Tree!

the pointy part of the roof is about 25 feet high

The big pine, the one that had a limb fall off several years back, was starting to rot where that limb fell and the huge sections were beginning to crack apart.

The worst of it, the one they took off first, was just over my bedroom and we had a heck of a time finding a tree crew to tackle the problem.  They either wanted an eye-bulging amount or took one look and said, "No thanks!"

So, we asked CJ who knew a guy who called the next day and he came out to look at it, offered to do it for $200 less than our next lowest offer and while he's no arborist, he has been cutting trees since he could walk.  He works with another guy who is bonded and has insurance, so we were good to go.

They stood out there for half an hour talking, pointing and making gestures, then they just started to work and it was amazing,

One guy climbed the tree WAY up and attached a chain.  Then they cut all the lower limbs that might catch the roof while it fell.  Then they tied the chain to a skidder and pulled it away from the house and zizz!  About 6 seconds later it was down.  They cut off the limbs and hauled the trunk to the big truck in about 3 minutes, it was FAST.

A little size reference

The second section came down fast, the skidder got it

Scary!  Another fast fell between the house and shed, didn't even squash the fence!

Final cut took the rest down, they cut it into sections and hauled it off working well into the dark.

They have about an hour of cleanup and it's done.  I am keeping some of the last bit here to do a bonfire, if the ban ever gets lifted!

I am so glad to have that tree down, I didn't realize how tense I was until it was on the ground and no longer literally looming over our heads.  Matt said the same thing when he got in.   It's too bad it had to go, but that rotten spot was terrifying and since last Monday when they came to do the estimate, the crack had gotten about an inch wider.  They said there was so little living tree holding the branch over our room and the one angled over the back fence that it was just a miracle it hadn't already fallen.

Let this be a lesson to all-don't use a freaking PINE tree branch to hoist an engine block.  We didn't, but a previous occupant did and that's what caused the whole problem.

We had lobster ravioli to celebrate and it was so darn good. I will be making that again!  I adore Jake, but it's nice having him at work at night so I can make 'gross' stuff (like beans, sprouts, and ravioli) for dinner!  haha

Mid-Week check-in

After our eventful weekend, it's been nice to just be home a while.  It's amazing to me that the sleepless night and damp tent and the gnats and whatever bit me that left that hole in my elbow are all just glossed over now that I am home and all I see inside my head is the sun-dappled trail, the clear stream and that treehouse...wow.

I love selective memory when it works in this direction.  It's when it goes the other way and my brain want to wallow in little miseries that I wonder if there's something wrong with me.  Just last night, I was so mad at Matt for not inviting me to the prom that I started to get a stomach ache.  I mean, seriously.  What the hell? That was 20 years ago.

I will post a few highlights from the camping site so your brain, too, can bask in the eye candy.

hiking back to Virgin Falls

Laurel Falls Cave

Virgin Falls

Treehouse

So far this week, we've mowed.  Oh, and picked up more dog food.  Matt's carpool ride is off doing training, so he's driving the van this week as the Volvo needs some work.  Chandler lost a bracket on her tooth that is supposed to be under constant traction, so we have an emergency ortho appt noon Thursday, and hopefully the t-storms forecast will not interfere with a library run as well.  

Not much else going on, though I am sleeping MUCH better.  Not a full night yet, but getting there, hopefully the end of insomnia.  I hope it's not like the end of Insomnia because I don't want to get hit by a car.  Of all the King characters, I think Ralph is my favorite. 

I did realize today that my hair is growing back out, I need another haircut.  Which made me realize that I have not seen several folks since I had my hair cut.  My friends have all been scarce of late, several e-mails have gone unanswered.  Not sure what's going on.  The kids have stopped asking if their friends will be there when I come up with something for us to go do.

Last bit of update, we are tossing around alternate travel plans for this fall.  The big trip has to be scaled back to two weeks, if that.  Which means just the southwest, which...sucks.  We have been talking about doing Disney instead or even just taking Poppy to the beach and camping for a couple of weeks.  We have to funnel some money into house repairs is what it all comes down to: finite cash flow, infinite wants and needs.  But, it will all work out in the end.  As long as I don't get hit by a car.

Tree Two

Dave came over today with some chainsaws and helped Matt clear away the part of the pine that fell as well as the Paulina tree that was damaged some months ago.  Matt cut the English dogwood outside our window, it has been dying for a few years and this spring, it did not put out any leaves that were not immediately eaten by worms of some kind.  Most of the inside of the stalks were hollow.  I hope we can find another one in a couple of years and replant it somewhere not in the solid shade.  I don't think planting a new one right away would be a good idea, as the leaf-eaters would probably maul it as well.

Anyway, they worked at least 3 hours on it and then I burned a big pile of leavings, the first of many of those out there.

 

The AC was not working again today, the outside unit won't even kick on to run the blower.  The guy is coming in the morning to check it out again, keep your fingers crossed that it will be an easy fix, though to be honest, I am just numb at this point.

Crash!

We spent the whole of yesterday getting the AC repaired, which will help with the electric bills over the course of time, but killed our plans of getting anything else done.

Today, Matt took the van because he has a gig tonight-if I ever get married again, the person will either be non-musically inclined or just REALLY into something small and portable that has no hardware at all.  Like...a ukelele.  Neil Gaiman, you have one-upped me yet again.  His new wife was just arrested in Amsterdam for playing one on the street.  You can get a hooker or smoke pot, but not...twang a tiny guitarette.

At any rate, today I was in my room fighting off a wild case of the stupids from being so groggy tired.  I could not read the words 'mall cop'.  It just would NOT arrange itself into a coherent phrase.  So, while I was reading about a call mop, it suddenly got super bright! 

"Great," my brain says, "I am having a stroke, first word confusion, now it's really super bright.  This is probably it for me, so sorry I never really lived up to my potential, I hope the whole adult diaper thing is not too terrible, I won't really know because it appears I am checking out."  Then Zephyr started barking like mad, which for 99% of small dogs is not news, but my small dog is not a barker.  My brain quietly ticked on 'auditory hallucinations' to its list of symptoms and proceeded to try to shut down.

I stood up, hoping to see the kids one last time before the dimness set in and realized the sky was very white.  This, too, was something my brain woefully added as more proof.  You can't SEE the sky from inside the house, there are trees in every direction.

You can, however, see the sky if a tree decides to split in half and fall over just outside your window.  Which is what happened today around 4:15.  I was suddenly VERY awake and alert and my brain wanted badly to see the split tree, so we went outside and found the kids climbing on it like Lilliputians on Gulliver and Zeppie giving it the evil eye. 

I came in and called Matt, who was very interested to know about the roof, which, in case you are interested about the roof, is undamaged.  I am partially glad as it would be a PITA to deal with getting it fixed, but insurance would probably kick in some of the cost, which would be okay for sure. 

 

Here are the few shots I fired off to send him before he left work.  The boys have already stripped the limbs and stacked them off to the side in prep for cutting it into firewood.  Matt plans to spend next week after work cutting down 2 of the remaining 4 large branches still on the tree to remove the one that would, if it fell down like this one, go through the roof over where we sleep.  Which is something my brain has shown me in stop-motion from 4 different angles already. 

I think it's being a bit dramatic myself.  I don't think just one part of the tree is heavy enough to crunch through the whole roof, attic space and through the ceiling, but then again, I don't really want to find out.  This chunk fell off on a day with no wind at all.  I don't know what that means as to the safety of the tree being above our heads any more.  I am so bummed.

Tree

 We finally put the tree up yesterday.  I was all for skipping the whole Christmas event, but I don't live alone.  I live with three kids who so rarely ask for anything, that I find it difficult to say  no when they do, in particular if it's easily within my ability to give them what they want. In this case, the only effort was going into the attic.

I do like the tree, I like the lights and the shape of it.  I also have a few favored ornaments that I was glad to see.

 This is the first of the ornaments Matt and I ever bought.  It's a red pear, the lighting is off.  There is a green pear that matches it.

 Here is the original Matt ornament.  It was from a kid's meal...I forget from where.  I just remember seeing it on a banner and knowing THAT was THE one.  It's his favorite and after falling in love with Expedition Everest at Disney, we all cheer when the Yeti comes out each year.

 These are a set of 10 plastic bead angels the kids and I made together the last year they deemed crafts an acceptable holiday event. 

 Our Hannah and Hallie dolls, who have graced our tree for six years now.

 This angel has been on every tree I can remember.  I took it off the tree at my mother's house after I moved out on my own.  It was the only ornament from my childhood that I wanted to keep.  I remember after I asked her for that one, she boxed up a huge assortment for me to take, over the years, they have broken or have been passed on or are in a different box somewhere up there in the attic.  My little angel is the only one I really wanted.

 Hiking bear!  I love him.

 My little birdhouse to complement Ben's assortment of birds!

 I love these blank-faced angels and I have a collection of them.

This was from when I woke up one day and decided I loved pigs.  I bought...several pig figurines that year.  The kids looked for an ornament of a pig, this was as close as they could get.

So, maybe it's a Solstice tree or a standing Yule log or a fancy Festivus pole or a Christmas tree, I can't force everyone to change their minds just because I am having a hard time making sense of the season.