Men In Trees

No no no, not the show. Today I got a 6:20 a.m. wake-up call from my dad telling me the tree guys would be here this morning. Excellent! We've been dying to get rid of these trees...would have been nice to have heard the news in the traditional 9-9:00 calling time-frame, but whenever the goods news comes is fine with me. I went to work and left the photographer behind to document the progress.

Here is a "before" picture, it's actually waaaay before, but its relevant as this picture is from August 19, 2008, when a large tree branch jumped from the tree into my yard, barely missing the house.

YIPES!

So, shortly after that scare, we called the tree guys. Because my little house is surrounded by such large trees we need to bring in the big guns for the job. My house, in the before picture looks like a tiny little Monopoly house in comparison to these enormous trees. Today, after the (ahem) short wait for the tree guys has passed and we're elated they have come. the daily fear of these trees falling on us is finally over and just in time for storm season. Here is a picture of the "after" of the front of the house, the big tree on the right hand side, and behind the house on the right has been removed.

TA-DA! Let there be LIGHT!!!

Here are some action photos from the back. You can see them lifting the tree top over the house and they are piling the logs in the front.

And, there are a couple of pictures of us, to give you an idea of exactly how large these trees are/were:

My big, strong, brave man! He managed the climb the ladder to get up to the tree. My plan was to get up there and have it look like a grand throne, but...I got to the top and had a panic attack and threw him up there instead (a very agreeable alternative for me!). The problem was that the center of the tree was completely rotted out (thankfully we took the trees down before they fell!) and so when he placed his foot in the center it sank! On the right is a picture of the portion that was cut down, the center of this 5 foot piece is completely rotted except for the outer 6 inch rim...this thing would have come down any day. Just touch the darker brown area and it falls apart in your hand.

And finally, a picture of me with some of the branches that have been cut down. Now this is something I can climb with no fear! Okay, it is a bit like riding the "its a small world ride" versus a big roller coaster, but still...I did climb a HUGE tree...the fact that its lying down only a few feet from the ground is really not that important, is it?

Now we have all this extra space and gorgeous sunlight coming through during the day. We can now buy normal flowering plants and I'll probably have to put in one of those weird looking buddleia plants he's been whining about. Let me tell you, living with an English man certainly makes you concentrate on your garden a bit more (maybe its a fear of Lady Catherine de Bourgh coming to my house to insult my small garden?) and by garden I mean yard, as I'm not growing any vegetables. Hey - maybe now I can! I have sunlight! Oh, this tree thing looks like it is going to take me on some totally ridiculous domestic tangent endeavor. Lord help the neighbors!