Timber!!!

This afternoon we spent several hours out in the orchard. Our friend Ken joined us. He and Mark had fun with their chain saws! I did the more "delicate" work with my loppers.

 Ken starting in on the massive cherry tree.

Unfortunately, all three of its main trunks were rotten on the inside.

 Mark contemplating an apple tree.

It, too, was mostly rotten on the inside.

 Ken still working on the cherry tree.

 Mark left one little shoot on the apple stump (left side of photo).

 The cherry tree is history...but it will be a great play stump for the grandkids!

 I told the guys it looked like a bomb had gone off in the orchard...

...a cherry bomb! 

 I worked on the pear trees.

They are still standing.

We're not finished yet, but we're pooped! We'll tackle the other trees another day. We plan to take out one more huge old cherry tree, and majorly prune everything else. We may also take out the filbert "bush," a.k.a. blackberry trellis.

We filled the pickup truck and took a load of branches to the dump. Still have another load to haul another day when we're not so tired. Plus a big pile of larger limbs that can be cut up for firewood.