After the arborists

Brace yourselves. This is going to be rather shocking. We had the apple tree and the pear tree given an orchard cut.


Apple tee before cut.






pear tree (on the left) before cut

apple tree now. The arborist assures me that it will come back just fine. And in the meantime, our black-spotted roses will get some sunshine. We might even try planting vegetables in the backyard garden.

Pear tree post-trim. It's now as tall as the apple tree. No more ripe pears dropping into the neighbor's yard.

It was fascinating watching the process. The guys used ropes and engineering to stabilize the limbs as they were cut. A long limb leaning out over the yard was secured to another limb so that, when it was cut half way through, it didn't crack and split under its own weight. and the butt didn't lurch up and hit the guy with the saw. It was then lowered safely to the ground, sliced into managable bits, and dragged away by the eye-candy (who was evidently a trainee - because the boss was teaching him about the knots used to secure and release the limbs, and showing him how the chipper worked. And he never got to use the power tools.)

Limbs pointing straight up were brought down in sections from the top down. These guys knew what they were doing, took the time to discuss rigging each limb, always used their face shields, and left the yard spic and span. If you want it done right, get a professional to do it.

Meanwhile, I went out to lunch with LG. What a treat! Then I walked her back to her building because the Button Emporium is there. Time flew. I bought only 6 buttons of the hundreds I coveted. (Vintage enameled blue lizards about an inch long for $25 each. WANT! Porcelain circles with hand-painted carp - I couldn't find a price, but was pretty sure that if you have to ask, you can't afford it.)

I settled on these to adorn the tops of the tea cozies. Only $1.50 each, and won't they make charming little lifters when sewn onto the pointy tops?