Well, last Saturday dH decided to take the tree down. One of the few we need to remove this fall. Only this one was the biggest, in front of the house close to the street. A giant diseased maple whose time had come, with its dropped bark and bare limbs over half the tree. What a sad thing to undertake.

So we got up and started in about 9:30, before traffic got too bad. It was a little scary at first, with me trying to be strong enough to pull a branch out of the way with rope so it didn't bust the gutters or break a window.

Thank goodness we are lucky enough to have the best neighbors possible. Who has neighbors that show up and start helping, taking time out of their Saturday? Without them, we would have been in a mess! For one, our ladder was way too short to complete the job. And it would have taken forever for just the two of us.

So they helped until noon, when we got it down to the trunk part.

Then we had some friends from work show up with their wives and kids and chainsaws, and they went to town on the huge parts.

Meantime, the kids played in the back with the dogs and chickens.

And by dark, all that was left was a foot high stump. Whew. And lots of raking and stacking and such. But the majority....done. Amazing.

And I'm so glad to have everything getting back to normal now, even though I feel like my house is naked and I can't hide anything now. Time to work on the front beds, especially now that the hostas will be in full sun and the ferns.

Oh...and I'm assuaging my grief with thoughts of our new tree, coming shortly. It will be a 10ft. Snow Goose Cherry, growing to about 30' x 30'. We saw one at the UT Botanical Gardens this past spring, and it was georgeous!! So we're excited about that. Hopefully we can find a place to dig a hole big enough...I want it close to the where the maple was. And it will be fun to have something that's not so common. Here's a pic through the trees.

So that's that. Now we just have to take out the black walnut, (in the power lines and messy) and this other smaller tree that's dying and blocking my garden light anyway. And trim back the maple in the back yard that's hanging over the house.

And weed all the beds to prepare for pansies and such...and rake leaves to add to the compost...and till the garden to prepare for the launch of lasagna gardening....and I better get started or this will never get done!!