Who's Afraid Of the Big Bad Chainsaw?

As I stand here looking at what was once my nice, neat front yard, I have cause to wonder if my family is crazy or if everyone else is. My husband and I have no super powers to speak of, no extraordinarily unusual gifts to boast about, and were not born with any additional skills (unless of course you count sarcasm).

So, when the decision was made that several large, dead tree limbs that were precariously perched above our home needed to be removed forthwith, all were in agreement. We have long, hard winters here in Northern Michigan and lake effect snow storms are the boogiemen that we chase each other off to bed with. Removing said limbs before they decided to make themselves comfortable in my upstairs den was a no-brainer. How to go about said task was another matter entirely......

Choice #1: Call up local tree removal/nursery company in our town, invited them to inspect the situation, schedule a time and date and fork over about $400 for them to remove the worst offenders.

Choice #2: Allow my husband to rent a 40 foot tall cherry-picker (still not sure what the technical name for this massive piece of equipment is) borrow some tools, which included a rather intimidating chainsaw on a stick, and take the offending limbs down ourselves for $100.

The question being-as the ultimate DIY'ers, where do we draw the line when it comes to taking on jobs ourselves instead of sending up a flare and screaming for the professionals? Now we are know people that can't seem to mow their own lawns or change a switch-plate without assistance, but I would suggest that even the most die-hard home improver would at least hesitate at the prospect of the four legged, many-switched, bright blue behemoth that squatted in my yard over the weekend. We had never used one before, and we did not invite over someone who has used one before. We simply went over the basics and safety measures with the rental company, hitched it up, and away we went.

Bottom line-success! No injuries to report & no damages to claim. The glow of a job well done has settled over the Lilly house, much to the delight of this gypsy. I was originally doubtful and probably put the most gregarious parrot to shame with my repeated pleas for caution, but the bottom line is still the bottom line, the only way to learn how to do these things is to do them. Who better than 2 able bodied grown men, both familiar with power tools and reasonable confident in their abilities to attempt the wrangling of a large project? I for one am proud of my amazing mate, who has once again shown me that he is the most capable man of my acquaintance, and I am a very lucky gal to have him....