Thursday, May 28, 2009

Cherry Picker Takes On Tree and Wins! Well, Mostly


You cannot imagine the noise of this tree massacre. I know it's horrible to kill a huge tree but this tree was on its last legs and was planted too close to the wooden fence and the little house. So gird your loins. These photos are rather graphic.


And the search for the perfect stick is on. Good dogs, now would you just haul this mess out of the driveway and hide it somewhere. I suggest a big hole, so start digging.

12 comments:

themom said...

Get your throwing arm in shape...they (the canines) seem to be really selective, in their search for the "perfect" stick. What a mess - hope it all gets cleared quickly and efficiently.

Utah Savage said...

Well, since I'm doing the clearing with my own old shriveled muscles, it's going to be a long weekend. God I hope it doesn't get any hotter. I can't get to my hose, so I can't fill my swamp cooler. I need a man to help me, but since I'm such a bitch that's not likely to happen. What's a savage old bitch to do? Drag a few sticks at a time. It's looking like a job for Sisyphus. A young man with a strong back and small brain would be best for this job. But it would have cost at least $1,500 to hire someone with a cherry picker to take out the whole tree. What the Utility guys did they did for a $100 tip and they took my tip reluctantly. Until I said, take yourselves out for a round of drinks on me. That made it sound better than just money. All eyes lit up and the hand opened to take that $100. bill.

Exercise isn't going to kill me is it? It's been so long since I did this kind of work. Oh god, maybe I need a nap first.

My friend Phillip was staying at Chez Savage late last night. Lots of tinkering with the new laptop late last night. I have no cell phone, so no wireless service. I need a couple of parts to get it travelable. One part had to be ordered and will be here in three or four days. The other part I can buy at Office Max. I am the very least tech savvy person I know, so we shall see if I can get up to speed by lying in bed reading blogs. Phillip did get the laptop to open as my Imac or something like that. But I don't have an extra long cord to hook to the Imac and string across the floor to my bed, but I'm thinking that might not be such a bad idea. Anyway I'm very excited about the possibilities this new computer presents. I always start out fairly timidly with anything new, unless it's a man, then I just tear into him. I'm just horrible.

How's your headache?

The Crow said...

Thank heavens that didn't crash into your house or onto your doggies! Looks like your mint bed is taking it pretty hard. Fortunately, mint is like a lot of good strong women I know - takes a beating and comes back stronger!

:D

Steve said...

be sure to wear some gloves when clearing that out!

MRMacrum said...

I have a yard full of trees with their tops hanging. Ice storm this past winter. I can relate to this for sure. It's never fun to take a saw to a tree that's been a friend for a long time. Even one that is a pain or half dead.

Utah Savage said...

Weeellll, I have gloves and a long sleved shirt and jeans and boots. But.... I ended up stripped to a tank top (you know the wife beater kind we all (well, mostly you) hate, and down to my mens boxers with the fetching short open leg, not the tight kind. Oh no, and I took the gloves off for a moment to cool off. You know how hot it makes you to be wearing good gardening gloves (well, maybe more like train engineer gloves) and then when I felt cooler after a smoke and a few moments of Hardball (I;m taping the rest of the night's news) I went at it again, opening up a bloody scrape down the outside of my right calf from the bark of a too heavy limb thrown by naked hands. You can see where this is going can't you?

Crow, amazingly the only mint to really take a beating was the mint growing on the step. No loss there. Besides all the mint needs trimming so it won't toughen or bolt. But the fragrance working out there was grand.

MrMCrum, I know I mangled your name and I'm sorry. I'm so mangled myself I can barely make my fingers work. But yes. It does hurt to take down a venerable old friend like this. It grew the most beautiful lichen. Or is it moss? Or does bark just host lichen? Anyway, I've missed you. How's the bicycle business?

Fran said...

OY! WE live on a corner lot & the weeds & things seem to always be winning. WE whack things back & they keep on growing. I've had the thought I'll just trim a little in the yard & next thing I know I could overfill a truck with ease.
Only problem is we don't have a truck!

Anyway.... good thing that sucker did not drop onto your house by itself.

Funny, the dogs have that "What the ?????" expression.....

Lulu Maude said...

i loved the guys we used with our huge, dying hemlock. they brought a chipper with them and converted the whole thing to mulch before our very eyes. the tree guy's wife has a landscaping business, and it all turned into usable mulch for her clients.

maybe you ought to have a mulching party, with drinks served only after the work is done, the better to avoid one of those 'fargo' disasters.

Dr. Zaius said...

Poor tree. What would George Washington say?

Randal Graves said...

Dr. Zaius, nothing, because zombies can't talk.

I can't remember, do you have a fireplace or not? Make use of that wood.

Utah Savage said...

We have a fire pit outside for the summer fun. And yes, there is a fireplace in the main house, but even with a roaring fire, the damn chimney sucks heat from the rest of the house. I will pass it to the city who will shred it and give back to me as bark like stuff to keep the moisture in the ground. The city also makes mulch of the green garbage like grass chipping and other stuff like that. I'm pretty sure the tree will find a good home in the next incarnation. I know we all love trees. I planted it. But I had no idea how big it would get and how fast it would grow. It was huge. And always getting massacred on one side by the utility company every summer. So now, it's sweet that the guys who led to her demise had to remove the dangerous part of her. I'll repost the tree before and after, when "after" is finally really after.

La Belette Rouge said...

As a tree lover I am one of the dorks that cries when I see a tree come down. That said, some trees need to come down and everything has to die sometime. I suppose I expect trees to outlive me. I count on them for that and when they don't tears tend to show up. Lily would be happy to help hide some sticks for you.
xo