They Left Their Mark

We have an old saw that states “Red sky at night, shepherd’s delight, red sky in the morning shepherd’s warning”. This certainly rang true today. Jackie had only a few minutes to photograph a

rosy pink dawn. Afterwards there was barely a tinge left for Florence sculpture’s portrait.

On this decidedly dank, dismal, day, Aaron, Mark, and Steve lopped two trees and removed another,

leaving their initials on the stump.

In a little more than half a day, the A.P. Maintenance team carried out this task, leaving the garden as if they had never been here except for

the neatly piled debris on the back drive. Because Aaron’s van is still in hospital they could not remove all this until it is back on the road.

This process is well choreographed, each man knowing his specific tasks.

Mark wielded the chain saw, first from the shed roof, then whilst climbing the trees.

Because the first holly seriously threatened the shed it was cut down and shaved to the level of the initialled image above.

Aaron received Mark’s cut branches, sometimes catching them from him as they were tossed down;

he and Steve gathered them together

and toted them down the garden to the neatly stacked piles.

The second holly and a sweet smelling bay tree were left standing but considerably reduced in height.

This evening we dined on Jackie’s spicy pasta arrabbiata with minced beef, followed by unusually spicy custard tart which, had she remembered to include the extra prepared ingredient, would have been pumpkin pie, with which she drank Hoegaarden and I drank more of the Shiraz.

100 comments

  7. Jackie’s morning glory images are just beautiful.
    What a pity you don’t have a log burner, you could have put the logs on the pile to season for next winter.
    Another tasty supper! Mine was a simple salad sandwich with which I drank Shiraz. Then I spent the evening wishing I’d cooked something substantial, or at least had something to snack on!

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  9. I grew up saying, “Red sky at night, sailor’s delight, red sky in the morning sailor take warning.” I never heard the saying used with shepherd, Derrick. Beautiful photos!

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  15. I hate to have trees cut down, but we’re going to have to do it to get more light on our vegetable garden and sunshine in the cat’s room. I like to believe trees are sleeping in the winter, so will have David help me with the heavy limbs soon. I love the pink and purpley sky.

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  16. Tree lopping is a very interesting process Derrick, and your photos followed the action superbly… I’ve a nephew in Philadelphia who is runs a professional tree lopping, and deal with some huge trees…

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  18. Those are stunning portraits of the daybreak glow —congratulations to Jackie! There seems to be some serious restructuring of botanical overgrowth afoot in the garden. Change is the order of the day.

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  19. We had to remove two alien trees that had become a fire hazard during the drought. Whilst I admired the deftness – and even grace – with which the team went to work, I kept apologising to the trees in my head! There are times though when one has to have this done. In our case, the house is safer and, in the garden, there is now more light for other things to grow.

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  20. The dark forms of trees against the developing dawn sky make a beautiful series of images, Jackie!
    Aaron and crew are efficient hard workers. Looks like you have some good firewood there. I’ve alwys hated cutting trees, but sometimes has to be done.

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  21. Those first photos that Jackie took…absolutely breath-taking! 🙂
    Good photos of A M S and their great work! 🙂 🙂 🙂 I love that they left their mark on the stump!
    I have always been in awe of people who can trim and/or cut down trees…scary work, me thinks.
    To hold cut-ty tools and saws whist climbing ladders…and survive. Bravo! 🙂
    OH…I think the spicy custard tart sounds yummy! (What was the extra prepared ingredient?)
    The word spicy always makes me think of this old commercial on TV…
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48TewJlc6BA
    (((HUGS))) 🙂

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  28. I loved your post! The rhyme is very familiar. We used to refer to it as a sailors delight… and sailors take warning!
    The tree cutting is a tricky job that close to your shed. They did a nice job! When I first saw the stump, I thought it was a rock that you uncovered from Roman times!! LOL My imagination got away with me.
    Have a great day!
    Dwight

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  35. I also know the “red sky at morning, sailors take warning” line–I’d forgotten the night part. 😏 I like the bare branches against the red sky.
    That’s funny about the pie minus the pumpkin. I made some baked apple cider doughnuts the other day and totally scorched a pot trying to reduce the cider. I remarked that even experienced cooks have mishaps.

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  38. There’s nothing so satisfying as watching a competent team at work. There’s a reason people stand around and watch tree trimmers, construction workers, and so on. It’s nice to see your fellows doing such a fine job– as was the photographer.

    Reply

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