28 « May « 2013 « Frank's Place

This is a paid advertisement for Sherrill Tree Equipment.

Yeah, I’m big time now.

Way back when, in a state far far away, Jersey to be specific, me and two of my closest friends decided to do my mom a favor and cut down three tall pine trees she wanted removed from the back yard. It was going to be pricey to get a pro to do it. So we said, “Well, can’t be that hard.” Turns out it wasn’t. Trees will generally fall to the ground once you start cutting into the base. The issue quickly became where were they going to hit, how much damage would they do, and how maimed and mangled would we get in the process.

You don’t have to live with that uncertainty anymore. Sherrill Tree has been in operation for 50 years. While they cater to the pros of the tree cutting business, they now provide a great website for us civilian types. They have it all, from instruction, to safety equipment, to the essential tools needed to take down a tree. For me and my buddies, the safety equipment would have been nice, as well as a little instruction on how to direct a tree away from the house.

I think the cooler feature about Sherrill Tree is how they also equip other types of tree enthusiasts. It’s well known we at Frank’s Place digs smarts. Well Sherrill Tree deals with tree care professionals but also connects quite frequently with other tree-climbing enthusiasts including educators, scientists and fun climbers.

That’s just smart right there.

Sherrill Tree: tree equipment

Been a while. Been a long while.

Since I had the clothes folding and kitchen cleaning down to a science I decided it was time to tackle something else.

I’m rebuilding my deck.

By myself.

Well, not exactly by myself. A good friend, Tom, came over to help with what we thought would be the hard part: reframing, re-digging, and pouring concrete to frame out the deck. John was also there for the framing and also for the laying of the new deck boards and the momentous task of digging and laying the footer for the stairs. That little event almost finished us.

Of course my neighbor Mike is to blame for all this. When we were discussing this last fall he said, “man you can do that yourself, it’s not hard.” Mike underestimates my age and feebleness, and overestimates my abilities. He’s also been there with some serious equipment, which in fact has made the job easier.

This is all building up to the lame excuse as to why it’s been three weeks since my last post.

Anyway, here are a few shots of the destruction and put back. It’s still a work in progress. Deck boards are down. Rails and stairs should be going in this week, as well as the wiring for the lighted rail posts.