and that's done.

So about 3:30 my friend Dessie from church texted me that they were on their way. It was her, her husband (the chainsaw operator), one of their daughters, an 'adopted' granddaughter and her boyfriend*


(*Dessie is one of those people who "adopts" people who don't have a lot of family, or have problems in their own families. I know dozens of under-30 people in town who call her "Granny" even though she only has three biological grandchildren)

The plan was to load up the big pieces for the daughter's fireplace this winter, stack the tiny pieces neatly enough that Bulky Waste will take them, and get the branch off my roof.

I originally thought the branch on the roof would be a smaller task than it was; it looked smaller from the ground. Dessie said she tried not to laugh when I got up there because my body language (how my shoulders dropped and I sighed heavily) when I saw how large it was. I took my little Japanese folding saw and started lopping off the side branches, with the idea of making the remaining part as small and light as possible. It was then I realized it was hung up on the vent stack from the bathroom and I couldn't just PULL it without damaging the vent stack; I'd have to crawl up the steep roof to cut that side branch off.

(There are two parts to my back roof - the fairly flat and low "porch roof" that is the area that was once a screened porch but is now my sewing room, and the very steep main-house roof.)

I managed to do that, and while I was doing that Mitch and Candy arrived - the youngest members of the crew (I think someone said Candy was 15, at any rate, she wasn't driving yet). They climbed up and helped me; Mitch took over sawing and he praised the quality of the little Japanese saw so I know it's not just me. Eventually we got the big part of the branch into two bits and between us were able to heave it off the roof (checking to be sure no one was underneath first!). Fortunately, the way it fell, it didn't damage my roof. Also, I was able to get someone to hand me my push broom and I swept all the accumulated leaves and failed catkins off the roof, especially the "valley" areas, which can lead to leaks when water builds up.

Then we got down off the roof, and Dan started cutting up the bigger pieces, and we loaded the usable pieces into various pickups (Dan took the biggest ones, he may be passing those on to his grandson for his turning work, the smaller but still burnable pieces went home with Holly)

In the end: my roof was clear, my drive was clear, there was a space for me to leave my trash cart down without blocking my drive, and then a stack of small unusable branches that the city should eventually haul off (and a small enough stack that they shouldn't charge me). I thanked everyone copiously for their help, and they headed off.

It was like 5:00 by then, and I decided I didn't feel like cooking, and also, carry-out would have the added attraction of no dishes to (hand) wash, so I went to the fairly-new local Freddy's Steakburgers. Got a grilled chicken sandwich, and fries (and tried the fry sauce, which is I guess kind of like thousand island dressing), and a small chocolate shake. It seemed much better than the typical fast-food carry out (though I may also have been tired and hungry, and that may have made it seem even better than it was).

But at least I managed to beat the Sunday afternoon doldrums, I guess, because I was busy wrestling branches and making sure a couple teenagers didn't fall off my roof while helping me. I'm showered and going to pick up my socknitting in a minute, watch some Bob's Burger's re-runs and go to bed early.