Timber! Felling another tree...

A year and a half ago, the Laird gathered some friends together to help him fell two very large pine trees that were encroaching upon the pool and blocking the sun.  The task went perfectly, with the exception of landing one on flowering bush. For more about that day, check out A Must For Felling Trees post.  About a year ago, the Laird gave it another try as he assisted his dad in taking down a tree at his parents house.  That attempt went slightly south, and the tree didn't fall where they had intended or thought it would fall.  In fact, it took out the old basketball hoop and landed right in line with our fairly new-ish car!  What a misfortune, considering we had plenty of time to move the car to another place and avoid any accidents.  But alas, it was what it was and our car only had a few small dents & scuffs.

There are 3 tall cedar trees on the North side of the barn.  We decided it would be best to take down the middle one, right in front of the barn so that we could see more of the barn as we drive up the driveway.  This would also add a little more sun to the flower gardens to the North of the barn.

Based upon the last experience, it was important to give our good friend Matt a call for assistance.  And he graciously came over within a couple hours of our request.  Matt has lots of experience felling trees, and was the head of the last tree felling operation.  Someone to trust.  Though this was a smaller tree than the two previous pines, it was located closer to the barn, house, and electrical wires and there was definitely more at stake if the tree didn't fell where we wanted it.

   




Matt brought some cool gear, and advised the Laird exactly how to make his cuts.  Then he grabbed the rope and backed into the marsh to guide the tree as it fell.

TIMBER!  The tree fell exactly where planned.

We hope to repaint the barn this summer, and then hang a Barn Star on this side of the barn.

 Lady genevieve and I watched (though not from this standpoint).

What an amazing day we had!  The weather was gorgeous- which is ultra awesome since our Winter seemed to last longer than usual.  Started the day by dropping off >20 cans of old paint to the local EcoPark- very much into Spring Cleaning mode right now.  Then we took down a small tree covered with vines next to our new little stream-side patio; in order to clear more access to the stream and increase our soon to be sun-loving flower garden.   We cleaned up brush and yard debris. Then the tree felling project was underway.  Then we dragged the tree trunk pieces to our woodpile and the branches out to the woods.  We also fertilized the blueberry bushes and raspberry row.  The Laird planted some lettuce in the vegetable garden.  We did a little transplanting, and also planted some new grass seed.  What an amazingly productive day here at Redwoodshire.  We loved being outside for 8 hours today- it hardly feels like work when the weather is so good and there are so many things to work on.  Lady genevieve is a wonderful helper, and loves watering the plants.  She likes giving Horatio a shower too;)

We ended the day by hanging the hammock, grilling chicken for dinner, and lighting our first bonfire of the year!  We are so grateful to live here at Redwoodshire!  What a great day.