Timber….

Not only am I upsetting my neighbors with the never-ending construction noise, but now also upsetting the California tree huggers. A big redwood tree came timbeeeerrrring down earlier this week. Honestly, I've been grieving the tree for the last few days. It was a beautiful redwood, one of at least 8 on the property…

It was directly in front of the garage doors and swing set area…

A few reasons this tree was cut down…

1. Many huge limbs have been dropping, which is clearly a safety hazard with children living here and playing near it.

2. The tree is directly outside the master bedroom. Personally, I'd like to not have a tree come through the ceiling one night. During our last big wind storm a few weeks ago, many more limbs and branches fell which gave me more reason to worry about it coming down on its own.

and 3. This tree was located directly in front of the garage doors. The garage was an addition added on by the previous owners, so it's clear the tree was there before they added on. With the tree placement, there was simply no way cars could pull in and out of the garages with such a tight turning radius.

With the driveway plans almost wrapped up and ready to get started by the week's end, the tree and stump had to go. I found a company that was not only reasonably priced and able to get the job done right away, but they let me help. And Lord help them…because you guys know how I am about anything DIY and home improvement. God bless them. When I can do a home project on my own, I will. But as you can see in the following photos, there is no chance you'd catch me that high in a tree. Ever.

First was getting all of the limbs and branches off a good amount of the trunk. Andy climbed and chainsawed, which the rest of us moved out of the way…and then ran in quickly to grab the limbs for the wood chipper...

The higher he climbed, the more real it became…

Finally, we ended up with a tree that mirrored one seen in the Lorax…

When Andy felt it was well enough to saw off the top, down it came….

Timber...

Thankfully, there were no protestors at the end of my driveway. If there are any tree huggers reading along (I'm one of you!), just wait until you see how many trees, plants and flowers will be planted in the spring. It will more than make up for what has been cut down since moving in a few months ago.

With all of the limbs off the tree, Andy worked his way down the tree cutting off large pieces of trunk. We used chain saws to cut up the trunk pieces…

The guys were fearful of using my camera, so I've spared you having to see me with chain saw in hand. But let me just say - it was invigorating! In a purely diy, home-improvement way, of course...

Then another worker spent a good 90 minutes grinding out the stump…

I can't believe the tree is gone….

But having the tree removed means I won't have a tree coming through the roof and I can move forward with the new driveway. And that gets me super excited!

With the tree removed, I'll remove all of this excess dirt and mulch to add another 10+ feet of driveway width…

Here is the current plan for this particular view we've been talking about today...

I'm going to put in a large area of grass directly in front of the house (shown on the left side). This will allow for ground coverage, while giving me time to figure out a plan for the kitchen remodel. I am hesitant to do anything concrete and permanent in the front area since I'm unsure of the way the front of the house will change during that big remodel process.

The first phase of this job will be putting in concrete from the street, all the way up the driveway (tree tunnel), and up to the garage / swing set area (shown in the middle of the photo above). With the dirt and mulch removed from the right side, we will add a nice border for future trees, plants and flowers (shown on the right of the photo above).

This gives you an idea of just how much concrete will be going down...

Plus more out to the street…

Yup, it's a doozy!

The driveway / tree tunnel will have a nice border as well, with electrical for lighting…and future holiday lights too!

I'm adding a few built-in planters around the garage door posts, seen in spray paint here…

As well as a concrete path from the garage / driveway, past the swing set area and into the right side yard - also seen in spray paint…

The basketball / sports area is still a work in progress and will be located here in the front left side yard…

Again, grass in the front of the house…

I'm getting so amped up for the job to begin this coming weekend. Can't wait to share the updates with you each week. We are guesstimating the job will take a solid 3 weekends of work. Of course, during the holidays and with the kids out of school for some amount of that time. But, it's getting done and I'm counting my blessings.

Have a great day!