the 'twixmas' period transitioning to a new to me Mac mini 2020. My husband had upgraded to a newer and bigger capacity Mac Mini 2024 as he needed it for his writing and publishing.  My old PC was so old it wouldn't upgrade to Windows 11 and was no longer supported and was beginning to do weird things like just shut down in the middle of doing something.  I didn't want to go to Mac but it made sense to do so.  I got an nice new bluetooth wavekeys keyboard and bluetooth mouse for Christmas and now I am all set up on the Mac.  I did some re-organising in my office/sewing room and now I have more room on my desk to work.

The old PC is set up on my other desk which I want to use for crafting but I am still copying files off of it onto an external hard drive so I can access them on this new one.  I have to get another external drive to go in the caddy as the Mac doesn't have as big a drive as my old PC.  When I have all the files I need I will clear the other desk and will be free to use it for card making etc.

We are slowly getting settled into our new home and life. 

The house is lovely, it is much more practical for us as it is just one level.  Albeit smaller, we have made adjustments with furniture and belongings, and it is no longer cluttered.

We each have our own room.  My husband uses his as his office/studio for his writing and as stated above, mine is my office/sewing room.  We only have three bedrooms so no spare bedroom.  We could put a blow up mattress in the sunroom if needed.

So 2025 bought new home, new computers, new to us furniture, and disposal of a lot of clutter.

Someone said that if you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans.  So I don't have plans, just preferences.

I prefer that our life settles down now and there will be minimal changes in the year to come.  That's it!

So my blogging friends, I wish you all a happy, healthy and peaceful New Year and look out for more comments from me as I can comment now on Blogger on this Mac! That makes me so happy. I always felt like a stalker when I read your blogs every day but never commented.