The Great Outdoors

Back in the summer, lightening struck a tree in our yard and made a real mess. There were some heavy branches still lodged in the top of the tree and we've debated having the tree cut down. The problem is that the tree is only 1/4 of the way on our property. The other 3/4 of the tree does not belong to us. A realty company purchased the land behind our subdivision so most of the tree belongs to them. We don't want to fork out money for a tree that isn't technically ours. The realty company is putting up some high end condos and in the process, they cut down most of the tree behind us. What was once a pretty wooded area,is now an open window to the 4-lane. Not a pretty sight.

About three weeks ago, those lodged branches came tumbling down into the middle of our back yard. Can you say, huge mess? That's what it was. There were branches everywhere. Big ones. In fact, they were so big, that we could not move them because of their weight. Today we decided that we needed to get a chain saw and cut the huge branches and get the yard cleaned up. Since we don't own a chain saw, we thought we'd just rent one from a local rental place. Great plan, right? Well, it would have been if it hadn't been so expensive just to rent one. Instead, we opted to purchase one, knowing that we wouldn't use it much (remember most of the trees were cut down). We figure we can loan it to family, friends, or neighbors who may need it. Hubby, his brother, and our nephew headed out to get one and came back all giddy about an hour later. They got it running and cut wood for about an hour. Then the chain fell off. My nephew put it back on but every time he tried to cut a piece of wood, it came off again. That went on for about thirty minutes. Kudos to my nephew, Caleb, for not smashing the thing! I guess I should also mention that the thing you pull to start it kept locking up as well. So Caleb decided it was time to chop the wood with an ax.

Then hubs took a turn.

Our pets did what they do best. Never mind that those are my feet propped up on the bench above them. I was just taking a short break :-o)

Here we all are right after the chain saw decided to give us trouble. Notice the view behind us. This used to be thick with trees for about 100 yards out.

It was hot and there was a lot of sweat. Very gross. We did get the majority of the work completed and we'll have enough firewood to last for a few months. We finished just in time for me to watch South Carolina play LSU. SC lost and that makes me sad but hey, they hung in there. Our game was pay-per-view and we opted out of it since they've been playing terribly! That's the way we work. We love our Vols until they start looking like slackers. Then we get mad at them for a week. We did win tonight and that's good. The highlight game today for me was watching Georgia beat Alabama. It was a thrilling OT game. Ahhhhh, there's nothing like fall, football, and family!

How did you spend your Saturday? I hope it was spending a wonderful day with family or friends!