Cold, Cold, Record Lows

Alaskan air is streaming in from the north, and again I'm covering and heating the lemon and avocado trees. The other trees are dormant so I did some tree trimming. I set up a tall stepladder in the bed of a pickup and carefully trimmed branches around the phone line that goes to the house. It was high work with a chainsaw, but I took little manageable bites, rather than sawing huge limbs all at once. I found the dove's nest but left it alone. I could tell they were concerned by me trimming.

What I really need to do is somehow get high enough to trim the top branches. My neighbor has the same species of privet tree, and they get gigantic. This might be the last year I could possibly do it myself, but I need to figure out how to do it safely.

I'm buying so many things online now. I did look in three brick-and-mortar stores, but couldn't find any good walking shoes in my size, so I just ordered them on the internet. They're cheaper, even with the shipping cost, not to mention the time and gas wasted (and exposure to the flu) with old-style shopping.