We have been in a drought here in Georgia for the past 3 years. This year is by far the worse for our neck of the woods. When it started to rain, I was so excited that I wanted to snap a picture of it. Pictures cannot capture rainfall like a short video so I went for it.
Yes, I did stand on the front porch and film the rain! I must have taken at least 12 clips before getting this one. I now see why it takes so long to create a 2 hour movie for the big screen! I have a new appreciation for film directors. Next time I will work on a script before opening my mouth! I hope you find my short film entertaining. The thunder at the end is pretty funny now but was NOT at the time. I high-tailed it into the house but not before seeing the neighbors tree fall on my fence! Arggg, If only the camera had been on for that...
This would be the third time a tree from next door has fallen on our fence. I will not go into details but lets just say, these are the neighbors I tolerate to the best of my ability. The Saint and I will clean up the mess on our side and pay to repair the fence as always. As we surveyed the damage, we notice several of our trees in this area that need to come down. One tree is missing bark and can be seen in this picture above. We are not sure we will be able to handle the tree removal task our self this go round. They are very large trees and surrounded by more very large trees. How does one get a tree to the ground with other trees surrounding and protecting it? Hum, maybe call a professional or just let Mother Nature take its course. Only thing to be damaged would be our driveway or the fence. The cost of tree services in our area are unbelievably high in price so we may just let them fall limb at a time with Mother Natures assistance.
We also had some damage on my favorite Crepe Myrtle tree. I was more upset about the Myrtle then the fence. The fence can be repaired with some tugging and a new pole but the tree will take time to mend and I am limited on the help I can give it.
Branches were laying on the ground after the heavy rainfall and high winds. Several branches were snapped at the fork. Sniff sniff...
Poor tree, what can I do for you? It was a bittersweet moment for me. First we had some wonderful rainfall measuring 1 1/4 inches but then I had my damaged myrtle. I did the only thing I knew to do. I grabbed my trusty loppers and went to work!
Miss Myrtle is a bit thinner but once again standing tall for me...
Well, kind of standing tall. The large blooms weigh the branches down quit a bit. Once the rain hits the tree, the branches fall over to the side. You can tell in this picture below how one of the main branches is growing straight up the middle, while the others curve.
Can anyone give me advice on what to do to get her straight again? I do not want to resort to Crepe Murder so any advice would be welcome.
First off congratulations on the rainfall, could you send some my way? :) Cool video Skeeter, what a great way to capture the sound of rain. I'm sorry about your Crepe Myrtle. Unfortunately they are easily damaged by storms. The weight of the water sitting on those blossoms just creates havoc for the branches too. In the past I've used a rubbercoated wire to hold the structure of the tree together (like telephone wire).
ReplyDeleteVery good video! It worked perfectly. Sorry about your crepe AND the fence. Silly neighbors. You take it much better than me. For your crepe, you might thin a few of the heavy outer branches until the trunk gets really strong, especially the ones that don't seem to have support and might pull the tree down. Good luck! Gotta go to high school this morning...
ReplyDeleteGood morning you early risers! Ah, the video worked, yea, I was concerned since this was my first go at it. Takes a bit to download but other then that, simple as can be....
ReplyDeletePerennial Gardener, The Saints parents live in northern VA and they have had plenty of rain this summer. Actually too much so surprised you need the rain. I am a giving person but not with my water this year. lol I will not be passing any of our liquid gold to anyone until our lake rises 12 feet.... I will talk to the rain Gods for you though...LOL July was the hottest month with temps averaging 95 degrees and we only had 3 inches of rainfall total for the entire month 2 inches of which fell the last 8 days of the month! Ground was so dry that a lot of the rain rolled on down the creek. It is Tropical Storm season now so maybe one will head our way, that is what has gotten us out of the drought in the past...
The idea of rubber coated wire has my interest.
The Saint and I have the fence repaired and the mess cleaned up. We had experience with this type repair before thanks to the same neighbors. Never came out to offer us help, pay or anything. I painted the silver pole brown but only our side so I hope the silver glare is noticeable to their eye as a reminder of the mishap. But they will probably never notice it as there are way too many other things laying around in their yard for them to notice a 9 foot shiny pole elevated in the air! argggg... Yes, Tina I am upset about it but what can you do? Dwelling on it only makes one’s blood boil so we just let it go....
Tina, I did prune a few branches this spring and had a nice shape going until the blooms and the rain. arggg She is so big now that I will have to get a ladder out for additional pruning...
Have fun at school with the Jimster!
So sorry about your fence and tree. If only all rainfall could be the pleasant kind - a nice all day soaking, once a week.
ReplyDeleteLiked your video too. There is something soothing about the sound of rainfall (not the thunder though)!
Hi Skeeter, Your trees, surrounded by other trees, when they come down they will take quite a few branches off another, perhaps causing the others to die. That's the problem with bigger trees, so many times we paid to have one taken down only to lose surrounding ones, best thing is to part, take down. We have a friend that worked for the local power company and didn't mind climbing and cutting.
ReplyDeleteSorry about you crepe, it still looks pretty good to me but remember....I'm the one who begs for a sapling! LOL
Cindy, it is nice to sit on the porch during a nice steady shower. Just not many of those showers going on for us since spring...
ReplyDeleteDawn, I think our big problem would be getting them to fall! I think the other trees will hold them upright. arggg, climbing a tree to cut it? Dont think so, too dangerous. Maybe renting a truck with a bucket (cherry picker) would be an option though...
Now Dawn, you know a true Southern Belle would never leave the south! lol...
The videos are such fun! I like your narration, it really does add to the experience. W don't get gentle rains either...the heavens open up and send a deluge. We use professionals to remove trees, they know how to remove without too much damage to plants around the tree. Good luck!
ReplyDeletegail
Enjoyed your mini-movie:) It's doing that here right now but it's really, really dark. I've always wanted to try to get a photo of lightening.
ReplyDeleteToo bad about your unpleasant neighbors. Are they hostile if you ask for some help with their tree?
Marnie
Oh no, just what you DIDN'T need. More things to add to your to-do list. Well, at least you got some rain out of the deal. It sure would be nice not to have too much drought around the world.
ReplyDeleteHi Skeeter, I loved your video, and laughed at the thunder even though I know it was not funny at the time. Glad you are okay. ;-> We hire professionals too, sometimes if you keep talking to them about stuff, then say something like, well we really want those trees down but can't afford that price right now, can you do better? will work to lower the price. They want your business so keep talking in a friendly way, you can do it! Poor crepe, I would get the hand saw to make a clean cut that can heal, maybe take that whole branch off to the ground. Thanks to the rain gods.
ReplyDeleteI forgot to say that I liked hearing your voice!
ReplyDeleteWhew, I just walked 1.78 miles on my treadmill! Jillybean has put out a challenge to get fit and I am jumping on the wagon train!
ReplyDeleteGail, I wondered if the excitement came through with my voice. LOL I was soooo excited about the rain. We dont have too many plants in that area as it is, well, the woods but just so darn many trees beside each other. They want about $1,000 a tree for removal and that is money I would rather spend elsewhere like in the garden. We have a paper mill nearby and some services will pay you to cut your trees if they keep the wood but that would mean loosing more trees then we will want. Ah, the dilemmas of homeownership... We call these rainfalls Gully Washers! LOL...
Roses and lilacs, I have never been lucky enough to capture lighten on the camera. Fireworks are the closet I have come to that. lol... Nope the neighbors are not hostile they just always seem to have an excuse why they cannot help or just hide when we are cleaning up the mess. They have never offered any payment either... arggggg... We want them to move so badly but fear what could replace them! The house was built and lived in by the development builder and was once a really nice house. These people moved in about a year after we moved into our house and they have practically destroyed it with neglect. So sad.
Cinj, yep it would be nice to have adequate rain, sun, snow and all the fun elements to enjoy rather force work upon our aging bodies. I always try to look at the bright side of things so the rainfall was worth our troubles. Plus it gave me and the Saint some quality time working together! ROFLOL
Frances, the wind about knocked me over one time! It was funny as I was home alone and was visualizing myself lying on the front porch dead to greet the Saint when he arrived home from work! I do not like being in thunderstorms and this one was a bit scary. Trees fell on the power lines and we lost power for about 45 minutes. I must give GA Power credit as they are speedy with restoring the power.
ReplyDeleteNow Frances I am a southern gal and I know how to sweet talk a man! Only problem is all these men live with southern sweet talkers and they know the game! LOL They have so much work that it is not worth their time if you dont pay what they want. The economy has not slowed down in our city so they will go elsewhere and get what they want. They will not quote a price over the phone on a tree size. They pretty much come to your home and size up your house, land, cars, etc and come up with an amount. We did have them grind the stumps though. They charged us $500 to grind up 8 stumps! Later on we found a retired guy that grinds for extra spending money, to do them at $10 a stump! I had him take out every stump in the yard that day! I do understand circumstances with how difficult a tree could be to remove but in the case of the trees we wanted removed, there was nothing in the way of them falling. We ended up cutting all 8 down with help from our good neighbor! All he wanted in return was a new rope! We did take him and his wife out to dinner as well. We may end up doing that again but these trees will be a challenge for us… Ah, I see a future blog topic here. lol
Hi Skeeter --lovely rain this time of year. Sorry about the tree and fence. I have a hard time getting my dead trees down and the stumps --well ....I actually sawed one down to ground level -put some good topsoil over it and planted grass seed --I probably wouldn't have gotten away with this but that particular tree was in the backyard where level isn't a problem. My neighbor helped me get out another one --with lots and lots of digging, pulling, sawing and 2 men working while I watched --of course that was free.
ReplyDeleteSo, I'm guessing Tina is done with the orientation with Jimster --it was actually pretty fun at our orientation with Boy 1. We were there longer than I expected but they gave out lots of great info. Another super humid day here today.
Have a great day y'all! Enjoy these last few days of summer break with the kiddies Lola --they'll be back to school real soon. I know I will miss them:(
Hi Jean --hope your staying cool:0)
Anonymous, what will you do with all the free time once the kids are back in school? Ah, pull weeds maybe??? lol... You have had a busy summer and I know you will miss the kiddoes. You should take them to Pizza Hut for a back to school celebration. Tee hee….
ReplyDeleteThe Saint cut two stumps to ground level and I covered them with gravel and red rider goes right over them to the mower garage. If the stump grinding man ever comes out again, I will have him work his magic and remove them for me...
We went to Pizza Hut for lunch. The Jimster had a free certificate for a pizza because of his birthday (birthday clubs are great!), but when we walked in there was pizza heaven-a buffet. Not good, but fun on your last child's first day of high school! I was so happy with his schedule and the day went well. It was really nice seeing all the kids. Now, a few more appointments then grass cutting I go hi ho...hi ho.
ReplyDeleteTina, show some enthusiasm! I know today was a big day for you and the Jimster and I am glad it all went well… Oh, Pizza Hut one of my favorites but I think you already knew that! Ha…. Enjoy playing in the yard! I am off to tend bills, yard mowing sounds so much better!
ReplyDeleteWell, in this part of GA we didn't get any rain, but we have gotten more this year so far than you have. But a good shower would be nice to cool things down a bit.
ReplyDeleteHi everyone! Skeeter, congrats on the rain that is all we have here for about a week now and we are in need as well, but I personally am getting tired of not being able to go out and climb!
ReplyDeleteUPDAT: Compost aka Ginger has been returned to me. The person who took her is having an issue with her going pee on the bed and pillows. I actually had an issue with her going potty in my closet. She may be a cat that can only be in a one cat home...doesn't like to share litter boxes with others. Well, I am still working on finding her a one cat home now and if things can't work out then she will have to go to the shelter to find her forever home. I have her closed in my bathroom to get retrained for the litter box and so that she has one all to herself. Never had this issue before. Very upsetting. I have now had to lock my own cats from my bedroom because they have peed where I caught her peeing and we all know there is no way to get the smell out from them being to get the scent. :0(
Skeeter- Sorry I forgot to mention that I am really sorry about your fence. We had the same thing happen our house in Alabama in a hurricane the neighbors tree came down on our fence...right Mom??? I think your neighbors should have to pay for the repair if you have paid before and the tree came from their property, their homeowners should cover it!
ReplyDeleteSkeeter, still lol your vidio was great. I'm glad to hear your voice. Nothing like listening to a soft rain. CD's are great to go to sleep by, the ones of rain. Sorry about your fence & myrtle. Don't you just love good neighbors that don't do as they should. Naughty!!!!
ReplyDeleteOK Jean where are you at? Nina too. Dave? Most of the rest of the gang is here.
Anonymous, Tina I'm glad orientation went well. Boy, Pizza Hut--right down my alley. Right Skeeter!!!
Sorry Jillybean you didn't get any of the liquid gold. My brother & stepdau didn't get any either. They both are along the same line on map that you are. Somewhere up there anyway.
I agree Dawn, best left to professionals. We had a couple taken down on property in N.C. Now that is something to watch. Had a big truck sitting up on road with winch & looong rope around tree so as to lay it between 2 other trees. A guy up tree to be cut down. No damage to either except a couple limbs. Really neat. Sure is different doing it in mtns than on flat land. You learn to appreciate flat land real quick.
Even though day is almost over I do hope all have {had} a great day.
Christine, So sorry about little Ginger! Do your best. Yes, a tree fell on our fence in Alabama during Hurricane Opal, but not sure if it was ours or theirs. Seems I have forgotten. But a nice other neighbor took it away and somehow the fence got repaired-not sure how.
ReplyDeleteHi Everyone else!
I'm so sorry about your tree. I had to cut my crape myrtle way back because it was growing to close to a pecan tree. It grew back so fast, I was surprised.
ReplyDeleteI am thrilled to hear your voice and you did a great job on that video. I am a video virgin. I will take the plunge one day soon though. Glad you got rain.
Not too much you can do with neighbors like that, but clean it up. It is not worth a fued.
Jilly, this has by far been our worse year for rain. Pop up showers all over town but missing our yard. arggggg...
ReplyDeleteChristine, I hope you are able to get out and climb soon! I am so sorry to hear about Ginger, Sniff Sniff that really does upset me as I thought for sure that baby had a Forever home! I will keep my fingers crossed in hopes of a pee-pee recovery. Some cats do just want to be only babies; I hope it is nothing more then that and I hope your kitties adjust soon as well.... The fence is all repaired now so no big deal any longer. We knew some time ago they had cashed in on insurance twice for a new roof in less then two years. He told us that if he made another claim, they would cancel him. So we did not even bother to bring up the issue nor did he approach us! That is what makes us more upset then anything is they do not offer to help! They have 7 kids and are hurting finically so we just paid the cost. Our Donation to a Charity for the week....
Lola, you are on here late today your self..lol... Our neighbors are not the brightest bulbs in the box! They can hardly pay their bills but keep having babies and making stupid choices like getting more pets to feed! Kids are the ones to suffer so we just let it go....
When we cut down trees, our Good Neighbor helps us. Saint ties a rope to the tree and wraps it around another tree if need be as you say and attach it to his tractor. He pulls the tractor tight as the Saint cuts the tree. So far we have dropped every tree on the spot planned (but one) and we have dropped over 30 trees! But not sure we can get these to fall due to other trees being too healthy and close. I think the best would be a cherry picker bucket truck like the Dept of Electricity uses....
I have a headache so time for an aspirin and early to bed tonight... Well, not that early it is almost 10:00 in GA but that is a bit early for us…
Hey Eve, we were on here at the same time. I wondered why my comment was taking awhile to shoot off! Too funny.
ReplyDeleteYep, we must live next door to them and we try our best to be us and do the right thing. They just dont seem to have common sense so we can only tolerate them.... I feel bad for the kids though as they seem to want to learn. We do what we can to teach them some things when the kids come over to visit us…
Video Virgin, that is funny. Give it a try it is really easy! I used the setting on the camera and not the Cam-corder. Must have a big chip though. I dont think my voice sounds like me. I wonder if everyone thinks that about their voice.???...
I did prune the myrtles (Crepe murder) two years in a row back before I knew you did not have to do that to them! Arggg. They grew back really quickly so it will not be an issue to prune them I just would like to know at what point of the branch I should prune them for sturdy branches....
Great job on the video, Skeeter! It rained and poured, I am so happy for you!
ReplyDeleteThe grass does look very green, indeed!
I don't think we've had over 1" of rain at one time since early June. It's funny, it rains all around us but not in my neighborhood. Very frustrating! I hate to see the damage to your fence but I know you are thrilled to get the rain.
ReplyDeleteThanks DP, I along with the garden and yard were very happy for the rain.
ReplyDeleteHi Phillip, we cannot go by the official rain fall amount as they measure it at the air port. We are not near the air port and have not had nearly as much as they have. Storms pop up all over the area but not on us this year! This happened year before last also but last year we were lucky and had some of the pop up's... I keep my own measurements from our rain gauges…