So, where did I leave off? Oh yes...I was telling about the tree and needing to take it down. One of the things we loved about our house when we bought it was the yard. Really, it was the reason we bought it. It has several very large trees all around it that give it shade pretty much all day long...or should I say, used to give it shade all day long.
We had finally gotten our insurance money to help with the removal of the tree and arranged for a company to come out to take the tree down the first Saturday in August. We were pretty bummed because it was really going to take some of the shade away from the front of our house. But, at least we would not have to worry any more with every storm that came along if it would come crashing down on our garage and car...or worse yet, on our neighbor's bedroom! And, we still had the other big trees in the front yard that provided most of our shade. It would be alright.
That was, until a big storm came the Sunday night before they were coming to cut down the tree. Did I mention that was our anniversary? Yeah. So, we had just gotten into bed and heard this terrible scraping noise. At first, we thought there must have been something fall on the roof that was sliding down it and scraping the shingles off. Then, we thought about that tree that was already weakened by the lightening.
We went out to check out what was going on in the front yard. As I turned on the porch light, Andrew asked, "What is in the tree?" He was talking about the tree right in the middle of the yard. This is not just any tree. It is the perfect climbing tree! It gives shade to our house. It gives shade to our driveway. Our cats climb this tree and lounge in it for hours. It gives shade to the front porch so we can sit out there and enjoy an evening. This is the perfect tree! It is our favorite tree!
Was our favorite tree!
That is right. The winds (60-80 mph according to the weather lady on television) had blown over the main part of the tree! As we got to looking at it, it had fallen right on our mailbox and across the driveway. Thankfully, it fell away from the house and did not land on the car!
We had to cut our way out of the driveway Monday morning. In the light of day, it did not look any more promising. Our beloved tree was going to have to come down, too! So, we called our insurance company. But, of course, they would not cover the removal of a tree downed by wind damage. Now, if it had caused damage to the house or car they would have covered it. But, since we were lucking on that front, we were on our own for clearing the debris.
So, last Saturday, I sat outside and mourned our two big trees as they (very quickly) were reduced to a pile of logs and saw dust. Thankfully, we got out without a lot of extra expense for the second tree because we took it down most of the way by ourselves. Thanks to Don and Geoff who came over to help out.
And our shade? Well, let my hosta tell you the story:
Just to be clear, these were completely green on Saturday!Oh, yeah! The baby! Check back later for part 3 of the big update!
4 comments:
Oh, your poor sad tree!! I'm so sorry you lost it - that was definitely a beautiful tree. :-(
Oh no! I'm sorry you lost your trees. A storm took out a huge part of the big tree in my dad's backyard last year, and I was so upset! It was a great tree.
I can't wait to read the baby update!
Wow! It must have been quite the storm! Happy things worked out in the end. Well,I mean, you lost the tree, but at least no one was hurt,and the house wasn't damaged!
Tiffany - I took a look at your tree. Really man, I feel your pain. We just bought a house and we loved all the trees it has around it. Until a 100 year old oak tree fell on the roof 3 weeks after we bought it! We have spent thousands in tree removal lately! It's so expensive. What service did you use? We used Cevet. Hope that all is well. Julie
Post a Comment