I am beginning to feel like the tree cutting is just a perpetual part of life. (and I can’t imagine how Sergey feels since he is the one who is doing the actual cutting).

Here are some pictures accumulated over the summer:

1) Front tree box — if you remember, I tried to plant some flowers here, but unfortunately not much came up besides grass (see first picture) and what did come up was taken down by the friendly city people in charge of the tree boxes.

So, Sergey gave the tree a haircut and weeded the box. I am thinking about designing a tree box with flowers that would bloom all next spring/summer/fall.

  

 

2) If you live out in the country then the noise of birds and wild animals is part of the soundtrack. but when you come outside to your postage-stamp backyard in the middle of the city, it should not sound like you are in a zoo! it would also be nice to get an occasional ray of sunshine. So trees are getting cut!

  

3) does it look like we have enough wood for the fire pit (this by the way is just a small portion of what sergey had cut down)?

And newspaper homemade mulch to prevent vine growth – one giant fail btw as the vines just keep on growing through. I am not entirely ready to give up yet though.

 

4) sergey and my sister’s boyfriend cutting branches in the yard next to ours — small dent, look how much left!

   

5) And finally, the biggest accomplishment of the season! The eyesore weed tree (yep that’s a weed that grew into a tree and was afterward swallowed by vines, which are now dead) is down. Sergey and our neighbor first attempted to do it the slow and cautious way:

   

 

and then the guy from a few doors down saw them and told them to stop messing around, cause what they really needed was a chainsaw. Let me tell you, I think i needed a valium after this, because that tree almost hit the house next door when it was coming down (and this is why you pay someone to do this for you, but no, of course we don’t seek that route).

 

 

there it is. all gone. :)