Orchids

The palm trees are gone. I needed to find a new home for the orchids that hung on their trunks.  I saved them all before the trees went down. They were suffering from the heat, lack of water ( due to low water pressure), and neglect. Their pots were stuffed with dead roots, a few frogs had taken up residence in the pots that were full of dirt  (something  that orchids don't like -  dirt not frogs), and they hadn't been trimmed or fertilized for a long time. Yes, I know I am retired and should have the time to dote on these plants but I am lazy and let them go to hell.  So now I am doing penance. 

We got a trellis and I spent two days painting it.  I cleaned up all the orchids, cut them down and repotted them into bark which is their preferred growing material. That took me days, again because I am lazy. I finally got them hung.  Rick ran a drip system to each pot and now they have a nice sort-of-shady spot to grow. I have a few more to rescue off the mango tree and from a planter.  These orchids I inherited when we bought the house.  So I feel responsible to grow and love them.

 

One of my favorites is already blooming. It's a sign that I am doing the right thing.  I love it when my orchids bloom.  It's like magic because they grow from absolutely nothing just a small root base and leaves.  The flowers are so spectacular and very special to me.  I have five different varieties.  I am looking forward to when they all bloom because then I know they are happy campers. 

The Great Tree Removal

The last two palm trees that kept Rick on a ladder are finally gone.  The trees were getting two tall to trim for Rick and our landscaper.  We really didn't want to hire a man-bucket every time we needed a trim.  These trees sprouted multiple spikes with blooms every week.  This is not usually a problem except the wind blew all the blossoms into the pool on a regular basis.  Okay, I know this is a first world problem but Rick being safe and sane is important to me.  Keeping him off a 20 foot ladder trimming a 30 foot tree is worth everything.
 

The process is really very interesting and heart stopping.  Two cords are tied around the tree.  One cord is tied to a lift truck arm and the second cord is hand held...scarry as hell. A chain saw is used to cut around the bottom of the tree.

The tree breaks at the base. Ground men hold the tree so that it doesn't hit anything.  This is the moment that makes you heart beat fast. For a moment the tree is free to fall, swirl around or tip uncontrolled in the wind. This is a big tree that weights a lot.

All of a sudden, the lift truck takes over and lifts the entire tree over the wall and onto the haul truck.  It took them less that 45 minutes to take two trees down. It was so awesome to see this process. Not their first rodeo.

We also had a tree in  our back garden taken down as it was not doing well and had outgrown the area.  This one, they just chopped into pieces and took it away.

We made a trip to the garden store to pick out trees and bushes to fill the areas.  We want some greenery there, just not greenery that we have to trim. We continue to move toward low maintenance.

All the orchids had to come down as they were hanging on the palm tree trunks.  Since they were overgrown, I started separating and repotting them.  Stay tuned for a new orchid station which is under construction.

Colorado Trip

We journeyed back to Colorado to visit family and friends, celebrate birthdays and tackle the clean-out of the last storage unit. 

The mountains are always a pleasure to see in Colorado.  Pikes Peak overlooks my childhood home so it was a nostalgic trip to Colorado Springs.  We arranged a tour of the Air Force Academy for my grandson who is  researching colleges with one of my high school friends that graduated from there over 50 years ago. 

Back in Arvada we celebrated birthdays for the youngest grandson, youngest daughter and our sister-in-law. Bowling was a big hit for the grandson who turned 8. After two hours of bowling, Rick and I were wiped out. 

The altitude and cold also affected us. It was a typical Spring in the Rockies.  It would be rainy and cold and 40 degrees and the next day it would be 80 and sunny. We wore a lot of sweatshirts and sweaters. We are not cold weather people anymore.

We were able to cut the size of our storage unit from a 5x10 to a 5x5. It was not without anxiety and much crying. We just wanted the things we loved to go to someone who would appreciate them as we had. I sold a silverware set that belonged to my mother to a nice lady who was collecting the "First Love" pattern to use for her large family.  I told her I just wanted her to appreciate the set that my mother had collected by saving cereal box tops.  She asked my mothers name and I told her it was "Ann".  She said she would remember Ann every time they used the silverware. As I stood in the parking lot of our storage unit selling keepsakes out of the back of our rental car like a drug dealer, I cried. 

Rick inherited an old Edison phonograph with 100 cylinders that played music by winding it up.  His grandfather collected these and was world known for his collection.  We found a buyer that had remembered his mother playing a phonograph just like the one Rick had kept safe for years. This made us feel a little better and we shed less tears as this item was taken away.

I had been crying over the very mention of my mother's china for months leading up to our trip back Colorado. The next generation is not into china and have no use for nostalgic things. Selling china is really not possible. I couldn't bare to give it away.   So the China and mocha set sit in storage until next time.

Coming home to Bonaire is always exciting for us.  We have lived here for 4+ years.  It is our home.