TIMBER!

Timber! Down came our short needle pine tree.

When we first bought our home about 30 years ago, there were 3 pine trees quite close together in a little North East corner of our lot. One was a big Bull Pine, the other two were much smaller spruce. Due to overcrowding, we took down the smallest pine many years ago and used it one year as our Christmas tree. The other two have been competing for space ever since. So last week my husband decided it was time to cut down the smaller of the two, the spruce. You can see the yellow rope he threw up to the top of the 25 to 30 ft tall tree. This was used to guide the tree down in the right direction so it wouldn't hit anything. It was my job to pull on the rope as he used the chain saw to cut the trunk of the tree. You can see it fell about perfect in our garden, not hitting a singe thing, not breaking down the fence !

You can see how the branches were dieing out due to touching and pushing against the big bull pine. Taking out this pine also gives our garden more morning sun and allows us more space to park the mission church van.

I was amazed at how many beautiful small pine cones clung to the upper branches.

I knew there were many pine cones but with it being so tall and out of sight, it really wasn't that noticeable. Once down in our garden, I could really see how overly thick these cones were.

I have always wondered if the number of pine cones that appear on a pine tree mean anything as far as the years weather or the prediction of a dry or very wet year?

This is another view of the pine tree as my husband started to cut up the trunk and take off the branches. We have a wood burning stove so the wood will come in handy next winter after it is seasoned and dry for burning.

This is the big 35 ft. tall bull pine. I'm not so sure if it looks lonely or if it is spreading it's branches with glee because the smaller pine is no longer pushing against it in competition for sun and space. I also wonder how many birds are feeling about loosing the tree they often sit in and build their nests.