Timberrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

                                 September  16, 2014

One of the first things Joe and I had on our "To Do's List" before we headed south, was to get some trees down. We called 4 tree services, one who was given by our realtor who cuts down trees for free, for the wood. After a week we got 2 of the services to come out to give us an estimate. One never showed up. The guy who cuts down trees for free for the wood had not called back to make an appointment, so I called him back. He said he'd try to get out by the weekend, but the weekend rolled by, and he never made it. I called him back again. He asked the size of our trees, so I had Joe go out and measure them.  He decided they were not the right size that he needed. OK, why didn't we do this earlier and we wouldn't have had to waited  and put off  the other tree services with an answer. The other two tree services were very close in  estimates, so we were going to go with the one who could get the work done before we left, even though he was $400 more. Joe called the other company to tell him we were going with another service, because they could get us done the following week. He asked if he could come over to talk to us. When he came over he brought the estimate in writing and told us he would take down the biggest and hardest tree before we left, and if we were not happy with his work than he would understand. We decided to give him a chance. The tree that was to come down, was the one sitting next to and over our house.

The following week Carl showed up ready to take it down. This is a picture of the tree from the window in the living room. Come 5PM our living room became very dark because of the full tree coverage.

This view shows how the tree hangs over our deck and house. One large limb had broken off last winter while the owner was gone. Luckily it fell down, going toward the front yard, not the house.

Carl is a tree climber and does not bring in any heavy equipment that will tear up your yard. His grandfather, and father were tree climbers and he started helping his father at a very young age.

As he climbs up the tree, he cuts down limbs, and his younger 2 man crew carry off the limbs to the chipper in the alley.

Finally all the limbs were cut off the first of the 3 trunk tree.

 This tree is than used as a fulcrum tree for later use.

Carl climbs and cuts off the limbs of the 2nd trunk of the tree.

At the top, he ties off  the 2nd tree top to the fulcrum anchor tree.

The large limb swings back and forth, and is lowered to the ground. If not done right, this limb could swing back and knock Carl off the tree.

As Carl works he gives specific directions to his crew below. One is a newbie and the other has been with Carl for a year, but was the helper to his son who just left for collage.

The young boys carry off all the large logs on their shoulders. It is amazing what they can carry by themselves.

Now for the 3rd trunk of the tree.

This tree is a forty foot tree. Carl has climbed and cut down 150 ft trees.

I was very impressed with his work and was glad we decided to have him do our trees.

Timberrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr and the last trunk cames down with a very loud THUD!

It was suppose to land on the other trunk laying on the ground, but missed it by inches. Carl is a fifty year old man who does a very good job and as he told us, there are very few climbers who have the skill he has. His craft is a dying skill because most trees are taken down with the use of large machinery with buckets that lift the workers up the tree.

He sweeps off the deck completely, as well as the roof. The yard was raked of all debris.

Our new view with the tree gone.

This tree doesn't open our view to the lake, but it brings a ton of natural light to our living room. We had light streaming in until  after 7PM.

I did feel we were more exposed to the road, but the extra light into our living room made it all worth it.

While we are gone, Carl from Bay and Mountain Tree Service of Boyne City will remove the 3 trees to the right in our front yard on the other side of the ditch. This will open our view to the lake. It will also open us to the road , but the views will be worth it to us. I decided it was going to be for the best, to have the other trees removed while we are gone. Mallery was a nervous wreck all day with noise from the saw and chipper.

Views from our living room after the tree was removed. This tree cost us $1000 to be remove.

Our realtor Mark Kolwalske from Coldwell Bankers in Boyne City at http://www.cbgreatlakes.com/mark.kowalske gave us a  $100 gift certificate for two of the restaurants in town. It was a thank you gift for picking him to be our realtor. On my 60th Birthday, we used the certificate, and went to the Red Mesa. We had Margaretta's before dinner. One drink was more than enough as the drinks are very potent. I probably would have been on the floor with another. The nacho chips and salsa are home made, and our waitress was the best we have ever had. I order the white fish which was very good.

Joe ordered the Brazilians Steak smothered in onion rings. Usually I pick the best dish, but in this case, Joe's dinner was the boss, hands down. I think next time, I will be ordering the Brazilian Steak. (My pictures do not represent the food well, as there was too much flash). Usually Joe and I are not impressed with restaurants, but this one was the bomb! We will probably come to this one once a month next summer. I also ordered the coconut cheesecake to go for my Birthday cake  We have about $38 left from the certificate, and plan on using it in the spring at the other restaurant, the "Cafe Sante". This restaurant is a European style restaurant and is suppose to have the best breakfast buffet. It also sits on Lake Charlevoix giving you a great lakefront view atmosphere, especially for warm dinners evenings. "Thanks you Mark, for helping us find our home and introducing us to these two restaurants in our home town of Boyne City, MI.