Let's Go Fly A Kite

With tuppance for paper and strings,

You can have your own set of wings,

With your feet on the ground,

You're a bird in a flight,

With your fist holding tight,

To the string of your kite.

Let's go fly a kite,

Up to the highest height,

Let's go fly a kite, and send it soaring,

Up through the atmosphere,

Up where the air is clear,

Oh, let's go fly a kite!

When you send it flyin' up there,

All at once you're lighter than air,

You can dance on the breeze,

over 'ouses and trees,

With your fist 'olding tight,

To the string of your kite!

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Yesterday we spent an awesome day at the coast with our friends SpartanBabe and BuddyBear (Meg & Josh)  They had the idea to go over spend the day, have a picnic lunch and fly some kites.  It was splendiferous.

We dressed appropriately for a day at an Oregon Beach - Keen hiking shoes, heavy moto-cross socks up to the knee, long johns under the jeans, at least two shirts and a windproof and/or heated jacket.  We still came away with an Oregon tan = windburn.

Troubadour started us a nice fire on the beach with driftwood.  He has mad skills with a Jetboil.  

(Jetboils make for easy fire starting)

(Troubadour feeding the fire)

Josh and Meg brought their two dogs along, so there were games of fetch played as well.

(Annie and Oakleigh)

I occupied myself by wandering a bit and taking photos of different things.  We are lucky that Oregon beaches along the Pacific Ocean are all public.  A person cannot own a stretch of beach - none are private.

We had a wonderful day and I believe there are a few more trips to the beach in our future.

- Au Revoir

" Indoors or out, no one relaxes in March, that month of wind and taxes, the wind will presently disappear, the taxes last us all the year." - Ogden Nash

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Here today......

Gone later today.......

Yesterday was the day for the tree removal crew to arrive.  They were scheduled for two days and I was expecting them to remove all the limbs on the first day and remove the trunks and grind the stump on the second.  I was wrong.

This 4-man crew worked fast.  I arrived home just shy of 3:30 in the afternoon yesterday and all that was left of the mighty sequoia was one 30-40 ft trunk - the one leaning towards the neighbors shed.

(One trunk left to go)

I was able to watch them cut it down.  It made quite the boom when it landed.  

(Last of the trunks down, now just the stump)

I think their hardest part of the day came when they had to saw off the rest of the stump, seen above, so the grinders could come in.

(Stump ready for grinding 7ft in diameter at the base)

They ended up sawing through it and chopping it in pieces.  I couldn't help but think they would have made great end tables or coffee tables.

(One section of lower trunk/stump)

When the crews left close to 6 pm last night our back yard looked like this:

(No more sequoia)

Man, that side fence has to go.  Nice Oregon moss decomposing the fence boards - only on the ones that were under the tree though.  Luckily the neighbors have a chain link fence on the other side to keep their dog in so the only thing we lose is privacy and when you neighbor is well over 6ft tall, the fence doesn't afford much privacy anyway.

Today another crew came in to grind the stump.  All that remained when we got home was a large area of sawdust.  

(That is a lot of sawdust)

We are thinking it might be a good location for a blueberry patch.

Now the back yard appears quite large to us.  We realized the tree was encroaching, but I don't think we realized how much.  Let the clean up begin.

(Not quite an 'after' picture but getting closer)

We have friends and neighbors coming to take the free wood away.  Once it is gone and the rains stop we can begin to transform that corner.  Fence removal and planning and planting of evergreens around the perimeter and filling it in with some shrubs and perennials.

- Au Revoir

"  The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago.  The next best time is now." - Chinese Proverb

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This and That

THIS HELMET:

Not a lot of motorcycle action happening on the home front lately.

When hubby was at a Team Oregon class on Saturday March 2nd, I rode Max to coffee to try out the new helmet.  So far, I am very pleased with it.  

It was quieter than my Scorpion - and yes, I was wearing my earplugs.  It just seemed to fit so well. My peripheral vision seemed wider and when I turned my head the helmet went with me, yay!  One of the other things I noticed about fit was that I didn't have to keep grabbing the chin bar and tug it back up.  The Scorpion used to slide down and give the image I was perpetually looking at my front tire even when I had 'eyes up'.

We thought about riding to coffee this last Saturday but woke up to 29˚F (-1.6˚C) and just couldn't muster the energy to suit up even knowing it would be sunny and warmer by the time we left coffee.  We ended up driving to Eugene to the Home and Garden show and stopping at our favorite Triumph Dealer.  Troubadour sat on and got to play with the features on the new Trophy. I didn't get any pictures though.  And of course I ogled the new Street and Speed Triples.

THAT TREE:

A very large sequoia tree is what has been taking up our riding time.  We have a very large four-trunk sequoia in the back corner of our yard that has seen better days.  One trunk is leaning over the neighbors yard and even one towards our house.  We've watch it grow over the last 6.5 years we've owned the house and it seems to slowly be taking over the yard.  

(Sequoia in the backyard)

We decided to get quotes to have it removed and booked the tree-ectomy for March 19th and 20th.  The problem with actually booking a date was that we had to clean out underneath it. Not much grows under it so we've just used it for storing yard junk and home renovation leftovers.

To give you an idea of scale on how big it seems compared to the yard here is a wider view.

(Nice tree - wrong location)

So for the last few free days we've been moving an entire pallet of bricks, a cubic yard of gravel, relocated a few shrubs to be out of the way of the tree service and moved a lot of wood debris from when we removed other smaller trees such as the stinky persimmon.  

We've never taken out a tree that we haven't planted at least two to replace it though.  The yard sure will look different in another 10 days.  We'll feel a little bare over there but it will be nice to plan what to plant in its place.

It has cut into our riding time, but at least we have a three day weekend coming up and have the yard chores done.  Hopefully the weather will hold out and we can go for a nice long ride.  

Now.....where to go.........

- Au Revoir

"  There is always Music amongst the trees in the garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it." - Minnie Aumonier

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