If a tree falls in a forest...

This is the story of a very lovely 80 year old maple tree. Loved by many, it spent it's life trapped in this tiny backyard.

 

It provided shade to this fabulous porch.

Unfortunately, due to it's size, I cannot make a photo that illustrates it's grandeur.

The branches were hovering so dangerously close to the power lines, it appears to have been hit by lightning, perhaps many times.  The branches that hung over 3 garages, were split and strung up with tension wires by the previous owner.  It had become a danger to itself and everyone around it.  Sadly, we decided to have it cut down.

 

Over the past 3 weeks, we have watched The Tree Guy slowly whittle this fine mammoth beast down to a few tall stumps.  Complete with fun dangling pieces!  The neighbors loved this part.  Don't get too close... 

 

The wood will thankfully be used by one fabulous woodworker for various projects over the coming years.  There is a ton of beautiful lumber bearing solid mahogany colored centers.  it will make lovely furniture some day.

It's also great for exploration.

 

 And makes creepy sunset images

Now, it sits like this until the The Tree Guy comes back to finish the job.  We will miss this lovely tree, but look forward to having a back yard.

We've Got the Blues

Thanks Dr. Martin Luther King for the great speeches and the long weekend.  We used ours well, we met our neighbors during an awesome gathering and painted, painted, painted some more.

Thinking back, before we even considered buying a house on 49th Street, we had heard tales of block parties, experienced Halloween Extravaganzas and longed for the community our friends had, who already lived in the Washington Heights Neighborhood.  Trent and I had the opportunity, thanks to a friend already on the block, to join in a neighborhood outing last Friday.  A bus (well, not just any bus - the block party bus) would pick us up, feed us beer, drop us at a restaurant in the Third Ward and then again to a gallery/bar in Bay View, also owned by neighbors on 49th.  We had fun and lots and lots of drinks.  It was a great way to get to know a good amount of our neighbors while enjoying (watching) salsa dancing classes at BYO Studio.  Their cucumber mojitos were very good too.


Child Labor

Ceiling Detail

From Living Area to Library (formerly Dining Room)

And for the painting: it's is pretty boring to talk about, but here are some photos.  Don't report us for putting the kid to work, she wanted to do it.  This weekend's color was Russian Blue - lots of it.  It seems to change nicely with the light and looks different in each room.  Since the living room, library and office merge into each other, it made sense to have it be a transitional color.  The green splotch was my original choice, but it was way too yellow for me.  Next weekend : a hint of Violet.