first there were eight. then there were none.

Our back yard. 8 poplar trees. Each 35'+ in height.

Lawman and I have been nervous the past 3 years for fear that a big storm would take these trees down. On a neighbor's house. That fear is no more. They came down today.

The lumberjack. By day he's a law enforcement officer. On his off-time he has a love relationship with the chainsaw. We're thinking he needs a t -shirt that says "Got Wood?" or "Have Chainsaw - Will Travel."

We had one close call. The wind shifted and this sucker landed a bit too close to the house. About 12" too close for comfort.

We were nervous nellies.

We started with 8 poplars at 1pm. By 5pm we were down to 8 stumps. We'll be raking for days and days and day....you get the idea. There's lots and lots of small debris to be picked up.

The lumberjack will be back tomorrow to cut the stumps lower. We'll have to call someone in to grind them up. We had beautiful weather. I'm hoping that during the entire afternoon of outdoor yardwork that I managed to get some sun. You know me, always thinking about the important things.

We know we'll have to plant a couple of trees to provide some shade in the back. Not in a hurry though. I'm going to give it some serious thought. I'm toying with the idea of requesting a couple of raised beds to plant veggies in and then planting trees to the north. It's probably going to be a long, hot, sunny summer in our backyard this year.