And more progress

More than a week ago, a large branch self-pruned itself off my pecan tree and wound up stuck on two other branches (stuck pretty firmly, fortunately, it could have done damage if it hit the roof). I tried calling my tree guy but had to leave a message, and he never called back.

I knew I had to get a tree guy - SOME tree guy, if not my usual one - in but that was when I was dealing with sink stuff, and the whole re-enrollment thing, and thinking about dental checkup, and worrying about the status of my manuscript. And it's just easier for me to get overwhelmed about logistic things when there are a lot of things to deal with.

But today I had a little time, so I called my tree guy again. Got him this time but the bad news was he was already scheduled for the next month. But he gave me the number of a fellow tree guy he felt would do right by me, so I called him.

(Fellow tree guy shares a surname with a fairly well-known country music star from this part of the world. I wonder if they are related. He doesn't look that much like famous guy, and it's not a totally unheard of surname....)

Anyway, the new tree guy came out this afternoon. I showed him what I wanted done and asked him for an estimate of what it would take to remove some of the old, heavy branches (so the tree is less likely to suffer breakage in wind or ice). He did remark that pecans are having a lot of branches break this fall because the crop is apparently very heavy. (Wet spring). That allays my fears that my tree was ailing and it might end in me having to pay A LOT of money for its removal. (That would really stink: you have to pay a huge amount for something that makes you sad.)

The estimate he gave me - with the caveat that if he got up there and found a big branch that was rotten or something it would be more, but he'd talk with me first - was more reasonable than I had hoped and less than I had budgeted. So he's coming on Tuesday. And I'm glad; that trapped branch worried me because I could see it coming down the next windstorm we get. And also, sometimes insurance companies won't pay claims caused by "unmaintained" trees.

Next up, I guess, is eventually fixing the back fence. I need to do that to because some neighbor or other has a roaming little yap dog that wound up yapping under my bedroom window the other night and I'm guessing it got in over the downed portion of fence. (I don't know but it feels to me like the height of rudeness for someone to leave a dog that barks outside unattended overnight. And yeah, it stinks to have a barking dog in your house but honestly, it's YOUR dog and you should take responsibility for it.)