You Don't See That Every Day

 This past weekend we started painting trees. It was like fingerpainting when we were little. Dip your hands into a glob of paint and splatter it all over. Except this time we were using gloves, and we had a mark to aim for - the tree trunk. We paint the trees the first 2 years to keep them from getting sunburned and to protect them from sprays. In some orchards you will see collars around the young trees. We looked at this option and decided it wasn't for us. The suckers till grow up those collars, and you have to remove each by hand to the get suckers that grow there. Plus that bark doesn't get accustomed to the sun if it has a collar on it.  Painting the trees is one job my kids don't mind doing too much. It goes quickly and we can have fun while we work. We wear a rubber glove on one hand with a cotton glove over it. We dip that gloved hand into the small bucker of paint we carry and coat the lower half of the tree. 5 seconds or so per tree and on to the next one. Thank...

 Three weeks have passed since surgery, and it has been a humbling time.  I am not supposed to lift anything over 10 pounds. My family has been extra cautious, not letting me lift anything remotely heavy. For someone independent like me, that has been tough. As the weather finally turns nice, and the outdoor projects call my name, I chafe at not being able to lift heavy things. I have things to build! I have dirt and compost to move! I have brush to haul. I have things to do!! But I am trying to be good and wait the full 6 weeks for healing. Because really, my family needs me back to full health by then too, not relapsing because I was impatient.  Thankfully I am healing well, and there will be no more treatments needed. I am looking forward to hiking and running again, and being back to 100% So out in the orchard this week, I was the designated driver. The task this time was to spread fertilizer on the new orchard, by hand. We did not broadcast it (fling by machine allll...