You regular readers know that we’ve been working like maniacs getting our house ‘prettied up’ so we can put it on the market when we move later this summer.  You know, doing all the things we talked about doing while living here the last 10 years, which will of course make us want to stay since it’ll be the way we envisioned it when we first bought our house.  Isn’t that typically how it goes?

One of the things we definitely needed to do is have the two trees we planted out front removed, since one died last year and the other one was also dying.  This is a picture of the trees from about five years ago:

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Looking from this angle, the one on the right was completely dead, and the one on the left only had about half its leaves bloom this year, clearly in its way out, too.  Here’s a shot from the side the hubby took last week:

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Since we live on a busy road, and the hubby isn’t a tree-climbing guy due to his fear of heights, we figured we’d better call in the professionals.  They came armed and ready to tackle the trees in question.  Time for the cherry picker:

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Starting to look awfully bare out front:

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Along the side of the house in between our house and the neighbor, we had an annoying Mulberry Tree.  At least that’s what I think it was – it did produce berries every year that would fall on the sidewalk running around the house and purple staining juice would get tracked everywhere.  And the birds would eat the berries then leave purple bird poop on the back patio, on our cars, and any other object they deemed bomb-worthy.

The branches were constantly having to be trimmed to keep them away from the house, so we decided it was definitely time for it to go, too:

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The dudes got to work:

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They also trimmed some branches off the ginormous maple tree that towers above the Summer House, then finished taking down the rest of the trees out front so they could finish up by digging out the stumps:

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The whole time they were out there working, they had an Observer keeping an eye on them:

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The tree dudes brought a wood chipper with them to make short work of the branches and trunks – we asked them to leave the chips behind so we could use it as mulch for our flower beds, which are in desperate need for some fresh mulch.  Recycling at its finest!

Princess Nagger was watching out the front window, and spied a section of trunk she wanted to keep, since she envisioned turning it into something artistic.  When the guys were taking a break, she scurried out and grabbed this:

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The gears were turning as she turned it over in her hands, thinking about what she would do with it.  I stood it up on its short flat end and suggested she draw on it, then we’d use a wood burning tool to etch her drawing in permanently.  She loved the idea, and immediately got to work, taking no time at all to draw this:

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Pretty cool, no?  We’re waiting for it to dry out completely before we do the wood burning part, and the hubby even picked up a set of bits for the Dremel tool to carve out the edges to give it a 3D effect.  I’ll be sure to share when it’s completely done.

This will be a silly question, but do you creatively recycle?

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55 Comments

  1. Looks like you are getting organised. We moved but didn’t have time to do up the house and sell it beforehand so we rented it out. 7 years later and the house needs a complete make over before we can sell. Our next holiday will no doubt be a big trip back (5000 km each way) to do up the house so we can finally put it on the market to sell. Not looking forward to that because I could really do with a real holiday.
    Mystery Case would like you to read ..On the ‘Case’ this Wordless Wednesday!My Profile

    1. We thought about renting ours out, too – but since we’ll be moving 3000 miles away, figured it’d be best just to put it on the market and be done with it. We won’t be listing it until after we’re out of it, though – luckily we have a friend who’s a real estate agent so it’ll be in good hands, and we (hopefully) won’t have to worry about it as much as we would if we were renting it (we keep thinking of the movie Pacific Heights…heh!) We paid off the mortgage a couple of years ago, so hopefully it’ll sell quickly so we can buy one out there sooner rather than later! 😉 You’re going to need a real holiday after you get done doing all the work on your house to get it on the market, poor thing!!
      Stacy (the Random Cool Chick) would like you to read ..Tree Removal Inspires ArtMy Profile

    1. If the hubby weren’t so afraid of heights, we would have done it ourselves. Well, maybe not those particular trees since we’re right smack dab on a busy road – luckily the local tree people gave us a good deal for being repeat customers (we had 3 dead trees in our Back 40 removed last year since they were a threat with some wild weather we were expecting). 🙂 That’s so cool you were able to utilize the cherry picker your neighbor brought home – I’d love to have one of those to play with for a day! 😀
      Stacy (the Random Cool Chick) would like you to read ..Tree Removal Inspires ArtMy Profile

    1. I loved the trees up front, too – we’ll be planting a couple of replacement ones because I think it looks better with trees (plus it adds shade to the front rooms which is necessary). 🙂 I hope we’re that lucky, too – thanks for that info, I’ll definitely be passing that along to the hubby who’s a big worry wart! 😉
      Stacy (the Random Cool Chick) would like you to read ..Tree Removal Inspires ArtMy Profile

  2. Wonderful drawing…it will be great when she carves it
    Yes, more projects that should have been done years ago…LOL
    Have fun and enjoy it while you can.
    Hugs
    SueAnn

    1. Thank you, SueAnn! I can’t wait to see how it looks when it’s all carved out! 🙂

      Isn’t it funny how all the projects we’ve been meaning to get to over the years are finally attacked with a vengeance when we’re getting ready to move? 😀 Hopefully all your projects are getting all taken care off nicely, too! 🙂 You have fun and enjoy it while you can, too! 😀
      Stacy (the Random Cool Chick) would like you to read ..Tree Removal Inspires ArtMy Profile

    1. It is sad to lose trees, isn’t it Beth? I would have loved to have left the mulberry tree, but the location was not conducive to enjoying it (along with the purple mess. 😉 ) And I figured I’d be nice to the future owners of our house not to have to deal with it. 🙂 We’ll be planting new trees out front in the next few weeks to make sure there’s something nice up front to add to the ‘curb appeal’. 🙂
      Stacy (the Random Cool Chick) would like you to read ..Tree Removal Inspires ArtMy Profile

    1. It does feel good to check things off the list of projects we wanted to do, even though we’ll be moving when they’re done. 😉 But at least that means we’ll get a better price for the house when it sells, enabling us to get a better house out there! 😉 That picture is wonderful, isn’t it? That girl’s got talent! 😉
      Stacy (the Random Cool Chick) would like you to read ..Tree Removal Inspires ArtMy Profile

    1. I’m right there with you, Jackie – I like having the trees out front better than not (one of the reasons we planted them in the first place). But yeah, alive is definitely better than dead. 😉 We’re going to be planting a couple of Arbor trees in their place (we planted some along the driveway out back by the pond, so we think that it’ll be a nice way to tie in the front yard with the back yard). It also will look better once the hubby gets the fence sections back up, but he’s going to put a fresh coat of paint on them first (we had to take them down temporarily while they were doing the trees so they could maneuver more easily, and not risk having the fence sections smashed by falling branches.) 🙂 I’ll definitely share the finished art work when it’s done! 😀
      Stacy (the Random Cool Chick) would like you to read ..Tree Removal Inspires ArtMy Profile

    1. If the mulberry tree wasn’t in such an awkward location (right between our house and the mean neighbor’s house) I totally would have picked the berries and made pies and wine out of them! 😉 Too bad it wasn’t in our Back 40 instead.

      The drawing is definitely a keeper – I hope Princess Nagger never loses the passion for drawing! 😀
      Stacy (the Random Cool Chick) would like you to read ..Tree Removal Inspires ArtMy Profile

  3. I can’t wait to see the finished art work!!

    While we do recycle, we don’t necessarily do so creatively. The Young One’s grandmother, on the other hand, crochets plastic grocery bags into waterproof tote bags – they’re really kind of neat. Every time he goes to visit, or she comes up here, I give her all the baby blue bags I’ve saved from our local grocery store.
    Jan’s Sushi Bar would like you to read ..Happiness Is A Welcoming DoormatMy Profile

    1. As soon as it’s dried out enough, we’ll get to carving – I’ll be sure to share when it’s done! 🙂

      I love that the Young One’s grandmother crochets plastic grocery bags into waterproof tote bags – that is so ingenious and creative! I bet they look cool, too (especially the baby blue ones. 😉 )
      Stacy (the Random Cool Chick) would like you to read ..Tree Removal Inspires ArtMy Profile

  4. What an eye to see that piece of wood & see something special in it… it really does lay perfectly & that flat side…

    cant wait to see the finished product

    I will say, this post makes me tear a little.. I always cry when trees get chopped down. Call it the “Pocahontas” in me… Grandmother Willow speaks to me like that 🙂 … I swear, I’m not crazy 🙂
    Rebecca Jo would like you to read ..One Thing Remains….My Profile

    1. I love that she has an artistic eye and can see creative beauty in things like that! 🙂 I’m right there with you on getting teary-eyed over having to lose the trees (well, except maybe the mulberry tree that was more annoying than anything). 😉 We’re going to be planting replacement trees up front because it just ‘needs’ it. 🙂 And no, you’re definitely not crazy! 😀
      Stacy (the Random Cool Chick) would like you to read ..Tree Removal Inspires ArtMy Profile

  5. Every chance I get.
    We had a Ginkgo tree taken out of the front of one of our places. As pieces of it lay there ready for the chipper a wood tuner came by to ask if he could have the burls. We said help yourself. Next time we saw him he was bringing us a bowl he had made out of our tree.
    Michele would like you to read ..RTT- Only in TexasMy Profile

    1. No worries, Marie – you know I’ve always got your back! 😉 Everything is different once a tree is gone, isn’t it? We’ll be planting a couple to replace the ones in front because I like how it looked (just won’t go with Poplar again!) 🙂 Princess Nagger got a kick out of you asking for her autograph – she said she’d be happy to give you one! 😀
      Stacy (the Random Cool Chick) would like you to read ..Tree Removal Inspires ArtMy Profile

    1. YES!!! We are (finally!!) moving back to WA late this summer! I cannot wait! I already have the kids registered for school (and luckily it doesn’t start early out there like it does here, so we’ll be there in plenty of time for the start. 😉 ) I totally forgot you’re in WA too! We’ll definitely have to get together when I return! 🙂

      I will be doing Friday Free For All’s again – but not until September since I’m trying (frantically) to get packed and the house ready to put on the market when we move. 🙂 I was thinking about reviving Aloha Friday myself, because I sure miss the easy Friday mode, too! I’ll keep you posted on everything! 😀
      Stacy (the Random Cool Chick) would like you to read ..Tree Removal Inspires ArtMy Profile

  6. That is such a neat idea, can’t wait to see how it turns out! I try to creatively recycle anything I can too. We once made a maze for our hamster out of old toilet paper and paper towel rolls, lol.
    Camille would like you to read ..Thankful ThursdayMy Profile

  7. We just did some tree removal in Calgary also. It’s amazing how they can take those huge trees out without damaging the surrounding houses! I definitely would never try to do this myself.

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