Tree Removal: Tree Trimming & Removal Complete

May 16, 2013 by

The tree removal and trimming is complete!  Only one thing didn’t go as hoped: the company that cut the tree down doesn’t actually remove the pieces.  Oops.  I didn’t even think to ask about this when we were getting the estimate.  After all, who wants this in their yard?

YardTrim_After1

Fortunately, the owner knew a guy who seemed eager to haul it off in his truck.  Must be worth major bucks or something…

Anyway, here’s the backyard, which is no longer crowded by neighbor trees.  We liked the cave-like atmosphere, but we want to take a first whack at installing some legitimate landscaping back here.

YardTrim_After2

The backyard’s basically blank canvas now.  Unfortunately, I have neither the design talent nor the money for anything sophisticated.  We’re going to plant some aborvitaes a few feet off the fence and see where that takes us.

YardTrim_After3

Onwards to weekend!  Where we will purchase plants and put them in the ground!

Filed Under: Landscaping Tagged With: ,

Bacon Candles: Now Life is Complete

May 15, 2013 by

bacon

Please, someone convince me a bacon candle isn’t worth the $35 or whatever it was before I go back and buy it.

Filed Under: Decorating Tagged With: , ,

Tree Removal: Cutting Down the Hemlock

May 12, 2013 by

Today we met with Adam from AGTree, a local tree trimming business here in Kirkland, about cleaning up some of our yard’s trees.

EXCITING! I know, right? I took some convincing, too. I don’t spend a lot of time with trees on my property. I don’t even look at them half the time I’m coming and going. Plus, doesn’t trimming reduce shade? And, well, I WANT shade!

But there is one thing worth getting excited about: NOT HAVING A TREE FALL ON YOUR HOUSE! This is a genuine concern, especially here in the PNW when the trees are friggin’ huge, like twice+ the height of the house. When one of those falls down, it’s not going to be nice. Other benefits: less tree debris on the ground to pick up before mowing, no bridge for critters to use to get onto your roof (and mess it up), and general Pride of Ownership™ feelings.

So here’s what we’re doing this coming Monday:

1) Clearing out dead twigs from the twin cedars in our front yard

TreeTrim0

2) Trimming the cedars away from the house so we don’t get so many squirrels on the roof (who may or may not be making a fluffy bed out of our blow-in insulation)

TreeTrim1

3) Trimming the branches that are crowding our backyard. I emphasized that these trees actually give us privacy from the tenants who occupy the house on the other side of the fence, so we don’t want to lose that coverage. But we do want less of a barrier to walking through our yard.

Technically, these overgrown branches are from our backyard neighbor’s tree, but they like when we pay for their maintenance. After all, they approached us two summers ago about paying for their fence repair. So, I’m sure they’ll appreciate us trimming their trees. (Besides, the law allows us to trim up to the fence on our side.)

TreeTrim3

4) Removing this ridiculously tall and awesome hemlock which, sadly, has a long vertical split going up most of its trunk. I’m always sad when we have to remove a tree, but I’ll be more sad if it splits and falls on the house. TreeTrim4

 

Filed Under: Landscaping Tagged With: ,

Happy Birthday, Taurus! (Sentimentality about an old car)

May 11, 2013 by

The Taurus has been my much-beloved car for ten years now. Happy birthday, Taurus. :)

Some fond memories and stats:

  • First song ever played in the Taurus: Trent Reznor’s version of Supernaut
  • CDs burned for use in the Taurus: like, at least a hundred or so, all of which are in the car’s storage console
  • My first solo driving trip was in the Taurus: I was 19, and I drove it home from the Ford Dealer in Roselle, IL
  • The Taurus has traveled to: Wisconsin, Minnesota, Missouri, Iowa, Indiana, and Michigan (where Jim proposed!), Washington state, Oregon, Vancouver B.C.
  • The Taurus was once shipped cross-country on one of those giant car-carrying trucks. I don’t know what adventures it had, but it arrived absolutely caked with bugs.
  • Driving home from ILIAS in a crazy blizzard
  • Driving home from Jim’s house in a crazy blizzard
  • This car took me to my first job, my second job, and my third job

This car and I have done a lot. I tend to think of it as a tank, rugged and strong, able to clear parking blocks, curbs, and piles of snow. I loves it and it’ll have to be pried from my fingers when it’s no longer roadworthy.

After much (MUCH) careful debate over the course of about four years, we bought the Subie to offset the risk of relying on aging car in a 1-car family. Part of the reason this took so long is because WHAT CAR COULD POSSIBLY REPLACE MY BABY?!?! The 2013 Forester came the closest of everything we’ve test driven over the years, so that’s what we got!

Here they are, my darling car children. :)

 

GrantFleet

But this 10 year anniversary brings up some important questions in my mind.

  1. How much longer will the Taurus remain reliable? The Taurus has been completely solid, aside from a failed cylinder last year (a fun $1200 repair). 85k miles was about when Jim’s 1999 Ford Escort started having serious problems to the tune of $1000+ every other month for repairs and new parts.
  2. Do we really need two cars? We work at the same company (and even when we didn’t, we found a way to make the commute work even though it meant I ate dinner at the office) and we do our errands together. In the three months that we’ve had two cars, we’ve had just one day where having two cars was very helpful. It’s about $1000 a year to insure the Taurus, and that’s probably worth it, but is it worth the cost of replacing the Taurus?
  3. What would we replace the Taurus with? We love the practicality of the Subaru, but do we need another practical car? Or can I get a flashy sports car instead? :D

My favorite aspect of the Taurus when compared with the Subie is its power. It feels heavy, tank-like, and sturdy. The Subie is bouncier, more upright, and more agile. These are good traits. But sometimes it’s fun to just VRROOOOM, y’know?

We took a quick “just looking” trip to the Ford dealer today, just to, you know, look. Because I like to look for about 5 years before I actually make a decision. My favorite thing to look at was this blue Mustang:

Mustang

I didn’t test drive it (because therein lies the path to damnation and a more crowded driveway), but it sure was fun to sit in. And at $18k / 30k miles it’s a pretty sweet deal. But is it too silly to get a fast, fun car instead of another practical car?

My dad, who just got a convertible Mustang of his own, advises me to buy myself nice things while I’m still young. He played it safe his whole life, just like me, stashing away savings and buying few luxuries. So I don’t know yet what we’ll do. Fortunately, the Taurus is in fine shape (knock on wood) and should last the many years it takes me to make a decision.

Filed Under: Major Purchases Tagged With: ,