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Altaira
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Fri, 4:24pm
Post #1 of 27
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Feeling like Fiesta? Well, you're in the right place!
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Welcome to Fiesta Friday, everyone!
This week, a 10 month-long tree saga came to a happy end for B.G. and I. Last August I submitted a permit request to remove and replace 2 of the 3 locust trees between the sidewalk and street, as one was dead and another was dying. Normally, you don't need a permit, but as the trees are technically on the town's right-of-way, one is required.
The first hurdle was finding a licensed arborist to do the work (also required), who wasn't just good at knowing and planting trees, but who would actually return calls and texts, and knew how to do an accurate estimate. Not really business skills many arborists possess, as I would find out. The next hurdle was my bad - accidentally submitting an unapproved tree species for 'street trees' (locusts are no longer approved due to being disease-prone). Next, the fall planting season had come and gone. Next, our arborist and the town forrester, both of whom are tree geeks, kept enthusiastically giving us multiple suggestions. Next, was a glitch in the permitting software. Anyway, after much research and many texts and conversations, we finally had two beautiful young Redpointe Maple trees planted this week! Needless to say, I break out into geeky hand-clapping every time I look at them. Whew!
How about you? Did you clear any hurdles this week? Fun plans for the weekend? Do tell! But, of course, order up a drink and visit the buffet before you settle into a comfy chair and tell us all about it.
*puts quarters on juke box* a nice almost-summer song will do nicely!
Have a great weekend, everyone!!   
(This post was edited by Altaira on Fri, 4:27pm)
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dernwyn
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Fri, 5:12pm
Post #2 of 27
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Trees, and permits, and arborists, oh my! But what a happy ending, and those Redpointe Maples will be glorious as they grow.
My snapdragons and nasturtiums are going crazy now, and my rhubarb is coming along nicely - have already pulled enough for a pie. Some of our days are getting up to 80F/27C, but the humidity is staying pleasant.
Tomorrow we have a picnic of sorts, at a local shoreline family fish restaurant with outdoor tent seating, for the volunteers (hubby is one) who help distribute food for the Shoreline Soup Kitchens & Pantries.
Then my youngest and her boyfriend arrive Sunday evening! I've been getting their room cleaned up and ready. I know they're going to want to visit some local parks, as she's gotten into ornithology, and of course they're going to want to spend an afternoon at the Book Barn complex (one of the biggest book re-sellers around)!
Let's have a gardening song:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3FkaN0HQgs
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I desired dragons with a profound desire"
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Altaira
Superuser
Fri, 5:31pm
Post #3 of 27
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Will you be making a pie for your daughter's visit, or will you freeze the rhubarb for later? I'm not a big rhubarb fan, but we have some peaches that will magically become peach cobbler before the weekend is through.
Maybe your daughter will find some good birding books at the Book Barn. I keep two 'pocket-sized' Colorado bird books at the ready next to a pair of binoculars by our big kitchen window. They're both full of bookmarks and sticky notes, lol.
Enjoy the picnic and the visit!
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grammaboodawg
Elvenhome
Fri, 5:45pm
Post #4 of 27
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Hooray! :D Trees know when they're loved!
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Congratulations! Wow! What an ordeal! How many people would have just given up partway through the effort? Not just for the arborist, but the nasty red-tape!? *Applause, Applause, Applause*
Just like pound-puppies (or dogs) and kitties know they've been saved, trees thrive when they're placed with reverence and love :D Maples are always clear on this! I have one that was struck by lightning about 30 years ago... and still thrives whilst wearing signs of the injury. The ladybugs begin to cling to the trunk in the fall and it turns colour a few weeks before the other 4 nearby.
I actually did start on a similar quest on Wednesday when I went to my daughter's home to start on the very shaggy yard. She and all of her neighbours live in close proximity, and they're meticulous about their yardly grooming. Her yard had been left unattended for a couple of years before now, so there are a lot of plantings to trim/relocate/remove. I can't just go my usual warp-speed because it's not my home; but we've literally been discussing what to do just with the front yard since April! There are many questions that STILL need answering!! I got a good 6 hrs in on Weds and a lot done, then I hit my mental/physical wall and stuck a pin it the progress :) My daughter did come out to help as much as she could, but her internal batteries lose their charge pretty fast. I'll be going back up in the next few days (weather permitting). Today we got our first decent rain since mid-May!
I'm going to grab a small bag of BOOM CHICKA POP Lightly Sweet & Salty Kettle Corn and a rootbeer. This popcorn is a plague my Balti daughter left with me. 35 cals a cup and SO FREAKING GOOD! I'm normally not partial to kettle corn; but OH MY! :D
Thanks for taking such great care of us, Altaira! Tell your Maples HI for me... and don't let your neighbours catch you hugging them ;)
We have been there and back again.
TIME Google Calendar
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grammaboodawg
Elvenhome
Fri, 5:54pm
Post #5 of 27
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That's so cool and thoughtful of the family restaurant to thank the volunteers and bring the community together. I hope the weather behaves... especially during your daughter and BF's visit. Oh the park visits will be perfect for their adventure... but that Book Barn is a place where my Balti-daughter, g'son and I could get quite lost in for hours! AWESOME!
I also have rhubarb going crazy. Now you can cook up at last a pie for that visitors ;) Have a GREAT weekend!
We have been there and back again.
TIME Google Calendar
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dernwyn
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Fri, 6:06pm
Post #6 of 27
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I'll ask them if they'd like the pie, or rhubarb bread, which makes a great snack. Peach cobbler! Are your local peaches dropping?
LOL, she gave us an updated birding guide for Christmas! But pocket ones are very handy. What have you noticed this spring? And did you once mention nests being built in trees near your house?
Enjoy your weekend - you must be making full use of your new deck!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I desired dragons with a profound desire"
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dernwyn
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Fri, 6:10pm
Post #7 of 27
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With all your running around! Have you been able to take care of all the trees and limbs that came down in your yard over the winter?
We have friends who plan to visit in October, and the Book Barn is on their go-to list. Fortunately, the Post Office still allows inexpensive Book Rate shipping, I wonder how long that takes to send a box to Alaska...
What's your favorite rhubarb recipe?
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"I desired dragons with a profound desire"
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dernwyn
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Fri, 6:15pm
Post #8 of 27
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It can be so addictive! 
Are you working on making your daughter's yard as easy-care as possible? It must have been quite a mess for you to spend that long in it, what a workout! As long as you're both happy with how it's coming along, that's what matters. Just think of what it WILL be.
Now put your feet up and relax, gramma!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I desired dragons with a profound desire"
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Altaira
Superuser
Fri, 6:22pm
Post #9 of 27
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I bet your trees are all very well loved
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How cool that the ladybugs love the maple in the fall. The honey locust that's left always turns color early, so it will be interesting to see what the timing is for the new maples. The locust, and our crab apple are yellow in the fall and the maples will be red (obviously, thus the name) which I'm very happy about.
Wow, you've been busy, busy, even for you! You need a bag of kettle corn just to replenish all the calories you're burning! Try to do at least a few relaxing things this weekend!
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Ataahua
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Fri, 7:47pm
Post #10 of 27
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I first read that as '10-year saga'
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and thought wow, your local government processes are way slower than ours.
I am ON LEAVE. For a WEEK. I've just finished delivering the 150th celebration of our central park (people loved it, thank god) so I'm now taking a break. Tomorrow I'm driving to Rotorua in the central North Island for a few nights, where I'll bask in thermal hot pools and take a geothermal walk down Waimangu Volcanic Valley, leaving all my work concerns behind.
I think a celebratory margarita might be in order, madam barkeep.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Celebrimbor: "Pretty rings..."
Dwarves: "Pretty rings..."
Men: "Pretty rings..."
Sauron: "Mine's better."
"Ah, how ironic, the addictive qualities of Sauron’s master weapon led to its own destruction. Which just goes to show, kids - if you want two small and noble souls to succeed on a mission of dire importance... send an evil-minded beggar with them too." - Gandalf's Diaries, final par, by Ufthak.
Fantasy novel - The Arcanist's Tattoo
My LOTR fan-fiction
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dernwyn
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Fri, 11:19pm
Post #11 of 27
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That sounds like a delightful holiday!
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Especially at this time of year as it starts to get cooler. Congrats on a job well done!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I desired dragons with a profound desire"
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Altaira
Superuser
Fri, 11:32pm
Post #12 of 27
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It's so nice to get positive feedback for what sounds like a very big project. A week off (and a few margaritas) for a job well done!
I've only been to Rotorua once, but had a great time there. We went to Waiotapu and Rainbow Springs, among other things.
At Rainbow Spring, we learned a lot about Kiwi conservation efforts. I learned that the male sits on the egg after the female lays it, so they put a location device on the male and when he stops moving about, they know he's probably got an egg. The egg is then hatched in a conservatory and let it grow up until it's big enough to have a fighting chance against predators. Of course, I'm sure you already know all of that. We got to see baby Kiwis, and teenagers at night, and in an artificially dark environment. B.G. tells me it closed permanently in 2022 after Covid. That makes me sad. 
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Annael
Elvenhome
Sat, 1:57am
Post #13 of 27
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I don't miss much about living in Idaho but I do miss the many, many natural hot springs there. We sometimes travel down to Oregon & stay at a "hippie resort" that has them also. Sadly, they mostly burned down a couple of years ago but I believe they've rebuilt for the most part. Really should pay them another visit ...
I am a dreamer of words, of written words.
-- Gaston Bachelard
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NARF and member of Deplorable Cultus since 1967
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Annael
Elvenhome
Sat, 2:05am
Post #14 of 27
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so here I am just a little late.
We're having Junuary this week - today I drove in and out of squalls as I went about my errands. The good news is it keeps snowing up in the mountains, the soils are saturated, and the reservoirs are all full. We have been dreading a bad fire year but now the weather mavens are arguing about whether or not we are going to have extreme temperatures or not. Hope not!
I'll have an Irish coffee, since it's not so warm here!
I am a dreamer of words, of written words.
-- Gaston Bachelard
* * * * * * * * * *
NARF and member of Deplorable Cultus since 1967
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Ataahua
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Sat, 4:39am
Post #15 of 27
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It's been unusually warm across NZ for this time of year.
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Here in Taranaki we should have a mountain covered in snow but he's bare - these northerlies that have been bringing the rain have also brought much warmer temps (which I'm not complaining about, but it's still unusual). Rotorua will be a couple of Cs colder than here because it's inland, but I doubt that I'll really care when I'm soaking in hot mineral water while looking out onto Lake Rotorua.
Celebrimbor: "Pretty rings..."
Dwarves: "Pretty rings..."
Men: "Pretty rings..."
Sauron: "Mine's better."
"Ah, how ironic, the addictive qualities of Sauron’s master weapon led to its own destruction. Which just goes to show, kids - if you want two small and noble souls to succeed on a mission of dire importance... send an evil-minded beggar with them too." - Gandalf's Diaries, final par, by Ufthak.
Fantasy novel - The Arcanist's Tattoo
My LOTR fan-fiction
(This post was edited by Ataahua on Sat, 4:40am)
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Ataahua
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Sat, 4:44am
Post #16 of 27
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Aw man, that is sad about Rainbow Springs.
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In a town of big tourist attractions, Rainbow Springs was among the more well-known ones.
Your mention of the location device and how rangers know when a kiwi has stopped moving means he's probably sitting on an egg reminds of what I learned of kākāpō tracking this year: when the rangers spot that a male and female bird are in the same spot, and the male is recording 'vigorous activity', they know that the two are mating.
Voyeur, much?
Celebrimbor: "Pretty rings..."
Dwarves: "Pretty rings..."
Men: "Pretty rings..."
Sauron: "Mine's better."
"Ah, how ironic, the addictive qualities of Sauron’s master weapon led to its own destruction. Which just goes to show, kids - if you want two small and noble souls to succeed on a mission of dire importance... send an evil-minded beggar with them too." - Gandalf's Diaries, final par, by Ufthak.
Fantasy novel - The Arcanist's Tattoo
My LOTR fan-fiction
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Greenwood Hobbit
Doriath
Sat, 5:35pm
Post #17 of 27
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I had to look locust trees up -
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they look beautiful but, if they're not safe any more they have to go. Enjoy watching the new maples grow! They'll provide a glorious splash of colour in autumn. I'm lucky enough to have a tree surgeon living just round the corner, so if I need any tree work doing I can go and knock on the door if emails aren't answered. I know how hard it can be getting answers and commitment from tradespeople!
I've been to the charming old city of Shrewsbury for a few days with a friend. We stayed in a small house (Airbnb) on quite a busy road, but with a view over the river from the back, which made up for any traffic noise. There was a pub just down the road and some shops, so it was all very convenient. There are a lot of fine old timbered buildings in Shrewsbury, some remnants of the town walls, a museum/art gallery, castle, an abbey - lots to see. My bed had such a squishy memory foam mattress that I felt like it was trying to eat me every time I turned over; other than that, it was all good. We walked or used the local bus service, didn't need to take the car out while we were there, which was just as well as parking spaces were hard to find.
It's our big community event next Saturday, so later in the week I'll be getting everything organised for the knitting group stall to raise funds for two local charities. As it's England, fingers are firmly crossed for good weather! You never can tell... Enjoy what's left of your weekends, folks - cheers!
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Altaira
Superuser
Sat, 7:00pm
Post #18 of 27
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Ooooh, send some of that moisture here, please. Our winter was so dry we now have watering restrictions in place. B.G. and I haven't had our sprinkler system turned on yet, partly due to our dependable, regular afternoon spring/summer rains, and partly wanting to conserve as long as we can without risking the grass dying.
Your Irish coffee request reminded me that while wandering through a local liquor store in search of port, I spotted some specialty bottles of flavored Kahlua, one of which was salted caramel. I don't know how I resisted! One was mint, and there was even a Dunkin' flavor.
Have a wonderful weekend.
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Altaira
Superuser
Sat, 7:06pm
Post #19 of 27
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What a delightful little place
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I googled Shrewsbury, and it looks so quaint. I bet there are lots of good pubs there, as well as shops to wander in and out of. I'm glad you had such a nice trip!
You got me curious about the local event. What kinds of knitted things do you sell? Are there 'best sellers' that you always try to have on-hand? I'll keep my fingers crossed for sunny weather (or, at least, no rain).
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dernwyn
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Sat, 9:31pm
Post #20 of 27
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I'm going to have to remember that term, it's very appropriate for that type of weather! It's a relief that your water situation is good.
How's the research for your book coming along?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I desired dragons with a profound desire"
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dernwyn
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Sat, 9:35pm
Post #21 of 27
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That's the town with the Brother Cadfael abbey! Was there any mention of that literary character? It does sound like a pleasant, quaint place to visit.
What all has your group been knitting?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I desired dragons with a profound desire"
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Kimi
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2:59am
Post #22 of 27
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Charming is just the right description for Shrewsbury!
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We had a nice visit there long ago - I'm sure it hasn't changed much. We did an informal "Cadfael Walk" - nothing was marked, but there was (I think) a booklet of locations. A lovely old city generally.
The Passing of Mistress Rose
My historical novels
Do we find happiness so often that we should turn it off the box when it happens to sit there?
- A Room With a View
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Kimi
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3:01am
Post #23 of 27
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re reading it as ten years, that is. I was impressed at how dedicated they were!
The celebrations sound awesome, and it's great that they were so appreciated.
Have a great holiday! Waimangu is such a special place.
The Passing of Mistress Rose
My historical novels
Do we find happiness so often that we should turn it off the box when it happens to sit there?
- A Room With a View
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Kimi
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5:43am
Post #24 of 27
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A successful end to your saga!
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Like Ataahua, I read it as 10 *years*, and thought that might be taking dedication a bit far :) I'm sure the maples will look magnificent. We, too, have managed to find some very good (and reliable) arborists, and as a bonus they're based not far from us. We've put friends on to them who have also been very satisfied.
Nothing very exciting to report from here. We had a friend around this afternoon, which was nice. We also planted some fruit trees, two plum and one pear, to add to our home orchard. Writing-wise I'm still deep in the doomed settlements of the late 1800s, and having to make a real effort not to go too deeply down the rabbit holes!
Wishing everyone a pleasant [remnant] weekend.
The Passing of Mistress Rose
My historical novels
Do we find happiness so often that we should turn it off the box when it happens to sit there?
- A Room With a View
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Greenwood Hobbit
Doriath
11:04am
Post #25 of 27
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to have one of those pubs literally a minute's walk up the road.. We didn't eat there, but approved of the beer (Reverend James). At the community event there are all sorts of stalls, live music, food, activities for children etc. Given the weather, it's a great day. We sell knitted and crocheted toys and novelties, baby clothes and blankets, larger blankets, hats etc. What will sell is very unpredictable, so we make a bit of everything!
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