CUTTING TREES

Last weekend our neighbor Toto had some cutting done on his pine trees. There were branches rubbing against the house, a huge birds’ nest was in one, and they were generally looking pretty scraggly. He asked us if we thought he should cut them all down. I of course said yes. The needles make the soil on our property too acid and the shade made it impossible to use part of our land. So after having big chunks of the tops cut off of all of them by the nurserymen that the condo paid for, he arrived early Sunday and between the three of us (well, I only dragged branches off and over the side of the wall), we got the four trees cut.
Then a car drove up and Toto’s wife Anna appeared with their two sons. Whoops! Toto had neglected to tell them about the tree cutting! Anna was a bit put out. First she said she liked the smell of the pine in the summer heat. Then she said the boys liked the trees to sit under and lean against, from when they were little. Finally, she wanted to know why we did not just cut them all down, but that was not my argument to get in to. Actually, she calmed down a whole lot before they left. I yelled at Toto when he said that he had not told her because the outside was man’s business, the inside was woman’s business. I explained that all parts was both partner’s business but he just laughed. That’s an Italian man for you.
Now between the two of us there are just the three tall Araucaria pines that do not have much shade, and the two Palm trees. This is fine by me. I like both of these kinds of trees, and they will survive better and get bigger soon enough. There were just too many trees in our corner of the world. Now we are talking about putting up a greenhouse. I think I want one with a hot tub! So here are a few "Before and After" pictures. The last one is the future site of a new greenhouse/hot tub.