My World - Snelling, SC

four o'clocks by fence... Dorie's playhouse and our home are in background.

I haven’t written a good blog lately nor have I taken any photos other than family snap shots and those of my poor pine trees that were struck by lightening…. I have been busy attempting to get my life in order as I have been under the weather and suffering from depression on top of that.

With tests and minor surgery behind me, a trip to the dentist (to replace the filling I lost sometime between going to sleep before surgery and gaining my senses the following day), more surgery coming, the trees removed and new trees picked out I am just about too tired to be depressed any more!
I am going to miss those trees; it has been but just a few short months ago that I wrote about them and shared photos of them with the world and now 2 of the giants are gone. The shortest one was over 80 feet tall and 100 inches around (at my eye level) and estimated to be 100 years old. Thankfully we have a couple more so maybe the woodpeckers will return next year to nest and keep us awake.

90 foot tall tree stretched across front yard and two lanes of road.

Bottom 15 foot of tree with it's rings showing.

Althea and Dorie are growing like weeds. Dorie lost her first tooth the week before school started and we were all so excited around here. Althea thinks she is grown and grabs her purse and cell phone when ever we go to town now, she’s quite the little lady and she wants you all to know that she picked those shoes out all by herself.

Dorie Jean

Althea Clare attempting to keep the grass from touching her feet!

She and Nemo are best friends and I have given up keeping her out of the kennel and just try not to shudder when she lays down with him but I do draw the line at her getting in the food or water bowl and poor Nemo would just sit by and allow her to hand feed him piece by piece if we didn’t stop her.

Althea and Nemo

It has been over 100 degrees here for months, it has been the hottest summer I can ever remember and everything is suffering including we humans. I barely get into the garden now except to water but do enjoy the Four O’clock that seem to thrive in the heat as do the “Skeeters” and Gnats… how I hate Gnats!

One of my "crossed" four o'clocks... white with pink polka dots.

Hope you all are well and I look forward to getting back in the fray and will be sure to share some photos of the sleepy little town of Snelling, SC with you in the future.

Camella

Old Growth Pines

Trees back in May.

It has been mere months ago that I last blogged about the pine trees in our yard. Standing well over 60 feet we have been blessed by 5 of these beauties in our front yard. They are Loblolly pines and until today I had no idea how old they were or how much I was going to miss them…

Back in May we were struck by lighting and lost our freezer, pump to the well and my husbands laptop, I felt sure it had hit one of the trees but could never tell, that is until about a month ago when its needles began to turn brown. Within a week or two it was dead and the one next to it was now dying.

Today as they are dying.

Seems that they have a huge root system that can span 50 feet or so and if the lighting hits anywhere the root system is well it can kill the tree… how sad.

 

I took my measuring tape today and carefully wrapped it around the biggest tree; 100 inches! I could not believe my eyes, so I did it again and took a picture. According to my husbands calculations using a program online this tree is between 79 and 100 years old. Imagine that.

100 inches = 100 years?

I will miss them when they are finally cut down tomorrow and I only hope the woodpeckers will make a new home in one of the tree we have left.

Trimming the limbs off.

The scent of pines is everywhere... so are the branches.