The Final Cleanup in our Back Yard

 

Barry climbed up this big old tree in our back yard that seems to lose a branch in every storm and cut all of the lower damaged branches off.

 

He did this all very carefully. He put the ladder up next to the tree ON the fort, tied the chainsaw to a rope and hoisted it up, climbed to a perch and took one branch out at a time, making sure he left enough of the branches to climb DOWN again!

 

The branches did a number on the boys fort and that will be a project that Barry and the boys can do this year. We'll be doing quite a bit of work on the back yard this summer. One branch fell on the house and only dented the gutter - whew! Another large branch fell on the trellis, but we built it with heavy timbers and it just shuddered and did not move again. A very large branch had the potential of falling on the roof and doing damage to the skylight and roof, but Barry did a great job minimizing the damage. We are just glad it is all cleaned up and gone now.

 

Jack - the newest member of the family

This is Jack. He is a Shi-Poodle. He is housebroken, kid-proof (no biting), does not bark, is trained very well and is now the newest member of our family. He came to us from a friend and we are happy to have him here. The kids love having him in the house and since he is hypoallergenic, and doesn't shed or have accidents inside - I am happy to share the space with him. He is sweet and cuddly so the kids are thrilled to have a pet that likes them too!