Us older ones on Stauffer are finished with trees, shrubs and bushes . . . for now. I had planned on taking the day easy with all things that need to be kept tidy inside the home. Neighbor Jan came over and said she was in the mood to help with a Lilac bush of ours that suffered from the heavy snow and ice of the late winter months. I said “O.K.!”
Jan was back with her electric chainsaw before I could get my garden shoes on. Older Lilacs branches tend to grow in spirals. By the look of this bush with branches as big a round as a quart fruit jar is, it has seen many seasons. There were some that were gnarled and twisted and just waiting for relief. Jan had the saw dust flying in no time. The project needed to be done and the two wheel trailer that I loaded yesterday was still on site with room to stack these branches on top. Dennis had been gone and was quite surprised by the pile of extras to load. Job well done by two neighbor gals.
I mentioned yesterday that I had contacted a professional fellow to take down the huge Hackberry branch that had split from the main trunk. He gave us an estimate and said Tuesday would be the day. Today is Monday and the workers were here by one this afternoon. It was amazing to see them tackle the project. Dennis found a comfortable lawn chair and took it all in. It was the very same thing Dad would have done. Two hours later the job was done. As the tips of the branch was cut off of the larger base, the bob cat attachment drug it right over to the shredder and fed it in. The heavy logs were loaded into the truck pulling the shredder. One fellow operated a huge gas blower to wrangle the leaves and small branches into a pile while the second fellow followed behind with a wide broom attachment to sweep the area. Slicker than a baby’s bottom. We had one Evergreen stump in the same area from a time back. The bob cat fellow went up to it and hugged it with the attachment that he had used to feed the branches into the shredder and picked it up out of the ground as if it were a toothpick.
We are amazed. We are thankful for such great service. We are thankful that we didn’t have to clean this up. It would have taken us several days even if someone with a chainsaw had chunked it up for us. We live in a small town. We know and have “people.” Priceless.
With everything handled and under control I came in for a glass of water and to peel off my soaked clothes to begin cooling off. We had a storm come through at 3:30 this morning. The wind, lightning and thunder was intimidating. What it left behind was two inches of rain and high humidly . . . and a splintered Hackberry. I knew I was getting warm while I loaded the trailer but did not realize just how warm until I was done. Getting on dry clothes, I looked out and low and behold Ken and Dennis with the semi loaded were parking at our curb. Ken will be using his dad’s pickup to pop in and see some family and friends before getting back into the semi and taking off for Chicago on Monday. It has been a full day for this Grammie and I am so thankful to be able to take each day in stride and get it done. It is a wonderful thing to have help when it is needed and I don’ t take it for granted. I make it right with doing sewing and quilting when I hear a hint of what is wanted. Right now I have a bag of t-shirts that Thomas’ daughter would like to have made into a quilt. Working with titanium knees and shoulders I am cautious with whatever I do. Knowing when to take a break is important. Some jobs might not get done in one day. 
