Double Rainbow Pruning Day

I want to write about the fun bottle collections but I have so much to get done that we haven't been able to get them finished with Princess Five gone for the weekend and Princess Four home for the weekend. 

I need to hurry and get the trees pruned before it gets cold because once it gets cold, I can't prune or it will cause freezer burn on the trees. 

If I try to prune in the spring, I have to deal with bees and need to get it done before they bloom or I knock off blooms and flowers which in turn gives you less fruit. 

Last year, I got the front trees done but didn't get the back trees done and I am sad that I didn't as it makes it all that much harder this year as the top branches are much harder to cut with two years growth and the centers are so full that I get cut up trying to get them trimmed. I get less fruit as well as the bees can't get into the center of the tree to pollinate the blossoms.

I was pruning the green plum in the back that hasn't given much fruit. This year, there were about 10 plums on the tree. I thought since I didn't get it pruned last year, I would give it one good year with a pruning and see how it does this next year and if I don't get more this year, I will take it out. 

I get it finished and when I think I am done pruning, I always take about 20 steps back to make sure the top of the tree is level and when I took steps back, I smiled. It didn't rain all day at my house but I guess there was rain somewhere as when I looked up to see if the top of the tree was level, there were two rainbows, touching down on the tree. 

I have shared that I have been having some health problems and have been so stressed about money and trying to keep up on the house and yard that those two rainbows both touching down on the tree just made me think that I need to trust in God that everything will be OK. 

The rainbow is a sign from God in the bible and I am grateful whenever I get the chance to see one but I am always so much more touched when I get to see a double rainbow. It isn't a common occurrence but I tend to see them at times of stress.  

There was the one from homecoming game a few weeks ago (click here for that post) but the one that I remember the most was the day I had a horrific court case and was also moving Princess Three to college. I will always smile looking back at that day. I took it as a sign from God that everything would be OK and everything was alright. God took care of it and I was so blessed winning that court date but when I left the court house, I thought for sure I had lost. So, I trust that the rainbows were letting me know that it would be OK. Here is the post about that. 

I didn't get to prune much on the apple trees that night but we picked 7 bags of apples and sent some to Princess One along with some dried apples as I went to a neighbors to drop off a wedding gift and the parents of the groom were visiting from the city where Princess One lives and said they would take some apples to her. I shared a bag with them and their parents and some dried apples for all of them as well. 

With all that, I still have apples on the tree. I also have all the dried apples in the picture above. It is wonderful to be able to build up my stash again as we didn't get much the past few years so I am very grateful. Also, I went to a woman's meeting for my church the other night and one of my neighbors asked about my apple trees and I shared that I had tons of wonderful apples and hardly any had bugs. 

She told me that they only got small and not very tasty apples on their tree. I can see their tree over my back fence and the trees are only 12 feet apart so I thought it weird that I got a huge crop and they got a small and not very tasty crop. I think Heavenly Father was letting me know that my bumper crop was a blessing. I was thinking about that as I trimmed the tree and perhaps the rainbows were just reaffirming that thought that he truly did bless me with apples this year. I am so grateful for them and that I have felt good enough on some days to get the trees pruned. The mower broke a few weeks ago and I finally got the part I ordered and got it put back together and the front yard was mowed when Princess Five returned from her conference weekend. It was a Happy Day!