Tree-falling

I saved my husband $600 today without costing him a penny.

You know the routine. You go shopping, hit some fabulous sales, spend $300 and come home calculating everything you would have spent if the items y0u purchased had not been on sale. You proudly tell your husband that you saved him $300. He rolls his eyes and thanks you for not spending $600.

But that's not what happened today.

My husband's birthday is next week. His parents and sister asked for gift suggestions. He worked for a week or two, then gave me a list, which included a banana tree. You have to understand - when I first bought this house, it could have won an award for the most ugly trees and bushes in one yard. I've pulled out tons of bushes - prickly ones that did nothing but harbor bugs and ivy. But we still had two ugly trees in the front yard - a river birch that looked about 50 years old and was in the process of dying and a sugar maple whose roots have overrun the yard, making it impossible to mow. A couple of years ago, Don decided both trees needed to go and we should replace them with fruit trees.

Last week, a banana tree shows up in the mail from Don's parents. So the debate over where to plant it began. The problem was, the trees that the banana tree was to replace are still in the yard and won't be removed and the roots rotted in the next few days and the banana tree won't last forever in a cardboard box.

I asked Don what his plan was for removing the river birch and sugar maple and he said that he didn't have an extra $1,200 on hand. He says the going rate for removal of a tree is $500 - $600.

So, this morning, after taking the children to school, I got out my chain saw and an industrial extension cord and CUT DOWN THE RIVER BIRCH. My father helped pull the branches the right direction as I cut them so they wouldn't hit the power lines or go through the front windows. I got the whole tree down and started cutting the trunks into firewood and breaking off the branches to put in the barrel for the trash people to remove. The yard was completely covered in branches but, by 10:30, I had it about halfway clean. This evening, I spent a little more time in the yard and there's still a pile of branches to be cut up and remove, but it's a manageable amount of work.

My father asked me why I was cutting down the tree. I explained that I was saving Don $600. The sugar maple is way too big for my little ladies' chainsaw and in a dangerous place, so Don will have to hire a professional for that one, but the river birch was MINE.

Several friends walked by and laughed at my attempt to save Don money. But the bottom line is, it has to be done sometime and why spend $600 to get it done when a little sweat and effort on my part can accomplish it for free.

There's no downside to this project, except maybe the saw blade that will need to be replaced soon. My sister will get a nice pile of firewood that will be well-seasoned by next winter. We are sans a tree in the front yard. And Don still has $600 in his pocket.

When I signed on for motherhood, I didn't realize I'd need safety glasses, steel-toed shoes and a hardhat. But I guess it's all in a day's work.