Monday: Tree Trimming On the First Day of Pre-Retirement Vacation

Last night/early this morning, true to our night owl nature, daughter and I went to bed at 4:30 a.m.!  LOL!

The sound of the tree trimmers using their chainsaws on my neighbor's tree woke me just before 7:30 a.m.  Not a problem since I had been expecting them.   Daughter said she just turned over and went back to sleep!  I, however, got up, brushed my teeth, washed my face, and got dressed!  Then, I went outside to talk to the tree trimmers.  They were from the same tree trimming service my gardener friend M had recommended (they trim his trees, as well).  It's a family owned business, according to M.  The two men who were out were the workers; I spoke to the boss and asked for an estimate, and after speaking to his workers, he quoted $500 to trim my eucalyptus tree:

Prior to Trimming

I had expected it to be around $700, at least (which was based on an earlier quote I received from someone else, several years ago).  Neighbor T had told me she had received three estimates and these people were the cheapest.    I decided to go with them, partly because they did a good job on my neighbor's tree, they came recommended by friend M, their equipment was already here, and the workers could start right away, as soon as they had finished trimming neighbor T's tree.

Another look from the other side

I also knew that if I postponed it to get another estimate, I might take another 6 months to get to it!  How long have I been talking about getting this tree trimmed?  Seemed to me that all the stars were aligned and it was a good time to take action!

Trimming in Progress at 9:00 a.m.

It was team work: one guy did the trimming; the other guy pulled the branches to the shredder:

Branches waiting to be shredded

I offered them bottles of water before they started their work and, again, about half way through; they were very grateful for the water.

It was already quite hot, outside

I'm glad I'm getting it done now, before I planted any new plants that might have got damaged when branches came down:

More felled branches

They trimmed my neighbor's tree in about one hour.  They took about one and a half hours to trim my tree.  Afterwards, they fed all the branches through the shredder, raked, very briefly watered the front garden to control the dust, and used a leaf blower to remove the last of the debris.  By 10:30 a.m., they were done!

After the Trimming, taken at 10:15 a.m.

That's one big task crossed off my long-term do to list!    Now I won't have to peer anxiously out the front window every time there is a big wind storm!  At least, not for another couple of years, I hope!

Later in the morning, I did a load of dishes in the dishwasher and washed a few additional items by hand.  Then, I had a slice of toast with a scrambled egg for brunch.  Cousin P called and we chatted a bit.  She said she had gone to visit cousin V (the mother of the groom), last night, and cousin V had sent another couple of pieces of boxed wedding cake for me (she had ordered extra cake).  Cousin P said she'll come over later to give me the cake.

In the afternoon, I felt sleepy and took a long nap!  From about 1:30 p.m. till 5:30 p.m.  I slept longer during my nap than I did during the night!  Daughter and I had tea after I woke up and then, I took a shower to cool off.

My cousin in Florida had called and left a message on Saturday, so I called him back and chatted with him for a bit.  This cousin had been an engineer with the New York Port Authority and was working in the World Trade Center Tower 1 when it was attacked on 9/11; there was a picture of him in one of the newspapers, covered in ash as he made his way out of the devastation, that day.  I promised to come and see him and his wife one of these days, since I am now retired and have time to travel.

Afterwards, daughter and I went grocery shopping (we needed milk, instant coffee, bar soap, shampoo and conditioner) and we treated ourselves to a rotisserie chicken for dinner.  Daughter put away the groceries for me while I took the trash cans to the curb, collected today's mail from the mail box, and turned the sprinklers on at the back.  I will do a separate grocery post, although I don't have any pictures; I need to go through the receipt to separate out the grocery items (milk, beef, salad dressing, frozen tamales, frozen prepared chicken, the rotisserie chicken, instant coffee, and walnut pastries) from the non-grocery items (cat food, conditioner, bar soap; they didn't have the shampoo).  Altogether, I spent $64 at the store!

I cooked a box of macaroni and cheese and sauteed a zucchini to accompany the rotisserie chicken for dinner.  After dinner, I emptied the dishwasher and hand washed the day's dishes and the pans.  This time, I remembered to put on a pair of rubber gloves while doing the dishes, to preserve my manicure!  In the morning, when I was pre-rinsing the dishes prior to putting them in the dishwasher, I forgot to wear rubber gloves!

Today, I am grateful for:
- Being able to get the eucalyptus tree trimmed, finally!
- A productive first day of vacation
- Afternoon naps
- Daughter's company
- Cousins who call

Plans for tomorrow include:
- watering the front garden
- bringing the trash cans in
- doing a little more grocery shopping
- buying a card for Saturday's wedding
- getting a gift for Saturday's wedding
- unpacking from the weekend's trip
- laundry
- vacuuming the spot where the oil lamp sits
- setting up the oil lamp (it was taken apart for transporting to the wedding venue and back)

How was your Monday?  Have you had tree trimmers trim your trees?