Cutting the tree

My big, beautiful spruce tree.  A few weeks ago the power company came by to talk to me about cutting it down because it really is tangled up with the wires.  While not thrilled, I told them to do what they felt was best.  No one wants to loose their power when it is minus 25C because a tree fell on the wires... that is what the power company is trying to prevent with the fall trimming.

Yesterday the crew came to cut it down.  I have to say - they were very efficient!  I was wondering how they were going to do this and found it pretty interesting.  First the guy in the cherry picker went up under the branches and started cutting off all the branches.  The ground crew quickly picked everything up and fed the chipper.

Up and up.  At the end, they tied a rope to the top and cut off about a 5 foot section, which they pulled with the rope away from the wires.  Once they got it lower than the wires, they didn't need the rope.  Turns out the center of the tree was half rotted anyway, so I was happy I never gave them any grief.  It isn't their fault my tree is into the wires.  They went along the road and very nicely trimmed the tops of my overly scraggly lilac bushes too, a huge relief for me because I have not had any luck getting someone to trim them for me.  They were up into the wires - the new trimming is sure to promote healthy growth next year.  Further down the lawn were some scraggly apple trees growing into the wires and those got a nice trimming too.  While the spruce tree was deemed necessary, I think they were just being nice about the lilacs and the apple trees.  

Just as soon as the tree-trimming truck went away, along came the phone company to do some wiring work.  I don't think the corner of my driveway has seen this amount of activity in a long time!