Men at Work.

There was work to be done on the homestead yesterday.  What was left of a huge sycamore tree needed to be felled.  The other half of this tree came down in a wild storm we had here a couple of years ago.  The remaining trunk was leaning on the garden shed and threatening to squash it.  It had to go.

Billy called in a few favours, well, that's what they always say on the telly.  Actually, he asked John, our next door neighbour and son-in-law Gary to come round and help him. 

The offending tree trunk can be seen here behind the shed.  The junk on the right is just some of the stuff that came out of that little tardis-like shed.

The men take up their places.  Of course, it rained practically throughout the whole operation.

There was a whole lot of pulling, pushing and shoving going on.  It seems that even little sheds can weigh a ton!

There, they got it just where they wanted it.  Out of the way of the falling tree trunk.  William built that shed all by himself and he didn't want his hard work being smashed to smithereens by that tree.

John had brought his chainsaw with him.  It was time to get serious.

The tree trunk was lassoed.

John got the chainsaw busy.  The other two heaved on the rope.

There she goes!

Gary striking a pose for the camera - bless him!

Three happy chappies, they deserved a cup of coffee after that.  I was relieved that the tree felling had gone according to plan and with no casualties.   However, a pickaxe and a regular axe were broken during the proceedings. 

Of course, it didn't end there.  The trunk had to be sawn and chopped up - no easy task, it has to be said.  We now have enough firewood to last forever.  Oh, and the shed had to be put back where it was and refilled with all the stuff that came out of it. 

All in all it was a lot of hard work but I know that all three had quite a bit of fun too.  Thanks John and Gary for all your hard work!

Kathleen.