![\"\"](\"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Trucks-arrive-for-work.jpg\" "\\"Trucks")
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On Thursday, Rich put his signature on the plans for a new garage.\u00a0 Our contractor, Pete D.,\u00a0brought out the latest plan for sign off and to move the process along.\u00a0 I did my part and got a new plat started showing the latest changes to the house.\u00a0 The next thing was removal of\u00a0four trees from the backyard.<\/p>\n
A year ago, we had some tree damage from a storm and the oaks in the backyard required some maintenance to prevent further damage.\u00a0 I called Mark\u2019s Tree Service up in McHenry to come out and take care of the work.\u00a0 They did a fantastic job.\u00a0 I was very happy with the work and Mark wasn\u2019t too bad to deal with.<\/p>\n
I put the call into Mark to come out and give me an estimate on the removal of the hickory trees that were in the way of the new construction.\u00a0 The price wasn\u2019t bad and we talked about taking out the hickory tree from the back of the lot that now appeared to have died.<\/p>\n
Mark called on Thursday to let me know that his schedule was open for Friday and those trees were coming down.\u00a0 It was just like one of the Crashers shows on HGTV.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ll see you bright and early at 7:00 AM on Friday with all my trucks in a row.\u201d<\/p>\n
Around 7:20 AM, Mark and his guys show up.\u00a0 That\u2019s fine.\u00a0 There were four large\u00a0trucks, two pickups with trailers, and a single pickup truck.\u00a0 I felt overwhelmed.\u00a0 I stepped out on the deck to talk to Mark about the work and make sure he remembered that the building inspector at the end of the street was getting some of the wood.\u00a0 We were good to go.<\/p>\n
The bucket truck took Marco, the site supervisor, up to the top of the first tree and they were off to the races.\u00a0 The limbs came tumbling down and it wasn\u2019t long before that first tree trunk hit the ground.\u00a0 It hit pretty hard too.\u00a0 I felt it while I was working away in the office.\u00a0 I had to run out to see what had been flattened.\u00a0 All the guys were standing, so that was a good thing.\u00a0 The work progressed.<\/p>\n
Sascha is all excited by the noise and the people milling around outside.\u00a0 She is beside herself with excitement to go and join them.\u00a0 Unfortunately for her, that wasn\u2019t going to happen.\u00a0 She stood at the back door and the windows to see the action.\u00a0 She ran between the two as people moved around the yard.\u00a0 I\u2019m pretty sure the noise from the chainsaws was deafening for her.<\/p>\n
As the guys were starting up, Brad, the neighbor behind us, came over to try and get some of the tree trunks for bonfires.\u00a0 I took him and introduced him to Mark.\u00a0 I let them work out the details.\u00a0 Mark was happy to put a couple of the sections into Brad\u2019s yard for his personal use.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t care as long as it left my yard.<\/p>\n
I was emailing Rich as the work progressed.\u00a0 I told him about Brad coming by to try and get tree remains.\u00a0 Rich mentioned that he wanted some of the branches for smoking.\u00a0 Well, that would mean another trip outside to try and find Mark.\u00a0 OK, I guess so.\u00a0 I went out and stood around the driveway looking for Mark.\u00a0 Apparently, he had left to take a look at another job.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t find Marco either.\u00a0 I stopped one of the guys to ask about some branches I saw lying in the yard.\u00a0 He agreed to put some on the patio so Rich would have wood for smoking that wonderful BBQ.<\/p>\n
Around 10:30, the last hickory tree hit the ground.\u00a0 And it hit big.\u00a0 Because they had room, they took it down in one piece without trimming the top out.\u00a0 It landed out in the backyard and almost touched the Oak Street.\u00a0 They spent the next hour trimming down the tree and getting it out of the yard.<\/p>\n
My yard looks so bare.\u00a0 There was lots of sunshine and very little shade.\u00a0 This is going to be different.\u00a0 Then I notice all of the sawdust lying on everything.\u00a0 The cover to the hot tub is brown and no the red it used to be.\u00a0 The patio is dusty as you walk across it.<\/p>\n
Around 12:10, the last of the trucks pull away from the front of my house.\u00a0 Sascha starts to calm down. I put her in the backyard.\u00a0 She stands looking at the spot where her favorite tree had stood.\u00a0 Poor girl doesn\u2019t seem to understand what is different.\u00a0 I walk around the yard taking pictures.\u00a0 It\u2019s so empty.<\/p>\n
Looking over at the trees that Mark had put into Brad’s yard, I see that the fourth tree is lying there.\u00a0 The entire center of the tree is hollow.\u00a0 I guess that would explain why it had started to die.\u00a0 It must have been bad for a while.\u00a0 I got a picture showing the whole through the trunk.<\/p>\n
I realize without the two trees that Sascha can reach, her days are over for catching squirrels.\u00a0 Thank goodness.\u00a0 I don\u2019t hear any of the squirrel chattering that I thought I might.\u00a0 The squirrels didn\u2019t seem to be angry that their trees were gone.\u00a0 No more nuts falling on my head or being thrown at me.\u00a0 No more sap on the driveway or cars.\u00a0 Maybe the new garage will be worth it.<\/p>\n
I will miss the hostas that I had planted around the dual trees in the middle of the yard.\u00a0 I guess I\u2019ll just have to replant them next to the garage next spring.\u00a0 Maybe I\u2019ll put in a new flower bed there with a really nice variety of plants.\u00a0 Maybe it\u2019ll be a good spot for a vegetable garden.<\/p>\n
So the next step is the excavation.\u00a0 This is estimated to start around November 1.\u00a0 After that, the concrete will get poured and the framing can then begin.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>