a tale of tails, tenacity, and tedium, as told by me, usually barefoot and bellowing

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Pecans, Storms, and Hangers

Be careful what you wish for!  I wished for rain and the ponds are almost overflowing.  The storms were not too fierce for us.  Others were not so lucky.  I am grateful for the rain.
Many of you have heard how Mom and Dad planted pecans around the perimeter of the yard the year they married.  This will give you some idea of how the trees that survived have grown.
The small not improved version of pecans they planted taste magnificent and have more oil compared to our Paper Shell Pecan. During our recent winds pecans fell a little prematurely but that has not stopped the crows, squirrels, ground squirrels and other animals from enjoying the sweet meat.
This picture does not even begin to show the size of the tree.  I believe it would take two people to wrap their arms around the trunk. Two remain of the many Mom and Dad planted even before they built this house we now live in.

I have mentioned "hangers", limbs broken by wind or ice but still hanging on the tree.  They need to be removed for safety reasons. We use the tractor bucket to reach them for removal.  We can not reach them all.
Here is one hanger after all our wind.  This is sticking into the ground about four inches.  The wind tore off the dead limb.  Gravity planted it.  It would be most unfortunate to have been standing here when the limb fell.

Yesterday I picked up and piled limbs, mostly smaller ones since we've done some trimming and removal.  I began another pile to burn.
While the rains fell I oiled the school desk, adding an old Purex jar with feathers and pretties.  Now have a new place to sit and remove my muddy boots or shoes and have put an old piece to a good use. This is one of the few mirrors I have in the house.  It is reflecting my painting and the inch thick red heart cedar tongue and groove wood walls of the hall. The wood was harvested from this land, dried, milled and installed by Mom and Dad.  I will never paint it.  I oil it about twice a year and it will outlast me, I'm sure.

The weather had me sorting closets, cleaning cupboards and sorting clothes...and hunting for a sweater.  I have rearranged my painting/craft/sewing/project area repeatedly.

While cleaning the fridge I cooked fresh turnip greens with cornbread, the end of garden okra, banana pudding, chocolate pudding and a German Chocolate cake and a dishpan full of fresh salad (Andrew ate that is one setting!)

I am lost without my washer.  I've made one trip to the laundromat and must make another soon.  I surely dislike waiting for warranty repairs.

Wishing you safe rain and many blessings.

16 comments:

TexWisGirl said...

the desk area looks nice! i'm jealous your ponds are almost full! we got 2 rains of an inch and half each but we've not had near the run-off we need to really make a difference. glad you didn't have bad storms, though, either.

21 Wits said...

I'm always sad for those that get caught by storms, luckily we so far haven't been terribly hit. Your desk is just beautiful, as is that painting (?) in the background. Take care!

Nezzy (Cow Patty Surprise) said...

I was thinkin' of ya girlfriend when the line of storms blew through.

Yep, we've prayed and prayed for rain and was bless with almost 7" and fierce winds blowin' 'em in. 'Nothin' like the Ozarks...huh? Feast or Famine.

'Glad your OK. Love your little corner girl.

God bless and have a great day. Cold and misty here but the humming birds are still hangin' 'round. 'Gonna miss those little fellas, for sure! :o)

Anonymous said...

We are having rain and storms, now. Bill was in Arkansas when it started last week, but is on the East Coast, now.
The desk is nice. Excellent job! I love old pieces like that, practical and sturdy.
I love pecans, too. My favourite is pecan pie. Yum!

OmaLindasOldeBaggsandStuftShirts said...

the wind is a scarey thing. hard to sleep with the house groaning and complaining. found some of our yard art about 6 houses up the street. glad you're all okay. sorry about the washer, waiting is very difficult.

MadSnapper said...

the desk looks great and it hurts me when i see on TV people buying homes with tongue n groove and painting it. I love it. my grand mother had samller tongue n groove painted white when they built the house, her sister had what you have and i loved both... yummmm on all that food i love everything you cooked. me and Andrew could have finished off the whole dinnner
we had 1 papershell and 2 of the type you have and those little hard to shell pecans were so much more tasty than the big ones but i hated picking out the meat. i miss those pecan trees. when eminment domain took daddy's house they cut all three down and they were probably 60 70 years old

Brian Miller said...

turnip greens and cornbread.....very nice....we got pounded last night...the world is rather soggy right now...it was so loud it woke me up....thought we might be floating away...heh....the trees have come a long way havent they...

Sandy Livesay said...

Nice nuts trees, I would love to have nut trees that big and tall.

A great place for your desk, to sit and take off your shoes and boots. I wouldn't paint it either, I love looking at the natural wood.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

The desk looks great! Glad you didn't kill yourself restoring it.
Wouldn't want to be out in the storm with branches like that coming down.

Coloring Outside the Lines said...

I'm glad the storms were not bad in your area- they were awful here.
I love the desk- it is beautiful and such a sweet heirloom to pass on.
I'm still not getting as much done as I had planned to, but I'm hoping to make a dent before Thanksgiving.
Have a great week!

Linda Kay said...

Gail, we have gotten lots of rain in Texas Hill Country, so are happy about that. It's odd how the weather follows a pattern and misses some areas almost completely, but Texas is a big state. So glad your desk turned out well, and thanks for showing the finished project.

Bethany Carson said...

The German chocolate cake sounds delicious! I wish I could have a slice, but it doesn't sound like it lasted long!

The pecan sounds like quite the tree. My parents planted a couple in our yard about 10 years ago; they're still relatively small.

carolina nana said...

We got our share of rain and wind here also. over 4" rain and high winds that blew lots of limbs from our trees , some dead , some not. luckily nothing was hit by anything falling at least not yet !!
Glad the storms have passed.
Blessings
Marilyn

Farm Girl said...

So glad you got rain. I am glad every thing is filled again,
I love that picture if the desk and the walls and the story. How nice you have all of that to remind you of your parents. We only have one pecan tree left too. Just like the ones you describe. They are good.
It all sounds so nice.

Lynne said...

What treasures those two Pecan trees are . . . How many trees were surrounding the property? I love pecans . . . and didn't know there were different kinds.

Susan Anderson said...

Now could you pray some rain our way, please?

;)

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...