Doors of Bronze & Iron Bars

"I [God] will go before you and make the rough places smooth; I will shatter the doors of bronze, and cut through their iron bars."
Isaiah 45:2
After we planted our first raised bed, we realized we may as well make room for another. However, throughout the years trees & bushes have completely consumed our property making it impossible to landscape without removing them.

Take this tree, for instance. Actually, it's an overgrown holly - waaaaay overgrown. For a comparison, I took a photo of Hubby peering to the inside to see what he was up against.

After getting past the "doors of bronze" (the leaves - prickly little things), he had to "cut through their iron bars" (the vines).

Here's a photo after Hubby removed enough vines to control the direction of the fall. It almost looks like a tree rather than a bush. (Sorry for such poor quality - the sun took a siesta!)

Finally, the tree was conquered and has been transformed into...you guessed it - firewood!

Tree + Axe = Firewood

"And the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire." Matthew 3:10
Another willing sacrifice for the sake of firewood (and garden). We're talking about the tree in the background with the three main branches. If you look at yesterday's post, this tree would be located directly behind the tall tree on the left. You can't actually see it in the photo, though. The yellow cinch cord is attached to the branch leaning heavily to the right (and even more heavily toward the neighbor's yard).
The chainsaw may be hit and miss; however, the axe is always ready for action. Hubby whacked away until the branch finally gave way. Somewhere in the middle, the cinch cord was moved from the supporting tree to the hitch on the back of the truck. The theory was to persuade the branch to fall toward our property and not over the fence.
Try as we might, the branch was not to be persuaded. However, please take note of its angle. Never once did it actually rest on the fence. The Lord certainly was the Expert Landscaper here. We were able to trim it on-site and get the bulk of it back on our side of the fence with no damage. I'd say that was a minor victory! And the end of our day. The other two branches can wait.

Road block

As promised, here's a picture of the tree that blocked our driveway last month. If you look closely, you can see the tree actually lost five branches! FIVE! Each branch fell in a different direction which made for an interesting picture.
The view is from our house down the driveway leading to the street. Hubby had the presence of mind to move our vehicles out onto the street the night before - just in case a tree fell down due to the anticipated strong winds! Even though our driveway was blocked, we still had transportation. What a guy!

Welcome to our blog!

Hello one and all. This is our very first post to our brand new blog. Our goal with this blog is to keep our distant family & friends informed as we take our 2.8 acres from a steeply sloping forest to a beautifully landscaped yard with many little gardens. You can watch our progress by reading text and seeing pictures. You'll even be able to leave messages for us by selecting '? COMMENTS' located at the bottom of each entry.
This is the first of many trees to come down on our property. This particular tree was located on the west property line straight out from the concrete slab (see picture to the left for a reference point). As you can see, it really didn't make much of an impact in clearing the lot. Take a good look at how thick those trees are behind hubby. Are you sure you're up for the journey?